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Read MoreTag: Ford
Preview – 100 Acre Wood Rally
Last month we saw a back and forth battle between the factory Subaru team of David Higgins and Co-Driver Craig Drew against 5 time Canadian Rally Champion Antoine L’Estage and Co-Driver Natalie Richard. It all came down to the final stage in northern Michigan where their studless tires searched for grip on the snow covered roads. In the end, Antoine L’Estage came out on top with his Rockstar Energy sponsored Mitsubishi EVO X. This week teams forgo the frozen northern latitudes for the Ozark forest roads outside of Salem, Missouri…
Read MoreRally – Season Opener Preview to 2013 Rally America National Championship
Williston, VT (January 10, 2013) — The kick-off to the 2013 Rally America National Championship is coming quickly and teams are lining up to take on the snow and ice-covered roads of the Sno*Drift Rally on January 25-26th in Atlanta and Lewiston, MI. Event organizers report approximately a foot of snow has fallen in the local area in recent weeks. A year ago, the Sno*Drift Rally was an extremely icy affair and while there are a couple weeks to go the roads are looking much more like roads than an…
Read MoreWRC – 2013 Through my Eyes
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…
Read MoreQatar M-Sport World Rally Team from Trio to Quartet
This weekend the newly created Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team announced the rest of their driver lineup for 2013. As we already knew, Mads Østberg was picked as the number one driver, and Nasser Al-Attiyah will of course be on board but only attend some of the championship rounds while also competing in the Middle East Rally Championship. The surprise announcement was a decision to draft both Evgeny Novikov and Thierry Neuville to attend all 13 rounds of the 2013 World Rally Championship under the Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team banner.…
Read MoreFord M-Sport Says Farewell To Petter Solberg
As fellow Norwegian Mads Østberg prepares for his first year in a works seat, Petter Solberg and co-driver Chris Patterson bid the top level of rally farewell….at least for now. Whatever you call Solberg’s absence he insists that you don’t call it a retirement. Interestingly in a phone call with Jari-Matti Latvala a week ago Petter mentioned that if the WRC didn’t work out for 2013 that he might go the route of Rallycross. If that is the case then the question ends up being, does Petter do the European Rallycross Championship?…
Read MoreM-Sport Officially Partners with Qatar for 2013
As was speculated a few weeks ago, M-Sport has now officially partnered with Qatar and Nasser Al-Attiyah to create the Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team. We could know by the end of the day who will be the drivers of this new team, in addition to Nasser Al-Attiyah. From M-Sport Press Release: M-Sport are pleased to announce a new partnership with Qatar for the 2013 edition of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) which will see the Cumbria firm run three Qatari liveried Ford Fiesta RS WRCs under…
Read MoreRally – WRC Musical Chairs
By Mike Shaw, Rally Reporter: As the WRC season nears its end, drivers and teams start the process of playing musical chairs in hopes of landing the next championship. The stakes are especially high for 2013 as it has the potential to be a huge turning point for the sport. At least it had the potential, as suddenly the number of available seats has been drastically reduced for 2013. Late last week we heard the official, although long rumored, exit of BMW / Mini as an official works manufacturer. The…
Read MoreBreaking: WRC – Ford Quit as Title Sponsor to M-Sport
COLOGNE, Oct. 15, 2012 — Ford of Europe today announced that it will withdraw from the FIA World Rally Championship as a title sponsor after the 2012 season. The company said it made the decision as part of a review of its European business in the current difficult economic environment. “Ford has a long and proud history in the WRC and this was not an easy decision,” said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe. “At this time, however we determined that it was better…
Read MoreEpisode 155 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun, Mike, and Doug as they rehash the weekend that was Monza for the Formula 1 traveling circus. We also preview Rally GB and talk a little bit more about the ALMS/Grand-Am merger (buyout). This is it! Championship week for the IZOD IndyCar Series and also the Mazda Road to Indy for those title that have yet to be decided. Sit back and enjoy the show and as always, thanks for the download!
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