F1 – Ferrari “281”

Car launch season is upon us with a few teams setting up release dates for their 2010 challenger. Ferrari have not released their launch date as of yet, but according to crash.net the car may look similar to another car that has already been on the grid. F1 technical artist Giorgio Piola has indicated that the new Ferrari takes many design cues from the Red Bull RB5 that ran so well last year. The Adrian Newey designed RB5 was the closest challenger to the Brawn GP cars for most of…

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Rally – M-Sport Enter IRC

Malcolm Wilson and his M-Sport squad have decided to follow up the much anticipated launch of the new Fiesta rally car with their entrance into the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The team will compete in the opening round of the championship with Mikko Hirvonen at the wheel. Ford becomes the eighth manufacturer to participate in the IRC, adding a certain level of excitement to the 2010 season. This and the welcome addition of a Subaru car for sale have made this a lucrative off season for the IRC as it looks…

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IndyCar – SATO?! New info from de Ferran

Robin Miller was hinting this early in 2009. We heard more rumors about it when Gil de Ferran said he was starting an Indy program. But now we have new word from John Oreovicz at ESPN that Takuma is joined at the hip with Gil’s new Indy effort. Clearly, this still stands as a rumor though since this comprised one line in John’s article. But it doesn’t take much to get me excited about the prospect of Sato taking to the grid in an IndyCar. Takuma showed a very aggressive…

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F1 – USF1 Car Installation Laps in Alabama?

This is definitely a first in the world of F1. USF1 team principle Peter Windsor has revealed that USF1 has been given special dispensation from the FIA to test their car stateside at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. While no official details about where they will unveil the car have been announced, Peter did give us an early February timeframe for when their car will be hot shoeing it around the moto track. “Because we are a new team and start everything from zero the first time we will run…

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F1 – Car Launch Dates – 1/8/2010

There is no downtime here at the Paddock. Car launches and winter testing are on the horizon and we know that all you dedicated motor heads want your F1 information delivered to you in a concise and easily digestible package. That said, we are starting a new feature to keep you updated on all of the F1 car launch information. We will regularly update this with the latest info on launch dates and links to pictures from all the launches. Enjoy! Team – Launch Date – First Test McLaren –…

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Episode 21 – Open Paddock Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Mike and I this week as we travel to South America for Dakar….ok not really…but we cover it and have a Robbie Gordon revelation. We cover Ken Block to WRC, RHR to Andretti and hit a couple F1 high points. All in all it is a great show and it is signed, sealed, and delivered as it is nearly every week.

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Rally – Ford and Block Join Forces

After months of “rumor” and speculation as to the future of Ken Block, we finally have our answer and it is more than we could have hoped for. Ford will now team up with Ken for a global sports push in 2010. What does this mean you ask? Ken will drive in the 2010 World Rally Championship in a Ford Focus WRC and run Rally America events in the all new and amazing Ford Fiesta. Specific event breakdown has not been outlined at the moment. This is huge news after…

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F1 – Flavio Wins! Appeal to Follow…

One of the biggest news stories of 2009 revolved around the “crash gate” episode. We are all familiar with the story of Nelson Piquet Jr. intentionally crashing so that teammate Fernando Alonso could take victory. Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds were both blamed for the incident and received a lifetime ban and 5 year ban from FiA competition. The verdict on the appeal filed by Flavio and Pat was released today and the fiery Italian boss may be back a lot sooner than Max Mosley had hoped at the time…

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