While it is true that Mike Shaw has taken the rally section of the site over, I would be remised if I did not have a chance to chime in on the 2013 season that is just a few short days away. The teams and equipment have reached Monte Carlo as we prepare for the historic Monte Carlo Rally set to begin 15 January. 2013 introduces a couple of items that will make this season so very fun to watch. First, Sebastien Loeb is set to only run four events…
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WRC – Latvala Monte Carlo VW Test
Episode 169 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThis week on the OpenPaddock.net Podcast Kevin, Mike, & Mike dissect new CEO of Hulman & Co. Mark Miles’ comments on the future direction IndyCar should take, recap the testing action at Sebring, and reexamine the prospect of Hoosier or Continental replacing Firestone. They also spend some time looking at developments in the Pro Mazda Championship as Andersen Promotions is already beginning to evolve the series, and they weigh in on Doug’s comments on the potential future direction of the series. Lastly, the trio…
Read MoreQatar M-Sport World Rally Team from Trio to Quartet
This weekend the newly created Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team announced the rest of their driver lineup for 2013. As we already knew, Mads Østberg was picked as the number one driver, and Nasser Al-Attiyah will of course be on board but only attend some of the championship rounds while also competing in the Middle East Rally Championship. The surprise announcement was a decision to draft both Evgeny Novikov and Thierry Neuville to attend all 13 rounds of the 2013 World Rally Championship under the Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team banner.…
Read MoreEpisode 168 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadKevin, Mike, Mike and Doug are happy to have Conor Daly as their guest tonight. Conor talks with the OP boyz about the different racing culture in Europe, having spent the past two years competing full-time in GP3. He also talks with us about his goals for 2013, his upcoming IZOD IndyCar Series test with AJ Foyt Racing, as well as a bit of rally. We need to start a campaign to get Conor into the X-Games RallyX event! Also, anyone have a car…
Read MoreRally – Petter Solberg Speaks About WRC Exit
2003 World Rally Champion Petter Solberg’s announcement of his exit from the WRC has had the rallying community in a frenzy this week. His legions of fans and supporters have been all over Facebook and Twitter trying to figure out what he is going to do in 2013 and wondering if he will ever return to the WRC. To assure his fans that he will still be doing some form of racing next year, Petter posted on his Facebook page the following statement: Hello everyone. First off, I want to…
Read MoreFord M-Sport Says Farewell To Petter Solberg
As fellow Norwegian Mads Østberg prepares for his first year in a works seat, Petter Solberg and co-driver Chris Patterson bid the top level of rally farewell….at least for now. Whatever you call Solberg’s absence he insists that you don’t call it a retirement. Interestingly in a phone call with Jari-Matti Latvala a week ago Petter mentioned that if the WRC didn’t work out for 2013 that he might go the route of Rallycross. If that is the case then the question ends up being, does Petter do the European Rallycross Championship?…
Read MoreM-Sport Officially Partners with Qatar for 2013
As was speculated a few weeks ago, M-Sport has now officially partnered with Qatar and Nasser Al-Attiyah to create the Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team. We could know by the end of the day who will be the drivers of this new team, in addition to Nasser Al-Attiyah. From M-Sport Press Release: M-Sport are pleased to announce a new partnership with Qatar for the 2013 edition of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) which will see the Cumbria firm run three Qatari liveried Ford Fiesta RS WRCs under…
Read MoreOpenPaddock Podcast – Episode 165
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThis week on the OpenPaddock Podcast, we have a packed show and a full house! Mike, Doug, and Kevin are joined by our new Rally reporter Mike Shaw and friend of the show John Olsakovsky. We begin with analysis from Mike Shaw on Petter Solberg’s future in rally and the sad sorry state of M-Sport. Whitesell and Patterson get excited about the addition of GT3 cars in the SCCA Pirelli World Challenge, for our money, some of the absolute best sports car racing to…
Read MoreWhat happened to Petter Solberg and where will he go now?
The 2012 season opened with high hopes for Petter Solberg. After three seasons running a private team when Subaru dropped out of the WRC, Petter vowed last year to never run a private team again. Petter was finding it difficult as a private owner to have the time required to work with sponsors, manage the team, and still test setups and study the stages to remain at the top level of the WRC. Additionally, he had frustrations with his Citroen developed car not getting equal treatment as a paying customer as…
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