Giancarlo Fisichella was confirmed Thursday as the second driver for Ferrari on the heels of his brilliant second place finish at Spa. The Italian will now fulfill a lifelong dream and compete at Monza in the red outfit in front of the tifosi on race day. Fisi was thankful to his Force India team for releasing him to the Italian squad in what many people thought was the only logical choice. Fisi was battling Robert Kubica for the second seat and will now replace Luca Badoer. Badoer was the stand…
Read MoreTag: 2009
Episode 06 – Open Paddock Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadGreat show this week as we do a very quick wrap up of this weekends action and move onto the news and stories we will be talking about this weekend.
Read MoreIndyCar – Pink Lloyd for Miami
If you recall a few weeks ago, Alex Lloyd ended his relationship with Chip Ganassi. He signed with Chip after winning the 2007 Indy Pro Series championship in the hopes of getting a race seat. But this proved to be very difficult. Chip’s contract with Target would not allow him to run a 3rd car unless it had the same funding as the two Target cars (estimated at $8 million per car), so Alex drove for Chip (through Rahal and Schmidt) at the last two 500’s, and that was it.…
Read MorePodcast – Episode 6 Tonight!!
Tonight the schedules have finally mixed and the stars have aligned for the sixth installment of the Open Paddock Podcast. Tonight’s topics will be Spa, Moto GP (just a dab), Chicago, Rally America, ALMS, as well as a WRC preview! Also, tune in as Mike and I go over all the hot news items of the week. Should be available for download late tonight and for sure early tomorrow for you iTunes subscribers.
Read MoreF1 – Renault Beat Down Imminent
What a wonderful weekend we had. The championship is starting to tighten a little and Spa was a welcome relief from all the Tilke inspired garbage that litters the F1 calendar. We had also been granted a brief reprieve from all the political wrangling. It was nice while it lasted. Renault is in the hotseat and we have a new ‘gate to add to our ever growing list of media circus events. We will dub it ‘Piquetgate’. Think back to one of the more sublime moments of the 2008 season.…
Read MoreMotoGP – Race Day at Indianapolis
Race day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 2nd running of the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, the twelfth stop on the MotoGP schedule. There was no way the weather could have been worse than last year as the remnants of Hurricane Ike slammed into the Speedway shortening the 125cc and GP races, and canceling the 250cc race, but no one expected the weather to be as absolute gorgeous as it was. Sunrise on Sunday morning found many fans shivering and wrapped up in blankets and jackets as temperatures…
Read MoreRally – Ojibwe Forests
After a long break from the X Games, the Rally America series was back to tearing up the back roads of the US. This time we went to the northern extreme in Minnesota for the Oijbwe Forests Rally and there was a chance that the national champion would be crowned. Heading into the weekends event Travis Pastrana had a very healthy lead in the championship. Ken Block would have to answer and answer big if he was to stay in contention. Pastrana had already won five events this season and…
Read MoreMotoGP – Saturday Qualifying
The weather during morning warmup was unseasonably cool, again. However, this is likely a good thing since Race Day will be even cooler. It gave the teams perhaps a chance at guessing the grip level correctly for the race and qualification. Tyre degradation was an issue all morning long, and during qualifications. Neither the tyres or the cool weather seemed to phase Dani Pedrosa in the slightest, as he set a new track record of 1’40.271″ during FP2 in the morning. During qualifications, he set a new track record again…
Read MoreMotoGP – Friday Practice at IMS
The MotoGP circus returns to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend for the second time. Last year, rain engulfed Friday’s practice sessions, and this year started out no different. Although the day started out dry, near the end of the 125cc practice, the skies opened up and the rain continued for the rest of the day. It wasn’t a driving rain, just a steady light rain that soaked the track and many fans. Fortunately, the forecast for Saturday and Sunday look MUCH different than last year when the track was…
Read MoreLe Mans – Audi Returns for Petit
Seems as though the world economic climate may be changing after all. Audi whom dropped to only doing two races this year has announced that it will run a third for Petit Le Mans. The team currently plans to field two of its R15 TDis in what they are calling their first step towards 2010 Le Mans. The addition of Audi will surly make this the best round thus far of the 2009 ALMS calendar with the Peugeot, ORECA, and Acura entries also fighting it out. If you remember back…
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