Episode 172 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIt’s rally time!! Mike Shaw takes us through a recap of the opening round of the World Rally Championship, the legendary Monte Carlo Rally, and gives us a preview of the opening round of the Rally America series, the always slippery Sno*Drift Rally. Kevin, Doug, and Mike Whitesell finish out the show with news from Formula 1, IndyCar and a brief look at the upcoming 24hrs of Daytona. We’re also giving more stuff away this week! To one of our Twitter followers, we will…

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Review: Rally Monte-Carlo 2013

In recent past the Monte-Carlo rally has been a tarmac rally with patches of ice and slick spots. This year however it was completely different as massive snow storms came through and blanketed the stages. It looked more like Rally Sweden than the Monte-Carlo we have all been accustomed to.   At the end of the very first stage Sebastian Ogier gave Volkswagen their first stage win in the debut of the Polo R WRC. It wasn’t by much, but a significant achievement nonetheless. Loeb was just 3.7 seconds behind.…

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Preview: Rally Monte Carlo 2013

Rally fever has been steadily growing across the globe as we get ready for one of the most historic rallies in history. Two weeks ago we got a taste of the European Rally Championship at the Austrian held Jänner Rally which ended in an epic charge by Jan Kopecký to win by just half a second. This time it will be the top level WRC class on the icy roads of southern France pushing to the limit. Who will win? Will Loeb once again out pace everyone? Or will Ogier…

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WRC – MINI Program Set to Implode

In what is turning out to be a rough start to the 2012 season, it looks as though the MINI program is set to implode on itself as soon as tomorrow. The team that has been run and operated by Prodrive indicated that a board meeting was taking place and that a decision would be announced tomorrow on the future of the operation. This coming after a second place finish at the Monte Carlo rally but a couple weeks ago. There are a number of issues that could be contributing…

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WRC – Petter Slapped With the Infamous Article 151c

Ford’s new (or should that really be returning) factory driver for 2012, former World Champion Petter Solberg, has done it again. He was busted for speeding on his way back to the service park after the last competitive stage of Rallye Monte-Carlo. Apparently frustrated by a slower car in front of him, he accelerated to 106 kph (66 mph) while in a 50 kph (31 mph) zone. Not only that, passed the car on a stretch where there was a solid center line. It means the same thing there as…

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Rally – MINI Monte carlo Leg 2 Release

Valence (FR), 19th January 2012. After day two of the Monte Carlo Rally, and another 131.76 kilometres of stages, Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) were still fighting with Petter Solberg (NO) for the second podium position and had snatched the place back as the cars returned to Valence for the last time. Meanwhile the MINI WRC Team’s French crew, Pierre Campana and Sabrina de Castelli, were still in seventh after a trouble free day. In his MINI John Cooper Works WRC number 37, the same number carried…

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