Tag: Citroen

WRC – Sebastien Loeb Returns to Rallye Monte Carlo in Dominant Fashion

Mike Shaw

Nine times World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb didn’t quite start the week’s event the way everyone expected.  Word on social media was that he actually slid off the road and wrecked his recce car.  No matter though, because by late afternoon he showed who was boss of the Monte by laying down the fastest shakedown time of the bunch on his very first run.  Granted this is far from determining who will win the entire rally, especially with tire choices being the primary element deciding the victor.  Be that as it may,…

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WRC – Liveries, Liveries, and More Liveries

Mike Shaw

You get a new livery, and you get a new livery, and you get a new livery….it’s that Oprah Winfrey Show time of year where all the major teams release their “New Look” for the 2015 season.  Since every car in the modern WRC has the exact same profile, the teams have to do something to stand out.  I have to tip my hat to both M-Sport and VW for the most dramatic of designs, however one must wonder whether the two teams somehow collaborated before coming up with their…

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Rally – Mikko Hirvonen Announces Retirement

Mike Shaw

Mikko Hirvonen is one of the fastest drivers and one of the most beloved personalities the World Rally Championship has ever seen. He broke the mold of how most westerners saw Finns, as Mikko was unafraid to show his raw emotions and talk in detail about his successes and failures to the media. He also has one heck of a sense of humor that was well displayed in his travel videos he did with co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen in their first season with Citroen.  By far Mikko’s  greatest successes came from the…

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Rally – Kubica, A Rally Legend in the Making?

Mike Shaw

When Robert Kubica came on to the World Rally Championship scene in the WRC2 category last year, it caused quite a stir.  Rally had another former F1 winner coming over to what many of us rally fans deem to be the pinnacle of motorsport.  This would help draw considerable attention to rally which has been recovering from a period of lackluster spectator and TV viewer counts.  Unlike Raikkonen though, Kubica feels he has unfinished business in Formula 1.  Most recall that Kubica’s F1 career was cut short after a nasty…

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WRC Musical Chairs

Mike Shaw

We all remember the game as kids.  When the music stops everyone grabs a seat except for one odd man out.  Similarly there seems to never be enough manufacturer seats with the current depth of talent available in the WRC.   So here’s a quick look at the drivers that snagged a seat and who was left standing.   As we all know, the Volkswagen World Rally Team has their drivers firmly bolted to their carbon fiber seats for at least one more year.  There is no real need for…

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Exclusive: Colin Clark Talks Rally!

Shaun

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWe were fortunate enough today to speak with Colin Clark and pick his brain on all things rally related! Colin was generous enough to allow us an hour of his time to talk about Promoting the WRC, VW and Sebastien Ogier’s 2013 domination, as well as Hyundai and much much more! We would like to thank Colin for his time and applaud his continued efforts to spread the passion of rally to our North American fans and fans around the world!

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Global Rallycross Championship Round 2 – Epic Fail!

Mike Shaw

Well this quickly became the GRC event that wasn’t.  After spending a bit of time this morning writing up a somewhat lengthy intro for the GRC X-Games Barcelona event, I sat down in front of the TV to watch the action unfold.  What greeted me wasn’t roaring 600HP rally cars, but instead a rain delay. Excuse me?  Did they really just say that?  Rally cars were sidelined because of rain?  Okay, even a rally stage can be cancelled because rain can be so heavy that emergency crews wouldn’t be as…

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Rally – VW Ready for Mexico Altitude

Shaun

The World Rally Championship visits Mexico this weekend with many teams taking part in recce today. Mexico proves a tricky challenge not only for the drivers, but the engineers as well. For those who are new to the WRC, Rally Mexico pushes the teams to altitudes they do not experience anywhere else on the schedule. This has a major impact on the engine and how it performs. The official WRC page put up a great story here that detail how Volkswagen prepared for the tricky altitude conditions. “On the one…

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WRC – 2013 Through my Eyes

Shaun

While it is true that Mike Shaw has taken the rally section of the site over, I would be remised if I did not have a chance to chime in on the 2013 season that is just a few short days away. The teams and equipment have reached Monte Carlo as we prepare for the historic Monte Carlo Rally set to begin 15 January. 2013 introduces a couple of items that will make this season so very fun to watch. First, Sebastien Loeb is set to only run four events…

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Episode 168 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadKevin, Mike, Mike and Doug are happy to have Conor Daly as their guest tonight. Conor talks with the OP boyz about the different racing culture in Europe, having spent the past two years competing full-time in GP3. He also talks with us about his goals for 2013, his upcoming IZOD IndyCar Series test with AJ Foyt Racing, as well as a bit of rally. We need to start a campaign to get Conor into the X-Games RallyX event! Also, anyone have a car…

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