While I can’t say that it comes as a surprise, it is good to hear the official confirmation. Zach Veach, the young Ohioan who joined the team at the last minute last year after the Atlantics Championship dissolved, has resigned with Andretti Autosport for 2011 to run in the US F2000 National Championship with sponsorship from Zakosi Data Backup. “I’m very excited to have the opportunity to work with this great team and be a part of the ‘Road To Indy’ program again next year. I can’t describe what an…
Read MoreTag: 2011
Rally – David Higgins Tests New Subaru
F1 – Will the Real Lotus Please Stand Up
Well, its now official. The rumors had been out there for a while, and we even tried to make some sort of sense of them back a few weeks ago on our podcast. Group Lotus has purchased, with the assistance of Genii Capital, a share in the Renault F1 team. During the 2011 season, the team will be known as Lotus Renault GP and will sport the black and gold livery that Mr. Fernandez’s Lotus F1 Racing had previously announced that its team would be using. The partnership between Lotus…
Read MoreIndyCar – Panther Secures an American Driver
I don’t have much in the way of details here, but I was so excited that I couldn’t wait. Al Unser, Jr., announced the good news via twitter this evening that the 2009 Firestone Indy Lights champion, J.R. Hildebrand, will be piloting the #4 National Guard car for Panther Racing. Hi Everyone! JR Hildebrand is in the car for Panther. He tested all day and did a GREAT JOB! He is going to be one too watch in 2011!!! — Al Unser, Jr. via Twitter. This is fantastic! Ever since…
Read MoreINDYCAR – On Sponsorships, Cherry Picking and Penske
There has been a litany of sponsorship announcements in the last few days coming from the Penske camp. First we heard of the Shell/Penzoil deal for Helio, then comes word that Meijer had jumped ship from Andretti, and today the announcement that IZOD has joined up with the Captain. Danny Sullivan once said that “When the music stops, Roger always has a chair.” Apparently its Michael Andretti’s. One would have to wonder what the mood is like in the Andretti Autosport shop the last few weeks. Shell/Penzoil’s return to open…
Read MoreRally – Sunday Sevice Park 12/6/2010
Welcome to the second edition of the Sunday Service Park. This week has been a little lighter than one would hope, but there are still drivers on the market and seats needing filled! In other news, felt my first rally withdrawal of the season the other day. Can it please be 2011 yet?!? SordoDani So I already touched on this story earlier in the week but it now looks as though MINI will be the choice for the Spaniard. While hoping for Ford to throw him a bone, it now…
Read MoreRoad to Indy – Weekly Wrap-up 11/29-12/3
Given the blossoming of weekly features we’ve seen here at OpenPaddock.net with Spike’s Indy Hump Day Report, and Shaun’s Sunday Service Park, I’ve decided to join in the fun. Every Friday (or Saturday morning) I will try to have a wrap-up of the weeks headlines from the Road to Indy. There’s been a lot of things happening so far this off-season, which is rather surprising given that a lot of driver/team combinations typically aren’t agreed upon in most ladder series until a month or so before the beginning of the…
Read MoreRally – Sordo Looking at Ford or MINI
While we have known for sometime that Dani Sordo probably would not return to Citroen, the real question we had to ask ourselves is where IS he going? The Spanish driver appears to be on the verge of a deal with either Ford or Prodrive MINI. Autosport ran a story this morning that had Prodrive technical director David Lapworth talking about a potential future for Sordo at the team. It does look at this moment anyways that Marcus Gronholm will not be making a return to competition full time this year.…
Read MoreGarage 36 – Episode 2: Pippa Mann
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download Welcome to our second episode of Garage 36, a segment devoted to covering Indy Downforce, the official fan club of the IZOD IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights, and the Road to Indy. In this episode, we talk with the driver voted “Most Popular Driver” from the Firestone Indy Lights Seres, Pippa Mann. Pippa has been very active with the fan club throughout this year, even on weekends when she wasn’t able to be in the car, she was at the Indy Fan Zone…
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