Rally – MINI WRC News

As was mentioned a few months ago, MINI was looking to jump into the WRC arena with Prodrive given the S2000T regulations. MINI who was once involved with rally’s top flight looks to return on the wings of the Countryman crossover. Yesterday I had mentioned that with the news coming out of the Czech Republic on Skoda’s decision to develop the 1.6T and further its development its S2000 chassis, little had been heard from Prodrive or MINI aside from the facts that they were in Sweden on fact finding missions.…

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IndyCar – Barber Motorsports Park Preview: History

Introduction: This weekend, the IZOD IndyCar Series heads back to Birmingham, Alabama and the Barber Motorsports Park. This visit will be very different than in times past. This time, they’re there to race! The league has been to Barber several times for testing, but this will be the first time we see the IndyCars compete at the track. As the third event on the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series schedule, Barber also represents the third straight in a series of four twisty tracks on the schedule, although its the first natural…

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Rally – Skoda 1.6T in WRC

There are now reports surfacing out of the Czech Republic that home automaker Skoda will now develop a 1.6T engine and continue development on the Fabia S2000 chassis. While the details are a little thin at the moment, it would appear that the WRC will have at least the four manufacturers it was hoping for. There is currently no news on whether this will be a supply to privateers or a factory effort, but the Czech team has shown itself very well in the IRC at the factory level. From…

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F1 – Thoughts on Malaysia GP

It has been told to me a number of times that the third race is usually the first “actual” race of the season. A time where we start to see clearly where the teams stack up against each other. Sepang would be this third race and I was able to pull away some interesting ideas while also gathering a clear understanding of who the real contenders would be. Red Bull Racing used this weekend to put on yet another clinic. This time they were able to get the job done.…

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Rally – Jordan Gets Dirty

The dust was not the only thing that made things rather dirty on day 3 of Rally Jordan. There was tactics a plenty and some rather questionable moves by a few select individuals that would make the result a little sketchy. After the misfortune suffered by Mikko Hirvonen on day 2, Sebastian Loeb merely just needed to finish the event in order to collect a hefty points lead heading into Turkey. The Frenchman did just that by taking his 56th career victory over the factory Ford number 2 of Jari-Matti…

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Rally – Misfortune for Hirvonen and Ogier

Mikko Hirvonen wrecked his Ford Focus this morning in the opening stage of the morning. The Finn who had set himself for a better road position yesterday, ended up playing a version of rally car pinball. The Ford driver who looked invincible in Sweden and Monte is clearly going to have his confidence rattled after this crash. Not only was the Ford way off the pace in Mexico, but now the hopes and dreams of the blue oval racers rests on a surprisingly good Jari-Matti Latvala. The clear number two…

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Episode 32 – Open Paddock Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin the crew as we celebrate OP’s 1 year celebration that we almost forgot. We also break down Australia and St. Pete. We also break the hot news of the week and look ahead to Rally Jordan and the Malaysian Grand Prix. Sit back with one of your favorite adult beverages (or coffee if on your way to your job) and enjoy Episode 32.

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Rally – 2010 WRC iPhone App

The WRC has taken a technological leap forward with delivering their product to fans all over the world. The premier rally series has released an iPhone app that is simply BRILLIANT! Unlike a number of racing apps out there for say F1 and ALMS, this WRC app has the ability to dial into the WRC radio station so as individuals on the move can tune into the rally via there mobile. That in itself makes the app worth the price. How much you ask? Oh thats right…its FREE! Along with…

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