It is Monday Tuesday Morning and a brand new work week starts for most of the fine people that are reading The Rundown this morning. There is a lot of stuff going on in the world of motorsports and the drama that surrounds it. So let’s get this thing started!
First, all of us here at DODOlogic would like to thank everyone that came out (including Jason’s mom) Saturday evening for the first ever Hardparker’s Ball at the Broken Rack. There were some new faces and a lot of familiar ones in attendance. After the dust settled it is apparent everyone had a good time (including Jason’s mom). For more on this event check back this afternoon for some pictures.
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Here in Western Canada the DriftWest schedule was tentatively released a few days ago. The season will consist of 4-rounds at four ‘different’ venues. The schedule opens up with a surprising visit to Autoclearing Speedway in Saskatoon tentatively booked for June 9th. It will be interesting to see how the course is set up in the tighter confines of the oval. The remaining stops include the Castrol Pad in Edmonton, Pentiction Speedway in BC and then back to Edmonton for the final round taking place on the brand new road course at Castrol Raceway.
• Round 1 – Autoclearing Speedway, Saskatoon, SK – June 9
• Round 2 – Castrol Raceway, Edmonton, AB – June 23
• Round 3 – Penticton Speedway, Penticton, BC – September 1
* Sunday Funday @ Penticton – September 2
• Round 4 – Castrol Raceway Road-course, Edmonton, AB – September 22
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The Global RallyCross Series is entering it’s second full year of events and it will have another big name full time entry this year. (More on that later)
2012 Global RallyCross Schedule
Round 1 – Las Vegas, NV – April 21
Round 2 – Charlotte, NC – May 26
Round 3 – Dallas, TX – June 10
Summer X-Games 18 – Los Angeles, CA – June 30 – July 1
Round 4 – Louden, NH – July 14
Round 5 – Atlanta,GA – September 1
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The Formula D season is just around the corner and the first indication of this is the start of construction of the temporary road course in Long Beach for the annual Grand Prix. Of course Formula D utilizes a portion of the temporary street circuit for Round 1 of the championship series.
While the first round is almost here, round 7 is still 8-months away and isn’t such a ‘sure thing’ with the recent events at Irwindale Speedway. Not to worry though, a lot of jumping to conclusion by media outlets has set of whirlwind of misinformation. Here are some key points in point form regarding the situation at Irwindale:
– The track itself has not filed for Bankruptcy. The managing company that operated the track is the one that has filed for Bankruptcy.
– The driving school on-site is still operating as usual and will not be affected.
– Special bookings for filming/testing are still taking place.
– The track owners have stated that they have no intentions of shutting the track down.
With those points stated listen to Formula Drift co-founder Jim Liaw in an internet radio interview for some interesting insight on the situation: Click For Interview
For those too lazy to actual listen. Jim expects things to sort themselves out in time for Round 7. He also doesn’t dismiss the idea of Formula D taking an active role in the new management of the track going far enough to say they would love to set up offices and operations on-site.
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While Formula D isn’t too concerned with Irwindale yet, XDC was forced to cancel Round 1 of their season schedule that was to take place at Irwindale in just a couple of weeks. XDC will now double up Round 1 and 2 and run them back to back in Arizona in April.
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Last but not least this week I feel I need to share with you what Ken Block has finally come out with for season plans. What he has told us is he will be running the full schedule of Global RallyCross, 3 gravel rounds of the WRC season, some Rally America events, a couple Canadian Championship events along with his slew of Gymkhana Tour events. For the complete story, and his car’s new look, check out the clever video he released last week.