TUSC – GT Classes Shine Brightly at Daytona

As the Tudor United Sports Car Championship kicked off on Saturday, a lot of attention was centered on the GT classes. Both GT Le Mans (GTLM) and GT Daytona (GTD) had been the brightest stars in their troubled series before the merger, and on Saturday the classes again showed the world that GT racing is becoming the big-ticket item in North America. With a number of new cars making their debut, and new teams racing with new cars for the first time, the GTLM and GTD classes saw some of…

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WEC – Toyota Answers the Call

The new FiA World Endurance Championship (WEC) received a much needed shot in the arm today as Toyota officially announced their “entry” in this year’s maiden championship. The new TS030 HYBRID will still compete with a single entry at Spa and two machines at Le Mans as originally planned with maybe more on the schedule. The news was announced today and now gives the FiA the two manufacturers needed in the LMP1 division. This will put Toyota one on one with Audi for sports car supremacy. No small order to say…

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Second Audi Involved in Horrific Crash

The #1 Audi R18 of defending Le Man winner Mike ‘Rocky’ Rockefeller  has been involved in a violent shunt with a slower GTE  car at the high speed kink between Mulsanne and  Indianapolis corner. Audi Sport has confirmed that Rockefeller was able to get out of the car himself that he spoke to the team and has been taken to the hospital. Rockefeller was overtaking one the AF Corse Ferrari 458s on the straightaway leading up to Indianapolis when the Ferrari inexplicably started to move into the path of the…

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Episode 88 – Openpaddock.net Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSit back and enjoy as Shaun and Doug discuss all the happenings in motorsport. Rally Italy, Le Mans at Spa, F1 in Turkey and Mike Conway finally joins us! Plus much more!

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Audi R18’s Complete Test

Two Audi R18 “Evolution 2” racers made their first public appearance following the 12 hours of Sebring. All ten Audi drivers were involved in the four day test and the R15 was used to set test benchmarks. According to Audi all three cars generated “thousands of test kilometers to generate important findings relating to vehicle setup, aerodynamics, tires, cooling, and reliability.” The R18’s were scheduled to arrive at Audi Sport in Ingolstadt, Germany, Monday and will be dismantled and analyzed. It’s been reported that one of the R18 “Evolution 2” bested Peugeots…

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Rally – Manufactured Product?

So I know what you are thinking…”Shaun, rally is by far NOT manufactured results like some of our other favorite series.” I agree to you 100% minus the sly tactics the teams pull on occasion. I am talking about the grand scheme of things to be honest and my point is that rally is a sport of manufacturers…or at least it used to be! Audi, MINI, Lancia, Porsche, Peugeot, Ford, Subaru, Mitsubishi, and all the rest were at one time battling it out through the history of rally as full…

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Episode 74 – Openpaddock.net Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadHere we are a couple days later and a few painful hours of editing for the 74th Episode of the podcast. Show is a little long this week at a cool and crisp two hours, but we cover Sno* Drift, WRC, IndyCar and the toss in a little sports car and technical F1 talk! Thanks for the download as always and sit back this weekend and listen to some good discussion as we all wait for the season to get here!

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OP-ED – ALMS TV Deal A Future Model?

Today’s ALMS TV deal will undoubtedly benefit a series that is trying to pick up the pieces after a economic meltdown had it derailed. The American audience was treated to the premier sports car series via Speed and CBS last season. The upgrade to ESPN/ABC offers a lot more positives than negatives in a time where sponsor air time is key. For a series like ALMS that needs more sponsors, this could prove to be a dream come true. The deal today came from a healthy marriage between ALMS and…

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