The first full day of competition is in the books in Portugal and the story lines one could drawl from is massive. Mikko Hirvonen in the BP Ford Focus has found his way to the front after a mistake from Citroen number two Danni Sordo, and the biggest story thus far is the drama unfolding in the BP Ford service area. In stage 4 Jari-Mati Latvala had went off in a major way and caused a large amount of damage to the number two Focus and is again out of…
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WRC Rally Portugal Preview and SSS1
This weekend is the beginning of round 4 for the WRC calendar and it sees the championship in Portugal. The first of seven rallies straight on a consistent gravel surface and the season has now officially began. Sebastian Loeb has been dominant early in his Citroen C4 and looks to go 4 for 4 this weekend. If any weekend would see Loeb on his toes though, surly this would be it. The Ford Focus has gotten a number of engine upgrades and feels more than at home on the gravel…
Read MoreIRC Safari Rally Preview
The IRC will now kick off its third round this weekend in the historic Safari Rally that will take place in Kenya on the African continent. The rally is entering its 57th installment and will start with a spectator stage in Nairobi on Friday 3 April. The rally will then open up into grueling gravel stages and conclude Sunday. The one weird bit about this is the manufacturer points will be distributed as normal, however the drivers points will only go to those with an African competition license. This is…
Read MorePlato to Run Lacetti in Opener
Jason Plato has decided just days prior to the BTCC opener on 5 April, that he will run a spec 2008 Chevrolet Lacetti at Brands Hatch. Plato has gone jobless since Seat left the series at the end of last year. The deal at this point is not covering the whole year, however if results can be put together and funding made available Plato says he will remain. The 2008 Lacetti will be run under the RML squad. The team had been running the Seat works program since 2004. Plato…
Read MoreTagliani and Manning In for St. Pete
As we reported earlier, Dreyer and Reinbold prepared a second car for St. Petersburg but had not yet officially announced a driver or submitted it to the entry list for this weekend’s festivities. While we here at Open Paddock surmised that Tomas Scheckter would most likely get the nod since he has been toting bags of cash looking for somebody to help him overcome his half-shaft habit, we also suggested that Milka Duno couldn’t be ruled out. In both cases, we were wrong. Darren Manning has been tapped to fill…
Read MoreFrantic F1
The Economy & IndyCar
The entry list for this weekend’s St. Petersburg race has just been released. At least 21 cars will contest the seson opener for the IndyCar series this weekend, which is down from the 26 cars that we routinely saw last year after the merger. In this world of new realities, especially in the automotive industry and in motorsport, any loss has to be viewed with grave concern. But, lets look at the good and bad of the offseason as far as momentum for the series goes. All through last season…
Read MoreSt. Pete Entry List
The entry list for this weekend’s race has been posted on IndyCar.com with 21 participants. Team Driver A.J. Foyt Enterprises Vitor Meira Andretti Green Racing Danica Patrick Andretti Green Racing Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green Racing Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing Tony Kanaan Conquest Racing TBA – Most likely Alex Taglianni CURB/Agajanian/Team 3G Stanton Barrett (R) Dale Coyne Racing Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Mike Conway (R) HVM Racing E.J. Viso KV Racing Technology Mario Moraes Luczo Dragon Racing Raphael Matos (R) Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Robert Doornbos…
Read MoreButton Wins, FIA Annoys
The 2009 Australian GP is in the books and the F1 world stands amazed at the efforts of Brawn GP. With Jenson taking the win and Rubens taking 2nd, the team has pulled out to an unexpected early lead in the constructors championship. And while some may contend that Australia isn’t the best test of their true pace, Jenson’s car was pulling away from the field at all stages of the race. Rubens had a bit more trouble though, “It was really tough for me at the start as the…
Read MoreIndyCar 2009 Car Count
Silly Season is almost over and we are not much closer to determining a final car count than we were a month ago. Even with the renewed optimism in American open-wheel racing brought on by re-unification, the worldwide economic crisis has wreaked wholesale havoc on motorsports, and IndyCar is no exception. With only 19 confirmed car/driver combinations set for St. Petersburg next weekend (as of this minute), the outlook would seem grim to return to the 26+ car fields of last season. However, there are many potential deals that are…
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