Le Mans – Pugs Snub ACO

French Manufacturer Peugeot has announced that at this time, the new International Cup is “not in the plans” for 2010. While the announcement is not official, it certainly continues the bad news for the LMP series across the globe. The announcement was made after arch rivals Audi stated their intention to enter two cars in the championship. Problems with the French manufacturer are to blame for the snub as the board has approved the budget for this year’s Le Mans 24 Hour and work for the 2011 challenger. This is…

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Episode 20 – Open Paddock Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Mike and I this week as we usher in a new year and discuss the return of Schumacher. We also bring up some other interesting F1 points and how they have a lot in common with the drug bums. We also preview the first race of the 2010 season as our offseason is over it is time to talk Dakar 2010!

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Rally – WRC Safari in 2012

One of the largest complaints I have been hearing in regards to the FIA World Rally Championship is the lack of legacy events. Kenya and the Safari Rally are hoping to change a little of that in 2012. The Safari Rally was one of the most beautiful on the calendar and a fan favorite for many years. The event was eventually cut due to lack of funding, but due to some inner workings of the FIA, the event may once again grace the WRC calendar. The event has been on…

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Le Mans – Strakka is Acura Powered

While the Acura LMP2 program may be dead here in America, it has found new life in Europe as Strakka Racing has become the first team to acquire the car outside of the US. The car seen great sucess under the Fernadez Racing team as it took the LMP2 championship against the Dysin Mazdas. The car was shown to have some weak spots in development towards the middle of the season but put on a great show for the season finale at Laguna Seca. The car made a testing debut…

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Le Mans – Kolles to Contest International Cup

Our Force India friend Collin Kolles will contest the International Cup in 2010 with two Audi R10s. This is the second entrant into the new championship, and the second squad of Audis. Audi Sport and now Kolles Audi make up the lineup as of now. The ACO made special breaks to allow the R10 to compete, however the new R15 must conform to new regulations if it hopes to run in ACO sanctioned races. This will see at least two more LMP cars at the Petit Le Mans as the…

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Le Mans – de Ferran ALMS Program Dead?

de Ferran Motorsport may have moved yet another step closer to killing their sportscar program this week when Honda Performance Development stated they will be ending their partnership with the team. The crew here at openpaddock.net have really began to speculate on whether or not a de Ferran entry would be present on the 2010 grid, and this news seems to all but confirm the end for the program. HPD claimed the partnership had to end due to economical problems. HPD had also just recently signed with Patron Highcroft, which…

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