Car launch season is upon us with a few teams setting up release dates for their 2010 challenger. Ferrari have not released their launch date as of yet, but according to crash.net the car may look similar to another car that has already been on the grid. F1 technical artist Giorgio Piola has indicated that the new Ferrari takes many design cues from the Red Bull RB5 that ran so well last year. The Adrian Newey designed RB5 was the closest challenger to the Brawn GP cars for most of…
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F1 – Flavio Wins! Appeal to Follow…
One of the biggest news stories of 2009 revolved around the “crash gate” episode. We are all familiar with the story of Nelson Piquet Jr. intentionally crashing so that teammate Fernando Alonso could take victory. Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds were both blamed for the incident and received a lifetime ban and 5 year ban from FiA competition. The verdict on the appeal filed by Flavio and Pat was released today and the fiery Italian boss may be back a lot sooner than Max Mosley had hoped at the time…
Read MoreF1 – Mercedes Trumps Media
The last couple weeks have been interesting for Mercedes GP. The potential return of seven time champion Michael Schumacher, and a possible sponsorship issue. Many in the media thought that the Henkel-gate situation would really hurt the Brawn/Mercedes and their aspirations to defend their title. Ross Brawn has proved to be one step ahead with the announcement that Petronas will join the team for a long time sponsorship. This is really out of left field in my opinion. The Malaysian oil giant was originally thought to be connected with the…
Read MoreF1 – What’s the Point of the New Point System
As long as things go to the FIA’s plans, the grid will be filled at Bahrain with 26 entries. Due to that, they have decided to revamp the current points system. Last week we heard rumors for the first time that this was going to happen, and before we could really digest it, the new point system was approved by the World Motorsport Council. The overriding goal was to pay out more positions, since the grid would be larger. The new system will pay out to 10th place. While this…
Read MoreF1 – Why Would Ferrari Release Michael?
As much as I hate to say it, I think the Michael Schumacher deal may be done. I know the sources stating the news are about as creditable as the National Enquirer. There is just so much steam behind the “rumor” and all of the press reporting has finally turned me into believing this is finally a reality. Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo helped the rumor along today stating he would release the 7 times champion if he requested. The question then comes to mind why? Granted we know that…
Read MoreF1 – Lotus Confirm Drivers
Team Lotus is the first of the new F1 teams to announce their full lineup for the 2010 season. Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen were announced Monday as the main two drivers with Fairuz Fauzy being named as the official test driver. Trulli will continue his career in refugee status as he lost out in the Toyota pullout (not so sure he would have stayed anyways). As for Heikki, this drive has to be a bit sour after losing his McLaren seat. Both drivers will be looking to have some…
Read MoreF1 – 2010 Calendar Finalized
The FiA have fired off a number of news stories in recent days ranging from a new points system all the way to embracing modern media. One thing that was also released was next year’s final calendar. Listed below is the final 2010 calendar for the FiA Formula 1 World Championship. Key changes see Australia moved to second and Bahrain up to the season opener. This change was sought by the Australians as they host a number of sporting events in the February-March time frame. Canada is back on the…
Read MoreEpisode 18 – Open Paddock Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Mike and I as we discuss Le Mans and the International Cup. We also cover all the big motorsport conventions from this week and the great news that came from them. Britain again has a GP and we discuss it. We also talk rally feeder series and even mention Danica to NASCAR.
Read MoreWRC – Todt Holds Rally Development Forum
Well, many of us F1 fans were greatly disappointed in Todt’s victory over Ari Vatanen for the FIA presidency, but there are some positive things that M. Todt is doing. First of all, surpasses his predecessor by realizing that there’s more to the FIA that Formula 1. The WRC isn’t as strong as it used to be, and in response, the FIA held a forum to discuss ways to improve the FIA involvement in rallying at all levels. The forum was attended by several manufactures, Ford and Citroen who are…
Read MoreRally – New Super 2000 Class for WRC
Acquiescing to concerns from the teams that the Super 2000 and Group N performance gap was becoming too wide, the FIA has proposed separating the two specifications for the 2010 season. The current production class of the WRC, which allows for both S2000 and N4 cars, will be split into two distinct championships. The S2000 cars will compete in the S-WRC class and the N4 cars will compete in the P-WRC class. These two will join the two-wheel drive Junior Championship, J-WRC as support classes for the WRC next season.…
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