Both barrels for Team Pelfrey are loaded with two new drivers for the 2012 Star Mazda Championship. Jack Hawksworth was announced as the first of Team Pelfrey’s driver duo last week after a successful weekend of testing on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy Open Test on the last weekend in October. Mr. Hawksworth come to the Mazda Road to Indy program from the British Formula Renault 2.0 series where he earned eight top-five finishes, four podiums, a pole…
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Indy Lights – Juncos Racing Joins Forces with Davey Hamilton Racing
Juncos Racing, joined the Star Mazda Championship in 2009 and instantly became one of the powerhouse teams fielding the winningest driver in Star Mazda history, Peter Dempsey, and in their second season they won the championship with Conor Daly. Last season they were 2nd in the team championship for the second year in a row. Not too shabby for a relatively new race team! Now, Juncos Racing is set to expand yet again and go racing in the Firestone Indy Lights series in 2012 fielding two cars for the full-season.…
Read MoreF1 – COTA’s Last Struggle to Make the 2012 Schedule
Christmas come yet for the Circuit of the Americas and all American Formula 1 fans! We reported earlier that it seemed that the inaugural Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in Austin at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) was all but off the schedule. Even in a press release made by COTA, the organizers were convinced that they weren’t going to be making the 2012 season and were instead already setting their sights on the 2013 season. In a release today, it seems that may have changed! COTA has…
Read MoreFeatured – Simraceway Offers New, Affordable Challenge
It is a well known fact that I am a sim racing junky. Whether it be iRacing or Forza, I love to get out on track and drive the wheels off of the most famous cars on the planet. Since I will probably never do it for real, sim racing offers me the next best thing. So when Declan Brennan offered me the oppurtunity to jump on Simraceway and give it a spin, I was all over it! First thing first, Simraceway is not iRacing and it is not trying…
Read MoreF1 – The Austin GP Might Be A Bit Late
When the plan was announced last year that Tavo Helmut wanted to create a world-class road racing circuit in Austin Texas and host a Formula 1 Grand Prix, we were rather skeptical. Mike was raising questions about the project as early as June of last year when he asked How Can Austin Succeed Where Indy Failed. Mike again expressed the skepticism that we all were feeling as he looked at 2012 Venues Under Threat. While he took a bashing from many, I couldn’t see any inherent errors in his reasoning…
Read MoreRally – Malcolm Talks About Mikko’s Departure
Episode 112 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin the paddock trio as they review Rally GB and the fight for the 2011 WRC drivers championship. They also discuss the big news of a potebntial Ogier/Hirvonen swap for 2012. We also breeze throught the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and try to make sense of Sebastian Vettel’s tire failure. We would also be remissed if we failed to mention the high drama in Austin Texas as the future of the USGP is now in doubt. Thanks as always for the download and we…
Read MoreUSF2000 – SCCA Formula Enterprise Permitted to Run in National Class
Good news from the Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Champiomnship Powered by Mazda! The National Class will be opened up to the very popular SCCA Formula Enterprise chassis. The FE class was introduced in the SCCA in 2008 as a way to create a cost-effective entry-point for drivers and teams interested in competing in either open-wheel or prototype sports car competition. The Formula Enterprise uses a 2.3L I4 Mazda engine similar in output to the MRZ 2.0L used for the USF2000 Van Diemen chassis for the Championship Class. Unlike…
Read MoreUSF2000 – Belardi Auto Racing Signs Luca Forgeois and Roman Lagudi
Belardi Auto Racing is set for competition for the 2012 Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda. On Saturday, the team signed the 2011 USF2000 National Class champion, Luca Forgeois, and today they signed Roman Lagudi. Luca raced with Grand Am stalwarts Stevenson Motorsport and competed in the National Class in 2011 winning eight of the twelve rounds in his class. His best finish was in Race #2 on the Streets of Baltimore where he placed first in class and fifth overall in a 19-car field. “I…
Read MoreUSF2000 – Winterfest Schedule Announced
The annual Cooper Tires Presents the US F2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda Winterfest schedule was announced today. The series will return to Sebring International Raceway the first week of February to run three races and then head to the Palm Beach International Raceway the following week for three more races. The six-race series provides teams an opportunity to test drivers in a competitive format and assess not just their pace, but their racecraft. It also serves as an appetizer for us fans after our motorsports fasting over the long…
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