OpenPaddock.net wishes to extend our congratulations to the 2010 champions of the USF2000 National Championship presented by Cooper Tires powered by Mazda and the Star Mazda Championship powered by Mazda. Both series are official parts of the new Road to Indy program designed to produce a clear path for young drivers to advance through the ranks and eventually race at the top level of American open-wheel racing, the IZOD IndyCar Series. US F2000 Sage Karam dominated the reborn US F2000 National Championship from start to finish, including dominating wins at…
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Rally – The Face of WRC for 2011
With both championships decided this past weekend in France, we now begin to shift our focus to the 2011 season. The whole face of the WRC is set to change with the launch of the 2011 S2000T cars that occured late last week. I was not able to post the launch videos last week, so here are the launch videos for the Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Citroen DS3, and MINI Countryman WRC. These cars are based on a S2000 chassis and will run a 1.6 litre turbo charged engine. You…
Read MoreIndyLights – Vernay Wins the Firestone Firehawk Cup
As we mentioned in the podcast, all JK Vernay had to do to win the Firestone Indy Lights Championship and the Firestone Firehawk Cup was to turn a wheel in competition at Homestead. He did so, and took the title in his rookie year in the Firestone Indy Lights. The question now is what is next for this young hot shoe? Will he run another year in Firestone Indy Lights, or will he find a ride with an IZOD IndyCar Series team, or move on to some other series entirely?…
Read MoreIndyCar – Cafe Do Brasil Indy 300 Highlights
Rally – Loeb Storms to Win and 7th Title
Rally France has ended and was a bit all to predictable as Sebastien Loeb has taken Rally France and his seventh title in as many years. The rally itself was pretty cut and dry as nobody has been able to touch Loeb on the tarmac surface for sometime now. Even the rainy and muddy conditions could not slow down the Citroen ace from achieving what we all knew was eventually going to happen. Notable events from Day 2 that was not covered on the site include Kimi Raikkonen crashing as…
Read MoreIndyCar – Game, Set, Match to Franchitti
After dominating nearly every road circuit this year, Power’s lack of oval experience and skill caught up to him in the end. Dario Franchitti’s consistency all season long, as his strong performances on the oval circuits , allowed him to chase down Will Power and take the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series Championship for the second year in a row. Even more impressive is to consider that Dario spent the 2008 season experimenting with NASCAR, but the year prior, 2007, Dario again won the championship. That means Dario has won the…
Read MoreIndyCar – Breaking: Dario Takes Pole in Miami! *UPDATE*
IZOD IndyCar Series qualifying has just concluded down at Homestead-Miami and Dario Franchitti has struck the first blow this weekend as the championship comes down to the wire. The championship contenders were late on to the track, but Will Power would take pole position from teammate Ryan Briscoe giving him that crucial one point for pole. Not to be out done, Dario would come out and lay down a blistering pace of over 213 mph! This would give Dario the point and reduce Will Power’s championship lead to 11. The…
Read MoreIndyCar – Behold, The New Champions Trophy (Gasp!)
The IZOD IndyCar Series unveiled their new champion’s trophy yesterday at a poolside party with Dario Franchitti, Will Power and a host of IZOD ladies. Dario and Will were in attendance due to winning the Oval and Road Course championship trophies respectively. The IICS had to change their champion’s trophy from the old chrome cup emblazoned with “Indy Racing League” to a more suitable object that didn’t use the now defunct moniker. But I think they may have been better off using an angle grinder on the old trophy to…
Read MoreEpisode 54 – Openpaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Mike and myself as we review Chicago and a great race at Spa! We also have PT at DRR and Sarah Fisher taking Graham Rahal for Kentuckey, as well as a number of manufacturers wanting to go rally. So as always, sit back with a beverage of your choice and enjoy our humble ramblings on all things motorsport…and some things not!
Read MoreRally – Saab to Join WRC??
Now that MINI has joined the small list of WRC manufacturers, there is rumor of another team that is not Toyota possibly joining as well. SAAB has expressed a strong interest in the WRC and may be willing to join with one of their vehicles. I will admit that this particular announcement has caught me off guard. If we think back to just a couple months ago, SAAB was in serious trouble and about to go out of existence. Now, it seems that everything is in line for a potential…
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