Well here is this weeks Sunday Service Park all be it a day late. Some good news circulating around the various series with the IRC really gearing up for Monte Carlo which is now a few weeks away. So lets take a look at what happened in rally this week. Ken Block up for WRC award That’s right! America’s very own Ken Block is up for the Personality of the Year award. You can vote today and today only on WRC.comfor the Rally America/Gymkhana star. There is no doubt in…
Read MoreTag: Solberg
WRC – Raikkonen/Monster Switch Imminent?
Rumors out of the Finnish press are indicating that talks between Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull/Citroen are failing. They are also quick to point out that the 2007 Formula 1 champion may be on his way to the Monster World Rally Team as we and some others have speculated. The wild card out of this potential deal is the fact we may even see Kimi in NASCAR! We have known for sometime that Citroen was probably only fielding four cars in the 2011 championship. Sebastien Loeb and Ogier occupy two…
Read MoreRally – Sunday Service Park 12/12/10
This week has prove to be most fantastic, and we had some key stories hit as we continue to shape 2011. The drivers market in the WRC has taken an interesting turn and the IRC looks to have finally released their schedule for 2011 Peter Van Merksteijn Secures Citroen Ride Who? That is probably what you are asking yourself after this weeks announcement that Merksteijn has secured a factory supported Citroen DS3. Peter does have WRC experience and has piloted a Ford Focus RS in previous rounds of the championship.…
Read MoreEpisode 67 – Openpaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin the Paddock boys this week as we talk Toyota and Le Mans, Solberg in Mote Carlo, and wrap up Penske’s sponsorship shopping spree. We stay clear of 151c violations for the most part but Paris Hilton nearly ruins that. Sit back as always and enjoy the show!
Read MoreSunday Service Park – 11/27/10
Welcome to the newest column at Openpaddock.net! As the rally season takes its short break they call an off season, the Sunday Service Park will be my time to give some opinion on the week’s news and address rumors within the WRC and Rally America blogs. This week has seen the driver market get kicked up a notch and Petter Solberg is trapped in the middle. Petter Solberg Last week during the podcast I had made the argument that Petter would be a reasonable fit at the Prodrive MINI operation.…
Read MoreEpisode 64 – Openpaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin the paddock boys for a World Championship edition of the podcast. We talk about Sebastian Vettel’s title drive and why we think he is deserving. We also go over Rally Wales and some of the WRC silly season rumors as we say good bye to the Focus and C4. The final part of the show will bring about the IndyCar talk for the week as we look at Chevrolet and some of the engine specs for 2012. Sit back for with your favorite…
Read MoreRally – Solberg’s Future TBD in 2011
The last man to win the World Rally Championship that was not Sebastien Loeb is questioning his future in the sport for 2011. The 2003 champion has revealed that he does not have the budget to continue his privateer efforts when the new S2000T cars come on line next season. Solberg has been piloting a Citroen C4 the last couple seasons after offered a really good deal. This budget issue however may make Solberg a key player in the driver market if sponsorship cannot be found. Petter said he has…
Read MoreEpisode 62 – Openpaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Doug and myself as we talk about the IndyCar Downforce Banquet and announce some exciting news! We also talk about racing Justin Wilson on iRacing. We also get into actual events that took place this weekend with Rally Spain and the Korean Grand Prix. Both saw excellent off road action and the F1 title race has been put on its head. Sit back with your favorite beverage and listen to a great conversation even though news has been hard to come by!
Read MoreRally – Leg 1 in Spain
Sebastien Loeb has taken it easy this weekend and is still leading Rally Spain by 3.8secs over future teammate and Citroen Junior driver Sebastien Ogier. Loeb’s lead does come as a surprise as the first leg has a mixture of both tarmac and gravel. The Frenchman was first on the roads and sacrificed little time because of it. Jari-Matti Latvala is currently in third which is slightly below what the team were hoping. The idea was to have JML utilize his fast gravel pace to put a lead over the…
Read MoreRally – 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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