Tag: INDYCAR

Inside The Helmet – 2011 Star Mazda Champion Tristan Vautier

Doug Patterson

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWe spoke with Tristan Vautier, driver of the #5 JDC MotorSport Cecibon/Circuit du Laquais/Fontanels/Red Line Oil Mazda and the 2011 Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear Drivers’ Champion. Tristan describes his early ventures in motorsports driving in various Formula Renault series in Europe before coming to the Star Mazda Championship in 2010. He also walks us through his amazing and dominating 2011 championship-winning season. We even sneak in a little bit of rally goodness!

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IndyCar – Thoughts on the 2012 Dallara Aerodynamics

Doug Patterson

We’ve now seen the new 2012 car in both its road course trim and its oval trim. The road course package was tested at Mid-Ohio last month the Monday after the race there. This past Tuesday, test driver Dan Wheldon shook the car down in its oval trim at the Iowa Speedway. Perhaps it would be better to call it its short oval trim, as the car was still fitted with a multi-element front and rear wing and looks very much like the road course package used at Mid-Ohio. Regardless,…

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IndyLights – Jensen Motorsports Wins Firestone Image Award

Doug Patterson

Jensen Motorsports has had a tough 2011 in the Firestone Indy Lights Series. Their primary driver, Canadian David Ostella, has had the pace to bring home a quality finish for the team, but it seems that they’ve been caught out all too often by mechanical gremlins or just plain being at the wrong place at the wrong time and being taken out by a competitor as happened at Toronto. Their second driver, Oliver Webb, also promises to have good pace and the team should be in a position to score…

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Star Mazda – Team Pelfrey and Tristan Vautier Win Championships at Laguna Seca

Doug Patterson

It was Championship Weekend for the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. As we has mentioned previously, JDC MotorSport’s Tristan Vautier had only to show up in Monterrey to win the championship. As soon as the green flag fell, Tristan was officially the 2011 Star Mazda Drivers’ Champion and will receive a scholarship to compete in the Firestone Indy Lights series in 2012, and presumably drive for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. As is common amongst any champion, the key to Tristan’s success was not just…

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Episode 105 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Shaun

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun and Mike as they discuss Rally Australia and a Ford 1-2. They also review the Formula 1 race from Monza and cover all the hot INDYCAR news from the weekend. As always, thanks for the download and we hope you enjoy the show!

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Inside The Helmet – 2011 USF2000 Champ Petri Suvanto

Doug Patterson

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWe had the opportunity to chat with Petri Suvanto the 2011 Champion of the Cooper Tires Presents the US F2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda. Petri, who is already back in his native Finland, drove the Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing’s #3 Viseko Van Diemen-Mazda with remarkable consistency all season long, and secured the championship in the penultimate race of the season, Race #1 on the Streets of Baltimore. Petri tells us about how the Mazda Road to Indy program drew him to…

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IndyCar – Some Perspective On Motegi Risks

Doug Patterson

There’s be a LOT of comments and worry about the radiation levels and the health risks that drivers and team personnel will be facing as they compete at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Motegi, Japan which is located 78 miles from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant which catastrophically failed during the Honshu earthquake and subsequent tsunami. I thought it might be advisable to bring some perspective as to just what the level of risk is compared to activities we take for granted and don’t even think about in…

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Indy Lights – Reigning Indy 500 Champ Drives Lights Car of Belardi Auto Racing

Shaun

INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 7) — Dan Wheldon hopped into the Firestone Indy Lights car of Belardi Auto Racing’s Anders Krohn at Indianapolis Motor Speedway yesterday. No, you are not mistaken, it is not May. Wheldon was invited to test drive the three cars of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder system during a media day at the famed speedway. The two-time Indy 500 winner was like a kid in a candy store; eyes gleaming at the chance to take the cars for a joyride around the former Formula 1 road course.…

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IndyCar – Hideki Mutoh Rides Again

Doug Patterson

The young Japanese driver that showed so much promise in 2007 in the Firestone Indy Lights series and as an Andretti Autosport driver in the IZOD IndyCar Series in 2008 and 2009, ran what was thought to be his final season in lack-luster fashion with Newman-Haas Racing in 2010. After the 2010 IndyCar season, he returned to Japan to run in the 2011 SuperGT Championship, driving a Honda HSV-010 GT for Autobacs Racing Team Aguri. Now he’s set to return for an encore appearence in the IZOD IndyCar Series with…

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