Episode 118 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun and Mike as they pick through holiday leftovers for this week’s show. We give the weekly dose of WRC, IndyCar, and Formula 1 news. We also give you another chance to win more AcceleRace team gear with a new scavenger hunt question! Thanks for the download and as always, sick back and enjoy the show!

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WRC – Makinig Sense of MINI

What a whirlwind the last couple of days have been in regards to the MINI/Prodrive WRC team. While the world’s attention was focused on Ford and whether or not they would join again with M-Sport, a situation was developing with the Banbury based team that came to the public eye this past week. Initial reporting had made it out to be a blunder of such when MINI failed to show up on the manufacturer entry list. After all, when the team was announced last season, it was said that a…

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WRC – MINI Fails to Register for 2012

The more things change, the more they stay the same for some people. During Subaru’s dying days in the WRC, Prodrive was the subject of much criticism in how they performed and worked with the Japanese marque. While the prospect of Prodrive leading the BMW backed MINI was almost too good to be true, a major mistake has occurred and MINI are not in the 2012 championship fight at the moment. 19 Dec 2011 was the final day for teams to register. This date was presented by the FiA after…

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WRC – RACC Rally Spain Final Thoughts

So we have now finished the RACC Rally Spain and a title race that was three strong is now down to two. Mikko Hirvonen and Sebastien Loeb are now set for a thrilling one round shootout at the season finale in Great Britain. The French ace Loeb will carry an eight point lead into the final round which just so happens to be Ford’s stomping grounds. Though the title fight was on everyone’s mind, there were a number of great stories that came out of this year’s penultimate round. MINI/Kris…

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WRC – MINI WRC Team – Rally RACC – Rally of Spain – Day Three

Salou, 23rd October, 2011. The MINI WRC Team was in a celebratory mood at the end of Rally RACC – Rally of Spain. Not only did Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) and Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR) finish fourth and fifth respectively, but the MINI John Cooper Works WRCs were also first and second fastest on the Power Stage. While it was Sordo’s home event, it was Meeke who took the honour and the three points for being fastest on this final stage. This was…

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WRC – Update After Day 1 for Rally Spain

Just a brief recap here of the events of day 1 for Rally Spain. Keep it to OpenPaddock as the teams post indepth reviews of their first day for the penultimate round of the championship. Conditions were the name of the game for the gravel stages today. Loeb would start first on the road and usually that is an issue, but conditions actually favored the French ace as dust would cause the cars running behind massive problems. The gravel stages were very dry and there was not much of a…

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Rally – MINI WRC Team – Rally Germany Preview

FROM: MINI World Rally Team Munich, 12th August, 2011. With two FIA World Championship Rallies behind it, the MINI WRC Team is now ready for its next test and that will be on the asphalt stages in next week’s ADAC Rally Germany. This will be the first WRC event of the year on this surface for not only Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) in the MINI John Cooper Works WRC number 37, and Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR) in the number 52 car, but also…

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Rally – MINI Withdraws from Estonia

The MINI WRC team has withdrawn their car driven by Kris Meeke for Rally Estonia. While not a World Rally event, the national rally will be used as a test bed for some teams heading into the legendary round in Finland. The entry list has a lot of talent as Markko Martin looks to defend last year’s title. Mads Ostberg will also be participating in a Ford Fiesta WRC. The team was forced to withdraw the entry after a testing crash caused severe damage to the John Cooper works machine.…

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