Sebastien Bourdais, driver of the #7 McAfee Dragon Racing Chevrolet Open Paddock: Sebastien, how’s the car feeling to you today? Sebastien Bourdais: We’re slowly starting to get some direction, but it’s been a challenging test so far. It’s a really different animal than last year. The track is about three seconds faster. Whether it’s the track, the tires or the combination, I really don’t know what’s going on. It really is a different game and we’re struggling. I’ve never experienced high levels of grip like that, ever! OP: Actually everybody…
Read MoreTag: Castroneves
Indycar-Power Rankings After Round 5 of 16
Around 1/3rd of the way through the 2012 IZOD Indycar Series schedule, and we’re still seeing tight competition all the way through the grid. Yes, every race this season has been won by a “Red Car,” Will Power has won three of five races, and Penske/Ganassi cars have dominated Pole Position. It doesn’t feel like the overwhelming dominance by the “Red Cars” this year like it has in the past though. Perhaps it’s masterful drives by guys like James Hinchcliffe, Simon Pagenaud and the post-Lotus Oriol Servia. Maybe it’s the…
Read MoreIndyCar – Drivers Preview Long Beach
INDYCAR – Dixon Finally Breaks Through at Mid-Ohio
When you talk about luck this year, Scott Dixon has easily had some of the worst. There have been a number of drivers suffer, but driving for a team like Ganassi, Dixon’s stood out a bit more than the rest. Sunday however, it finally took a turn in the right direction as the New Zealand driver stormed to his first victory of the year. Here are just a few of my thoughts overall. Passing: Heading into Mid-Ohio, one should never expect much passing. The course is just not conducive to…
Read MoreINDYCAR – Milwaukee Highlight Video
INDYCAR – 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 MoreOpEd – Blocking in Modern Motorsports
The Blocking Problem Blocking is certainly nothing new in motorsports, or racing in general for that matter. As soon as two people raced each other on foot, I’m sure that the leader blocked the person behind and probably violently. In various types of horse racing, we see blocking and crowding a competitor against the rail, and given that automobile racing is simply an extension of horse racing, its no surprise that we see blocking in modern motorsports. The challenge of the various sanctioning bodies of modern motorsports series is to…
Read MoreIndyCar – Honda Indy Edmonton Highlights
Episode 49 – Openpaddock.net Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Doug and I as we talk all things blocking and team orders. Was the block right or wrong? Find out with this latest installment. We toss around ideas on Ferrari could have done better and not been so obvious as well as what the points look like in both Indy and F1. We make mention to something we have been following with MINI announcing their joint effort with Prodrive in the WRC as well as this weeks XGames. So as always, sit back…
Read More