Episode 27 – Open Paddock Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThis week Mike and myself discuss the 100 Acre Wood Rally as we will be in attendance. Look forward to meeting up with john Cassidy from Last Ditch Racing as well as Travis Pastrana and Ken Block. We cover the IndyCar silly season and why many teams are looking to Sebring instead of Barber. We also get into Formula 1 and have a nice debate on Ferrari’s verbage as well as USF1 and the new look Campos Meta.

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OP-Ed – Ferrari the Crusader

There are times when Ferrari releases some crazy PR statements, and then there are times where the completely fall off the wagon with what can only be called ridiculous. Yesterday the team released one of those ridiculous statements. The troubles faced by the new teams on the grid have been well documented by openpaddock and many motorsport publications. Campos Meta’s near collapse teamed with the bloody and ugly falling of USF1 have driven traffic on internet sites through the roof as people search for any bit of news they can…

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F1 – Jerez Day 2: Parts go Flying!

The second day of testing at Jerez concluded earlier today and Kamui Kobayashi captured the fastest time. The weather was dry for the most part which provided some good lap times. It was clear that most of the front running teams were concerned with distance running as both Schumacher and Alonso put in a ton of mileage. The event of the day had to be the Virgin Racing machine piloted by Timo Glock. The German put up another dead slow lap but that was not the fun. The Virgin machine…

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F1 – Jerez Day 1

The second official winter test of the 2010 season has began this week and we have day one times and highlights. A few drivers were able to set some dry lap times before rain moved into the area causing slower lap times. This provided a chance for the teams to test their new cars in the wet conditions. Force India, Virgin Racing, and Red Bull were new additions to the testing session with the Red Bull squad suffering mechanical failure early. Not a hot start for the drink racers as…

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F1 – Car Launch Dates – Campos, USF1, Ferrari Updates – 1/27/10

Not really a substantial update to the chart below, but plenty of interesting tidbits to add to our knowledge of car launches. Ferrari Ferrari will be unveiling its 2010 effort live tomorrow through their website. Campos Campos however has announced that they will not be testing their car at all. Their first opportunity run the car will be at Bahrain. Daniel Eisen from Campos said “Bahrain is a test, it’s not a first race for us. The cars are very advanced, we have a driver under contract and our intention…

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F1 – Rossi Happy With Ferrari Test

Valentino Rossi, undisputed G.O.A.T. of motorcycle road racing, completed yet another test with Ferrari wtih flying colors. This time, he was in the F2008 shoed with GP2-spec slicks and set a blistering time for someone who has had only a couple of sessions in a Formula 1 car. His quick time around the Barcelona circuit was 1:21.900. To put this into perspective, Autosport.com pulled out the pole time for this year, and for 2008. Jenson Button won pole last year with a 1:20.527, and Kimi’s 2008 pole was secured with…

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F1 – Car Launch Dates – Force India Update – 1/15/09

Force India has announced that they will have their 2010 car, the VJM3, ready for on track testing at Jerez on February 10th. The team decided to focus on further development of the car, instead of pushing onto the track February 1st with the vast majority of the field.  They will be joining Red Bull and Virgin who will also be seeing the track for the first time at Jerez. Also, Mercedes GP confirmed that they will be launching their car in Stuttgart at the Mercedes Museum on January 25th.…

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F1 – Car Launch Dates – Lotus & Torro Rosso Updates – 1/15/2010

We have updated Lotus launch details and news that Torro Rosso is going to make it on track before big brother RBR. Lotus has updated their launch date from February 5th to February 12th.  February 5th is the date that they plan to fire up the mighty Cosworth power plant for testing in house. Also, Torro Rosso has surprised everybody by announcing that they will be on track February 1st for the test at Valencia.  They have not announced an official launch date for the car yet, but they may…

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F1 – Car Launch Dates – 1/14/2010

McLaren has announced that they will launch their MP4-25 on January 29th.  No location has been given for their launch at this time, however McLaren is least likely to have a low-key shindig. And why should they. With two British world champions on the team, they have much to trumpet. Add to that the amazing development they did on their 2009 challenger which brought it from the back of the grid at the beginning of the season to winning races. 2010 could be a very good year for Lewis Hamilton.…

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F1 – Car Launch Dates – 1/13/2010

Ferrari has announced that they will be unveiling their 2010 challenger, the ‘281’ on January 28th at Maranello. It will then take its first laps at the Ricardo Tomo Circuit on February 1st, along with the majority of the 2010 grid. Also reported this week is that Red Bull will not have their RB6 ready on time to attend the first open test in Valencia, but will instead wait an additional week and run their first test at Jerez the following week. A launch date  has not yet been announced…

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