Good Monday Morning. Today I tell you about Formula 1, Ford and XDC.
Let’s begin……….
I mentioned last Monday that Travis Pastrana was ‘launching’ his car that he will be piloting in the Nationwide NASCAR series this year. It turns out he just did a couple of donuts in a flat black Toyota Camry with the number 99 on the side and a minimal spattering of sponsors. No stockcar was actually ‘launched.’
He also informed the masses of his tentative schedule for the 2011 race season. He will spend the first few months testing/practicing and then take to the track for the first time on July 30th in Indianapolis. That sounds ‘exciting’, right? Well it turns out that his NASCAR debut is just the redneck filling in an X-Games sandwich. You see Travis will be competing in the ‘Best Moto-x Trick” competition at the X-Games and then fly to Indianapolis just in time to qualify and race. Then he will hop back into a plane and fly back to California to compete in the X-Games Rallycross the next day. I wonder what the odds of him making it to the NASCAR race without a broken bone?
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Back in December the FIA confirmed that Formula 1 will be going to a 1.6-liter, inline-4 turbocharged engine making roughly the same horsepower as the current 2.4-liter V8’s. I see one side effect from this switch. Every 16-year old with a 1993 Civic is going to think that their D16 is the same engine as in a Honda F1 car. Wait until they try and rev it up to 12,000 RPM.
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Still on the topic of F1, Formula One is slated to return to the United States in 2012 at a brand new purpose built track just outside of Austin Texas. This gives those in North America another option to attend a race without having to fly half way across the world.
To learn more about the track that just broke ground about a month ago click this ——-> http://www.formula1unitedstates.com/
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The popular Chump Car world Series is coming to Calgary on the 21-22nd of May at Race City. The weekend will consist of two 7-hour endurance races. Basically Chump Car limits you to a car with a value of $500 or less.
To find out more about Chump Car click ——> http://www.chumpcar.com/
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Our friend Justin Shreeve has released his DVD of 2010 Drifting. Buy it!
http://www.shreevefilms.bigcartel.com/product/shreeve-films-2010-dvd
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XDC Released it’s 2011 series Schedule a few weeks ago and shortly after it became public knowledge that XDC was no longer a Pro-Am feeder series of Formula D like it was last year. Without that attachment some wondered if it had a chance to survive. Put your worries to rest because XDC is giving away $90,000+ in prize money this year. The Canadian event in Montreal has the largest event purse of $13,400.
This looks to solidify XDC as a second professional series in North America and, if anything, it will keep Formula D on it’s toes and honest.
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Ford is getting the new Focus ST ready for an early 2012 release. It will be one of the first, if not the first, from their Global Performance Platform. The ST will show up at dealers with around 250-HP and most likely options for a 6-speed or dual-clutch transmission. Now Ford just needs to start making the things with an AWD platform.
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That is it for this week. I would like to apologize for the picture of Travis Pastrana however our female readership of 3 most likely appreciates it.