Episode 78 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun and Mike as they talk this weeks hot INDYCAR news. Texas Duels, FAZZT/Schmidt race team, and all the rest! We also briefly recap the 100 Acre Wood Rally and preview Rally Mexico. The crew makes their fantasy Rally championship predictions and the all important country queen comes up for grabs again. So sit back and enjoy the weeks important motorsport news!

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Rally – L’Estage Wins 100 Acre Wood, Hanson Maintains Championship Lead

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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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…

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Rally – 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…

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Rally – 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…

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Rally – 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…

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Rally – 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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Episode 76 – Openpaddock.net Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin the Paddock crew as they discuss Rally Sweden. An exciting weekend in the WRC and we do the best we can to break down all the madness. We also hit F1, Le Mans, MRTI, and the IZOD IndyCar Series. So sit back and enjoy the rants and debates. Should also throw out that we don’t hate NASCAR fans…just the series. Enjoy!

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