Patrik Sandell has finished eighth at Rally Sweden today and the highest placed local driver on his debut in the MINI John Cooper Works WRC. The Swedish driver finished the day in the same position he started and extended his lead over the chasing driver, Prokop. It has been a very strong debut for the Swede in his first outing in a World Rally Car with only established and far more experienced WRC drivers ahead of him. Sandell was in eighth position after stage one and, except for one stage,…
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Episode 124 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin the guys this week as they present the weekly roundup for all of your favorite motorsport series. We talk car launches and day 1 of testing for Formula 1. Honda is up to its old tricks again with engine failures in IndyCar. We also try and make sense of all the bad things happening in the WRC. IndyCar fans beware, this may be a prophetic look into your future as well, or at least how fast good momentum can come apart. Mike brings…
Read MoreWRC – Ford Targets Six of the Best at Scandinavian Snowfest
Ford World Rally Team’s Nordic drivers will aim to extend the squad’s winning grip at the Swedish Rally (9 – 12 February) next week. The team has won the last five fixtures of the FIA World Rally Championship’s only true winter encounter and both Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala and Norway’s Petter Solberg have Swedish victories to their names. Latvala and co-driver Miikka Anttila claimed their maiden WRC victory at the Karlstad-based rally in 2008 and Solberg, now partnered by Chris Patterson, took the spoils in 2005. The Ford Fiesta RS World…
Read MoreWEC – Toyota Answers the Call
The new FiA World Endurance Championship (WEC) received a much needed shot in the arm today as Toyota officially announced their “entry” in this year’s maiden championship. The new TS030 HYBRID will still compete with a single entry at Spa and two machines at Le Mans as originally planned with maybe more on the schedule. The news was announced today and now gives the FiA the two manufacturers needed in the LMP1 division. This will put Toyota one on one with Audi for sports car supremacy. No small order to say…
Read MoreWRC – 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…
Read MoreEpisode 123 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun and Mike as they discuss this past weekends Rolex 24 from Daytona! The racing was furios and the Grand-Am show was great as always! We also go over the Sno* Drift rall yhtat opened the 2012 Rally America season. We talk Rubens, IndyCar, and have a little too much fun with Pirelli’s new tire sidewall press release! Sit back and enjoy the show and as alwasy thank you!
Read MoreRally America – Slippin’ ‘n’ Slidin’ at Sno*Drift
The first of six rounds for the Rally America National Championship is in the books, and wow was it a great rally! The conditions near Atlanta, MI in the upper portion of the lower peninsula were treacherous! There was packed ice below about an inch or two of snow on the road surfaces which made grip difficult to manage. Since studded tires are not legal in every state where the Rally America championship is contested, they are prohibited in the technical regulations. I don’t care how aggressive of a tread…
Read MoreEpisode 122 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin the Paddock Crew as they review the biggest rally of the year in Monte Carlo. Sebastien Loeb starts off the 2012 campaign strong but MINI proves despite controversy, they are still a team to be reckoned with. The Rally America championship kicks off this weekend with the Sno*Drift event in Michigan. We also briefly talk Le Mans and the effect that Peugeot pulling out will have on the WEC. We proceed to IndyCar and give a “here is where we are now” segment. Formula 1…
Read MoreIndyCar – Crying Wolf
For the past couple of years now, there has been much hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth by the team owners about the cost of racing, how bad the economy is, and how they might not be able to make it if the league decides to [insert change to status-quo here]. The new chassis was due to be released originally in 2011, but foot-dragging and cost complaints pushed that process back to process back a year. We looked forward to having chassis competition again, but fear that the costs would escalate…
Read MoreWRC – MINI Final Day from Monte Carlo
Monaco, 22nd January 2012. The MINI WRC Team concluded the fifth and final day of the Monte Carlo Rally by bringing Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) and Pierre Campana (FR) and Sabrina de Castelli (FR) to the finish on the principality’s harbourside second and seventh respectively. This was only the team’s seventh FIA World Rally Championship event, but it was the third podium for the Spanish crew. The sun was shining and the roads were dry for the final stage of the rally – the 5.16 kilometre…
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