Rally journalist Mike Shaw interview drivers, co-drivers, organizers and others involved in the sport of rallying with a primary focus on North America and the WRC. Come take a ride with us as we provide our own flavor of news and commentary to what is considered one of the most challenging and exciting forms of motorsports in the world.
Episodes
Saturday Feb 08, 2020
Saturday Feb 08, 2020
It’s been a couple weeks so in this episode Mike and Ian catch up on several topics, including expanding Open Paddock’s media presence, the excitement of Colin Clark and Dirtfish joining forces, and other bits of rally news. Then at about the 1hr mark we have an interview we had a couple of weeks ago with ARA’s head of marketing Jeremy Meyer about the 2020 season. So grab a cold one from the fridge and join us at the virtual rally pub we call the RallyCast podcast. As always, thanks for the downloads!
Saturday Jan 18, 2020
Saturday Jan 18, 2020
This is a double episode where we start off talking with Sam Albert about VR gaming and how it relates to the real world as well as connecting to a new audience of rallyists via Twitch. Then we talk to Scott Alderson about how he’s combined his rally passion and art skills to make some amazing rally coloring books for kids (and lets face it, we adults are all just big kids)! We finish with a short discussion of Dakar and make horrible Monte Carlo predictions.
Follow Sam Albert at these links
Follow Scott Alderson and his art at these links below
Saturday Jan 11, 2020
Saturday Jan 11, 2020
In this first episode of the new decade we chat with a newcomer to the rally scene, Mitch Meadows. He and his company Mele Design Firm have suddenly popped up everywhere with connections to DirtFish Rally School, O.D.D. Racing, and many other rally teams big and small. We talk with Mitch about taking a childhood fantasy to reality, as he now co-drives for Karen Jankowski, as well as using his company and brand to help promote rallying across the continent.
You can follow Mitch and all their Mele rallying goodness at the links below!
Instagram: @meledesignfirm
YouTube: MeLe Design Firm
Facebook : MeLe Design Firm
Website: www.meledesignfirm.com
Friday Dec 27, 2019
Friday Dec 27, 2019
In this episode we talk with what we've concluded as America's most internationally experienced co-driver, Alex Kihurani. We get a little bit of background on the young man once known to many as "Rally Brat" who now takes on the world's most epic stages. Alex gives us a comparison of rallying overseas vs here in the states as well as how he teamed up with another American in Europe, Sean Johnston. This year the two took on both the Junior WRC and ERC achieving something that hasn't been done by an American since John Buffum, a WRC class podium. The future is the brightest it's been for Americans in the WRC for a long time, as Sean and Alex continue their journey with a move up to the WRC3 class for 2020.
You can follow Sean and Alex as they take on the WRC at the following links:
Sean Johnston
Instagram - Facebook - Twitter
Alex Kihurani
Alex also wrote an amazing series about his discovery that he had a rare form of leukemia while heading to the Oregon Trail Rally, and how living in the UK probably saved his life.
Part 1 - Setting Off on the Oregon Trail
Part 2 - Press SPACE BAR to Continue on the Oregon Trail
Part 3 - You Know the Oregon Trail was an Educational Game, Right?
Saturday Nov 30, 2019
Saturday Nov 30, 2019
In this episode host Mike Shaw reviews the Roger Albert Clark historic rally with co-driver Martin Brady. Martin and USA driver Seamus Burke finished an impressive 1st in the FIA class and 17th overall in their period correct Ford Escort MK2 over 5 days, 32 stages, and over 1200 total miles of rallying. It’s a bit of old meets new as Martin tells us what it takes to prepare for and run a proper endurance stage rally, which was not without its challenges.
We encourage you to go back and watch some of the video footage from this historic event on the Roger Alert Rally Facebook page which can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/RogerAlbertClark/videos/
Full results from the RAC can be found here:
Thursday Nov 21, 2019
Thursday Nov 21, 2019
In this episode we talk with Formula Photgraphic's Warwick Patterson, Bowes Media's Chris Bowes, and the voice of the Canadian Rally Championship Dean Campbell about their special live coverage event for this weekend's Rally of the Tall Pines. They give us the ins and outs of what we hope to be the dawn of a new era of rally coverage in North America.
Be sure to tune in this Saturday at 8AM Eastern at http://live.crcrally.com
Sunday Oct 27, 2019
Sunday Oct 27, 2019
In this episode we grabbed our favorite Yooper, Al Dantes Jr. of Tower City Race Team to help us review the final round of the American Rally Association National Championship.
Check out our final stage end team portraits with driver quotes here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/OpenPaddock/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10157070814113995
You can follow Al Dantes Jr. and his Tower City Race Team at the following social media links:
Monday Oct 14, 2019
Monday Oct 14, 2019
In this show we look back on last week's Wales Rally GB where there was an American invasion of sorts competing in the Junior WRC. We called up Keanna Erickson-Chang and Ryan Booth just after they got home to find out more about what it's like to complete one of the world's most challenging rallies.
In this episode we mentioned several stage-end interviews you may not have heard on WRC All Live. Here's a link to all the interviews conducted by the Wales Rally GB media team: https://eventnewss.ynil.com/events/2019/WRGB/WRC/itinerary-WRC.html
Sunday Sep 29, 2019
Sunday Sep 29, 2019
In this episode Mike and rally photographer Tedrick Mealy look back at STPR with special guest Mark Piatkowski of the MAP Rally Team. Mark has been one of the fastest regional competitors in the east having finished 1st overall regional at both the New England Forest Rally and STPR. We discussed several subjects from the weekend event including the controversially rough Waste Management stage, how to handle a Red Cross, and an interesting conversation about why a fast driver like Mark enters as a regional instead of national that lead to an interesting idea from none other than Petter Solberg. It's 2 hours of chatting at the virtual rally pub that we call the RallyCast.
You can follow Mark Piatkowski and his MAP Rally team on Instagram and Facebook
Tedrick Mealy's fantastic rally photos can be found on his web site tmealyphoto.com as well as Instagram and Facebook
As always we appreciate your likes and shares. Thanks for listening!
Wednesday Sep 11, 2019
Wednesday Sep 11, 2019
In this episode we review the Ojibwe Forests Rally from a couple of weeks ago with special guest and Ojibwe National Open 2WD winner Ryan Booth. Ryan had a stand-out performance in his first outing in a McKenna Motorsports Fiesta R2 while Ian was happy to be back in the right seat of the Three Triangles Rally Truck. Join us for a great discussion about some of the best stage roads in the American Rally Association championship.