Welcome to this week’s Sunday Service Park and it is with great regret we kick off the column with terrible news. Yet again the motosport world has turned its eyes to rally and not for the right reasons. Lotus Renault F1 driver Robert Kubica suffered a huge accident this morning in Italy competing in the Ronde di Andora rally. The Formula 1 ace and a pre-season favorite has multiple fractures in his right arm and leg. The polish driver was air lifted to the hospital where surgery began on his right…
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Rally – Sunday Service Park 1/30/2011
Welcome to the end of another weekend and another addition of the Sunday Service Park. We have a few items to discuss, but we also had the first round of the RallyCar/Rally America championship as well. The Landscape was different for Sno* Drift 2011 entirely. We had no Ken Block (WRC), no Travis Pastrana (NASCAR), and no Andrew Comrie Pricard. 2010 Rally America champion Antoine L’Estage was back alongside Nathalie Richard and Subaru Rally Team USA would now have David Higgins along side Dave Mirra. In the end, all of…
Read MoreRally – Citroën DS3 WRC – 2011 season kick off clip
Rally – Ford switches Fiesta RS WRC test plans for Arctic Rally
FROM: FORD Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team has dropped plans to debut its all-new Fiesta RS World Rally Car in Finland’s Arctic Lapland Rally (28 – 29 January) next weekend. Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen and team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were scheduled to drive a leg each in the two-day snow and ice rally based in Rovaniemi. It was due to be the final part of the squad’s pre-season test programme before next month’s opening round of the FIA World Rally Championship in Sweden. However,…
Read MoreRally – Sunday Service Park 1/23/11
After a brief break, we are back for another Sunday Service Park with just a few things happening…including the Monte Carlo Rally. Not a big deal is it? Team that with a few driver signings and we now present this weeks service park. Monte Carlo The IRC kicked off its season with the centenary edition of the Monte Carlo Rally. The Indy 500 of rally has really become an invitational event since leaving the WRC a couple years ago. Every year we see a couple WRC drivers step outside of…
Read MoreInside the Helmet *EXCLUSIVE* – Jari-Matti Latvala
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThe Inside the Helmet segment is back and we are honored to have the 2010 World Rally Championship runner up joining us. Jari-Matti Latvala has been gracious enough to allow us a few minutes and talks about what happened in 2010 as opposed to 2009, the Monte Carlo rally, and Ken Block’s impact on the WRC. Special thanks to all the members at Abu Dhabi Ford for making this happen so quickly. We wish all the team members the best of luck in 2011!
Read MoreRally – Ford Fiesta RS Breaks Cover in 2011 Color Scheme
FROM: FORD BIRMINGHAM, 13 January 2011 – Ford’s all-new Fiesta RS World Rally Car was revealed in its 2011-specification today when the company unveiled the color scheme that will adorn the car in the FIA World Rally Championship. Team driver Mikko Hirvonen and Ford of Europe motorsport chief Gerard Quinn unveiled the livery for the eye-catching Fiesta RS WRC at the Autosport International Racing Car Show in Birmingham, motorsport’s traditional start-of-season showcase event. Ford’s official WRC squad for 2011 also confirmed its new name and logo – it will compete…
Read MoreRally – OFFICIAL: Sordo to MINI
Well the news has finally been made official. Dani Sordo will now compete along Kris Meeke in the new Prodrive MINI WRC. The team is not 100% sure when they will make their debut, but the fit of Sordo at the team is the best Sordo could hope for. News had broken previously that a deal was done, but no official announcement was made due to Sordo’s Citroen contract. Now that the contract has expired, the announcement could be made. For Sordo, this is the best he could have hoped…
Read MoreOP-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…
Read MoreLe Mans – ALMS Reaches Multi-Year TV, Digital Deal with ESPN and ABC
FROM: American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón announced today a ground-breaking, multi-year broadcast and digital agreement with ESPN that ALMS President/CEO Scott Atherton is calling “a game changer.” The innovative deal involves televising the world’s premier sports car series over several ESPN programming and media platforms, including ABC, ESPN2 and ESPN3.com. Intersport, an award-winning media and marketing agency, represented the Series in the new television and digital agreement with ESPN. The core of the ALMS’ new innovative broadcast and digital package will deliver…
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