It is Monday morning and that means it is time for the Monday Morning Rundown. If this is your first time reading you will find interesting tidbits from around the world of motorsports and automobiles. As always I like to hear what you think and I am always looking for info to share. For now I present to you a completely RallyCross free edition of the MMR.
XDC has partnered up with an outfit from Europe to promote something called the ‘Intercontinental Drift Series’. I am not sure exactly what is involved but it sounds like it will be an event starting in 2012 involving the best drivers from XDC and the best from the unknown ‘King of Europe’ series. For more info watch their website at: http://www.interdrift.com/
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Chris Gonzalez from Winnipeg spent the weekend down on the border of Indiana and Kentucky in Jeffersonville, IN. He was there to compete in the opening round of the Midwest Drift Union Formula D Pro-Am series. Everything considered, he did really good qualifying 12th overall and just missing the Top 8 by a single point.
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This past Saturday a bit of a fundraiser was held in Calgary at Lithium Motorsports for Alex Lee who will be competing in this years Formula D series. Alex unveiled his car which was sporting a new coat of white paint along with a newer JZX100 front end. From the pictures I have seen on the net it looks like it was a good time. As always you can follow Alex and his season at http://www.alexleedrift.com
This weekend is Round 1 of the 2011 Formula D season on the Streets of Long Beach. DODOlogic will once again be providing a live stream so everyone can watch Alex make his debut in the big show.
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It seems the ‘King of F1’, also known as Bernie Ecclestone, is trying to make things a bit more flashy in Formula 1. Bernie has employed the services of Simon Cowell and Simon Fuller of the ‘Idol’ television franchise to help him possibly shake things up a little. Some of the suggestions are trimming the weekend down to two days from three and having the teams’ test drivers race on Saturday for constructors’ points. I’m not sure how that would fly but it would definitely make things more interesting.
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Former Formula 1 star and current WRC campaigner Kimi Raikkonen looked to have pulled off an April Fool’s prank on everyone. The problem is the word of him partaking in NASCAR is a done deal. It sounds like Kimi is stateside testing today with Kyle Busch racing and will drive in five of Craftsman Truck Series dates this year while still finishing the WRC season. If all goes well in the Trucks this year expect him to make the jump up into the cars next year. Is it just me or is Talladega Nights becoming non-fiction?
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Canada’s Paul Tracy had secured a ride for the Indy 500 a few weeks ago in Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s WIX Filters sponsored car. Now Tracy announced on Saturday that he has secured a 5-race deal with Dragon Racing starting next weekend at Long Beach.
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The 2011 European Le Mans Series kicked off yesterday in Le Castellet, France with a 6-hour race. The start was a bit of a spectacle. Watch what happens when the pace car forgets to exit to the pits before the start.