Tag: FIL

IndyCar – Changes Coming to Technical Inspection Processes

Doug Patterson

The Milwaukee weekend was not a good one for INDYCAR Race Control and the technical inspection process, both of which are shrouded in a cloak of secrecy. The long-standing policy of non-disclosure when it comes to rules infractions and assessed penalties has created an atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust within the Firestone Indy Lights paddock and among the fan-base as well. The lack of disclosure and shrinking technical personnel roster has lead to inconsistencies, misinterpretations, and misunderstandings. While there’s still very little genuine information directly from the league, here are…

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Indy Lights – Milwaukee Wrap-Up

Doug Patterson

Discord and dissension plagued this weekend’s Firestone Indy Lights event. The minimal car count on Saturday for qualification got smaller still on Sunday as Peter Dempsey pulled off the track refusing to take the green flag in protest to what he and his team, O2 Racing Technology, feel is favouritism shown to some teams by INDYCAR by ignoring technical violations found in post-race and post-qualifying inspections over the past years. In a release issued by the team later Sunday evening, it was revealed that not only were team officials and…

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Mazda Road to Indy – Looking Forward to Milwaukee

Doug Patterson

On Memorial Day Weekend, the Mazda Road to Indy drivers all ran for the first time on ovals, albeit different ones. The Firestone Indy Lights series ran the Firestone Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Carburetion Day, while the Cooper Tires Presents the US F2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda, the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear, and the Mopar USAC Midget Series raced on the Night Before the 500 at the newly renamed Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. This weekend all four series will again compete on…

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Mazda Road to Indy – Jensen Motorsport back on track in Montreal

Doug Patterson

After the flurry of activity during the Month of May, the Mazda Road to Indy program is set to take a race weekend off as all three series, the Cooper Tires Presents the US F2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda, the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear, and the Firestone Indy Lights Series all will skip the IZOD IndyCar Series event at the Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. The next race for all three series will be the weekend of June 17th at the Milwaukee Mile. Until then, the teams…

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Episode 89 – Openpaddock.net Podcast

Shaun

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun and Mike as they discuss the action on track at indianapolis (or lack there of) as well as all of the latest INDYCAR news. We also discuss Highcroft withdrawling from Le Mans as well as both the IRC and Rally America rounds that happened this past weekend. We also take a look at the F1 circus and have a special interview with David Uhl!

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IndyLights – WillyT Returns to IMS!

Doug Patterson

For you old school fans, you remember Willy T Ribbs as the first African-American driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 1991, exactly 20 years ago today, with Walker Racing and funding from comedian Bill Cosby. Those of you who are newer to the sport may only know Willy T as the straight-speaking analyst on Versus coverage of the Firestone Indy Lights Series. Mr. Ribbs now returns to competition at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, not as a driver, but as a team owner. In a partnership with…

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IndyLights: Long Beach 100 Recap

Doug Patterson

Last week after the Firestone Indy Lights race at Barber Motorsports Park, I went on a bit of a rant regarding the need for these young aspiring drivers to learn a modicum of control. Apparently, many of their team managers went on similar rants as this week’s race on the Streets of Long Beach was far less chaotic. To be sure there were incidents and accidents, but just your normal racing incident type of things, not the mass carnage and mayhem we saw at Barber. For a circuit that has…

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IndyLights – Long Beach Qualifying and New Additions

Doug Patterson

The Firestone Indy Lights Series will be racing tomorrow in support of the IZOD IndyCar Series on the famous Streets of Long Beach, and today’s qualifying session was very exciting. Before we get to the qualifying results and the implications for the race, first let’s look at some very positive news for the series that broke this week. Two new drivers join the Firestone Indy Lights ranks, and if you’re a regular reader of OpenPaddock, you’ll know that the car count in this step on the Mazda Road to Indy…

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IndyLights – Control! Control! You must learn control!

Doug Patterson

Yoda would be shaking his head in disappointment if he saw the carnage at Barber, and I don’t mean to only point at the Firestone Indy Lights drivers. There was plenty of carbon fiber shrapnel in the IZOD IndyCar Series race as well. During the Firestone Indy Lights race, a number of cars capable of victory or at least a podium were taken out by silly, over-aggressive moves. Even the qualifying for the Indy Lights drivers was a bit chaotic. Josef Newgarden, who had been so strong in testing and…

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