FROM: RALLYCAR: Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard have won the 2011 Rally in the 100 Acre Wood after a flawless drive from start to end. L’Estage set a blistering pace early on, winning ten of the event’s fifteen special stages and finishing 17.7 seconds ahead of international rally ace David Higgins. This victory was a particularly sweet one for L’Estage, who celebrated his birthday on Saturday, the second and final day of the rally. Subaru Rally Team USA’s David Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew placed second overall, netting their first…
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Rally – 100 Acre Wood Post News Conference
INDYCAR – Pastrana Answers the $5M Question…
So earlier this week we had the Vegas announcement talking about a five million dollar prize to a non INDYCAR driver. So what type of drivers would that bring out? Openpaddock.net’s Doug Patterson caught up with the rally champion at a special one off rally this weekend as part of the RallyCar series. The 100 Acre Wood rally in Salem Missouri is one of the bigger events on the Rally America schedule and Pastrana left straight from a NASCAR race on Thursday to compete. This is what he had to…
Read MoreiRacing – Daytona 500 Wrap-up
So nearly a week after the Daytona 500 via iRacing, I have finally calmed down enough to put my thoughts on a post. For those asking, yes the race was in fact 500 miles and I spent a good three weeks prepairing for NASCAR’s crown jewel event. This particular event was not as easy as one would think. While we are turning left and the draft effects the way you drive, the setup is crucial. I started with picking a setup off of the iRacing forum and giving it a…
Read MoreRally – Stobart Goes Big for Mexico
The M-Sport Stobart team had a weekend to remember in Sweden with Mads Ostberg giving the team their best ever result of 2nd. The team also led a rally for the first time ever. So what is the next logical step? Go even bigger in Mexico! The team is set to run with four M-Sport Stobart powered Ford Fiestas. Mads Ostberg and Henning Solberg are the nominated points drivers for the first gravel test of the year. Joining them in a non points capacity will be Matthew Wilson and Evgeny…
Read MoreINDYCAR – Wheels Fall Off for De Ferran Dragon
When the news broke a while back that Tony Kanaan had signed with De Ferran Dragon Racing, we here at the site were very excited at the variable that would add to 2011. TK is obviously a very talented driver who made charging through the field into a game last season. What would he be able to do in 2011 and for a team that had seen a best fourth position out of former driver Raphael Matos? It all ended on Tuesday night when Tony Kanaan was released from De…
Read MoreRally – Red Bull Skoda Ready to Attack SWRC
One of my top story lines for Rally Mexico is going to be the arrival of the Red Bull Skoda outfit and 2010 IRC champion Juho Hanninen. A seat that was previously held by Patrik Sandell now goes to one of the top all around drivers in rally and they will be looking to win south of the border. Skoda is currently fielding one factory level entry with their man Juho at the wheel while a second car will be fielded by Baumschlager Rally Racing. Hermann Gassner jr will be…
Read MoreRally – Manufactured Product?
So I know what you are thinking…”Shaun, rally is by far NOT manufactured results like some of our other favorite series.” I agree to you 100% minus the sly tactics the teams pull on occasion. I am talking about the grand scheme of things to be honest and my point is that rally is a sport of manufacturers…or at least it used to be! Audi, MINI, Lancia, Porsche, Peugeot, Ford, Subaru, Mitsubishi, and all the rest were at one time battling it out through the history of rally as full…
Read MoreEpisode 77 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWe are joined this week by Todd McCandless from Formula1blog.com to discuss Bahrain and all things F1 off season. We get into the Las Vegas announcement and all of the hot INDYCAR news. Doug hits us with his weekly Mazda Road to Indy topics and we prepare for the 100 Acre Wood Rally. GREAT conversation on the show and a must download for sure!
Read MoreRally – Araujo Set as MINI WRC Customer
Armindo Araujo is set to graduate from the PWRC and take on the World Championship later this season. Earlier this off season, Araujo had indicated he was very close to signing a deal to drive the world championship level cars this season. The Portuguese driver and two times production champion received the personality of the year award from the WRC based on a fans vote. An award he won over the likes of Ken Block and Petter Solberg. He will debut for MINI in a S2000 car in Portugal before…
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