Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen ended today’s gruelling opening leg of the Acropolis Rally in third place for Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team. The Greek encounter is famed as the toughest round of the FIA World Rally Championship, but their Ford Fiesta RS World Rally Car emerged unscathed from the rock-strewn mountain tracks north of Athens to lie 55.3sec from the lead. Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were second throughout the day in their Fiesta RS WRC. However, transmission troubles cost almost 3min 30sec during the final speed…
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Rally – MINI Continues 2012 Preperations
This weekend marks the running of the Acropolis Rally in Greece. Typically recognized as one of the hardest rallies on both car and crew around. The MINI works team will not be competing in the event this year, but that has not stopped the team from travelling to Greece. The John Cooper works drivers took part in the typical rally recce today along with their 2012 championship competitors. While the team is not going to run their machines during the event, they did take down pace notes for next season’s…
Read MoreEpisode 93 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun and Mike this week as they talk all things Texas duels. WE talk with our good friend Tyler from IndyCar Garage and ask him for his race experience. We also look ahead to Milwaukee and the picks get a little crazy. We also do a little recap of the Le Mans 24 hour race. We also look to bounce back from last week’s screw up and actual report correct on Formula 1 and discuss Lewis Hamilton’s tactics. As always, thank you for…
Read MoreRally – Ford Looks to Turn up the Heat as WRC Turns Tough in Greece
FROM: Abu Dhabi Ford Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team faces the toughest round of the FIA World Rally Championship in Greece next week intent on extending its excellent record in one of the series’ classic fixtures. Intense heat and rocky mountain tracks make the Acropolis Rally (16 – 19 June) a gruelling test of man and machine, but Ford has won there seven times in the last 10 encounters. The rally returns to the series after a year’s absence and this seventh round marks the halfway point of the…
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Service Park – STPR, Ukraine, and 2012
Another weekend of great rally action warrants another edition of the Service Park. We had the Rally America boys and girls going at it here domestically and the Prime Yalta round of the IRC as well. Don’t forget the FiA has released the 2012 WRC calendar as well with the return of an old friend and some new faces being excluded. 2012 WRC Calendar: The FiA has released next year’s calendar and to a few peoples surprise, Monte Carlo is back on for 2012. If you remember, Monte Carlo had…
Read MoreEpisode 91 – Openpaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Mike and Shaun as they are fresh off of their trip to the fabled Brickyard! They round up an amazing Indianapolis 500 and bring you up to speed on other INDYCAR news going forward. We also discuss the Monaco Grand Prix and Mike says that I fire him to much because of his hair color. We also get into Rally Argentina and Sebastien L
Read MoreRally – Argentina WRC Preview
INDYCAR – Jim Clark and The Wood Brothers Win in 1965
FROM: Ford Racing As part of Ford Racing’s continuing celebration of its 110-year anniversary, we present one of the most unique moments in open-wheel history. In 1965, Ford Racing combined one of the world’s greatest drivers with one of NASCAR’s top crews to make Indianapolis 500 history. Jim Clark’s win with the Wood Brothers was so memorable that when Indianapolis Motor Speedway celebrates its Centennial event on Sunday, Clark’s No. 82 Lotus-Ford will run and be driven by Al Unser, Sr. as part of pre-race festivities representing the decade of…
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