Kimi Raikkonen has put on a rather embarrassing performance in Spain already. The Finn has crashed out of the rally during the shakedown stage and will not make the start for Day 1. Citroen explained that the roll cage had suffered terminal damage and would not be ready in time to start the event. In my opinion this is yet another pathetic showing in a year that Kimi will want to forget period. Citroen have made it very clear they will not pay Kimi to drive and he needs sponsorship…
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Episode 61 – Openpaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin myself and Doug as we firmly plant our head in the wall over no motorsports news. We talk about Korea and Rally Spain of course as well as get into some IndyCar news. Also we prepare for the Indy Down Force Banquet and go into all of the great features and services the Indy fan club offers.
Read MoreRally – MINI Looking for More?
The big buzz heading into 2011 has been MINI and Prodrive collaborating for a WRC program. Two fantastic names in the lore of the WRC coming together to mount a challenge against the giants Ford and Citroen. Originally scheduled to miss the first four rounds of the next years championship, some words dropped by Technical Director David Lapworth on autosport.com may see the new team up its original 2011 commitment. “We’ve got a good idea of where we’re going,” said Lapworth. “It’s going to be a minimum of six rallies,…
Read MoreEpisode 60 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Mike and Doug as they talk Formula 1. Recap a brilliant race in Japan and serve you your motorsports news for the week. Sit back and enjoy the show!
Read MoreRally – Rally America 2011 National Championship Schedule
This morning, RallyCar announced their schedule for the six-round 2011 Rally America National Championship. While there are no surprises, it is nice to have the confirmed dates for those needing to make travel plans. We really missed not being with the Last Ditch Racing crew at the New England Forest Rally last year, and we plan on remedying that problem for 2011. Event Date Location Sno*Drift Rally January 28-29, 2011 Atlanta & Lewiston, MI 100 Acre Wood Rally February 25-26, 2011 Salem, MO Olympus Rally April 30-May 1, 2011 Ocean…
Read MoreOpEd – Top Five Most Influential Race Cars
In keeping with the Top-Five series of posts, we now turn our attention to the cars. What do you think were the top five most influential race cars throughout motorsports history? We’ve taken a stab as some we think were true game-changers in their time. Lotus 38 Being a life-long fan of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, I might be a bit prejudice, but the Lotus 38 that Jimmy Clark drove to victory in 1965 changed how Americans viewed race cars. Prior to the Lotus 38, the cars that ran…
Read MoreOP-Ed – Raikkonen Acts Ridiculous…Boullier Impressive
I have been very happy out of what Eric Boullier has put on display during the Kimi Raikkonen potential of 2011. We all know that now it is not going to happen, but what was most shocking was Kimi’s childish reply to the team. Earlier this week we had mentioned Kimi was not going to Renault and was very upset with the Renault team boss for even using his name. He accused Boullier and Renault of using his image to further the team commercially. I was shocked at the response…
Read MoreRally – The Face of WRC for 2011
With both championships decided this past weekend in France, we now begin to shift our focus to the 2011 season. The whole face of the WRC is set to change with the launch of the 2011 S2000T cars that occured late last week. I was not able to post the launch videos last week, so here are the launch videos for the Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Citroen DS3, and MINI Countryman WRC. These cars are based on a S2000 chassis and will run a 1.6 litre turbo charged engine. You…
Read MoreRally – Ford Post Event Video
Rally – Loeb Storms to Win and 7th Title
Rally France has ended and was a bit all to predictable as Sebastien Loeb has taken Rally France and his seventh title in as many years. The rally itself was pretty cut and dry as nobody has been able to touch Loeb on the tarmac surface for sometime now. Even the rainy and muddy conditions could not slow down the Citroen ace from achieving what we all knew was eventually going to happen. Notable events from Day 2 that was not covered on the site include Kimi Raikkonen crashing as…
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