Archive for September, 2010
Mattias Ekstrom made his first oval race in NASCAR this past weekend. How did it go? Not bad actually. Ekstrom finished 31st 4 laps down to the leaders. When you say it like that it doesn’t sound very good. Here are the positives.
Ekstrom was 0.6 seconds off the pace in qualifying. He improved his pace during the race. It took over 100 laps before Ekstrom lost a lap to the leaders. There were only 2 yellow flags during the first 150 laps of the race. A lap at the Richmond takes about 22 seconds, Ekstrom was only a few tenths off the leader’s pace in order to be on the lead lap past lap 100.
Only 14 of 43 cars finished on the lead lap.
Ekstrom finished ahead of racers like Dale Earnhardt Jr and David Gilliland.
Overall, not bad. Ekstrom will return to Europe and DTM for the remainder of the season. Goes to show that whether its and off road helmet or a full racing helmet, Ekstrom is capable of learning the way to becoming a winner.
The opposite of hard core off road racing on 2 or 4 wheels is Formula 1 racing . The dirt bike gear and the gritty attitudes do not exist in F1 thatis center across the pond in Europe. The world’s most popular form of motor racing is posh in comparison to the off roaders in the states. What better reason to cover it’s most surprising points leader.
Mark Webber from Australia has a slim points lead over second place Lewis Hamilton. Webber has been an F1 driver since 2002 and has never had as much success as he is having now. The Red Bull driver has had more podium finishes in 2009 and 2010 than he had all 5 prior years combined. Webber won his first race in 2009 and has followed it up with 5 more wins since.
2010 is Mark Webber’s best chance to reach the pinnacle of his sport. Teammate Sebastian Vettel is fast, and is expected to become the teams number 1 driver next year as he matures. Webber will finish the year as Red Bull’s lead driver but may not see the same fortune next year. Vettel at a young age is the team’s future. Webber, do it now or forever regret.
After 2 successful test with RedBull NASCAR Mattias Ekstrom will make his oval track debut this weekend at Richmond. Ekstrom will be in a whole new world at the 3/4 mile oval in Virginia.
In DTM Ekstrom races on road courses with about 20 other racers. Ekstrom will now find himself in close quarters with 42 racers on an oval where tempers tend to flare up through the night. Good luck to Mattias at the oval. No time to remember the days of off road helmets and rally courses. NASCAR is unique in the racing world when it comes to the amount of cars on the track at the same time going similar speeds in tight quarters.
Ekstrom has earned his shot and we hope to see him at the front of the field on Saturday.
Finally the United States had it first Super Rally event at New Jersey Motorsports park. The event was the first of many that will occur at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Up coming events include October 2-3 and November 6-7 all at New Jersey MP
In no surprise Tanner Foust won the event over 2nd place Travis Pastrana. Pastrana looked like he should have been wearing his dirt bike gear during the opening lap of the race as his car took flight and almost flipped! The race was red flagged and restarted. Pastrana came back for a second place finish.
We are looking forward to seeing more Super Rally events in the near future which takes the excitment of rally and makes it a wheel to wheel event.
Off Road Accessory Review and Pro Bike Helmets. com will hit the track in full force. Not only will we continue to support Kody De Ruyter in his quest to become a professional motocross racer but we will now hit the road course.
The 2003 Subaru WRX will run a track day in September in preparation for a Time Trial competition in October. Look for our dirt bike gear and motocross accessories at a road course near you.
Off Road Accessory Review will prep for our Subaru on Road Courses in preparation for Rally competition in 2011.
One of the newest and coolest motocross accessories on the planet is the Fiber Optic Helmet Mohwak. This bright item runs off of as small 12 volt battery and lasts forever.
If you want to grab attention at night and make sure no one ever over looks you on the road, strap on a Fiber Optic Mohawk.
These Mohawks are very similar to regular mohwaks and other motocross helmet accessories. They mount on with a strip of tape and wont come off unless you really want it to. Check them out, its a real must have.
Motorcycle racer Valentino Rossi has been called “The Doctor,” of Moto GP for years. Rossi has dazzled fans with his talent while purley dominating the competition. Rossi’s greatness while wearing a motorcyle helmets has equaled that of Michael Schumacher in F1, John Force in Funny Car, and Steve Kinser in a Sprint car.
Enter Marcos Ambrose NASCAR racer and Road Course Ace. Marcos is a threat to win everytime he hits a road course in a stock car. He does things behind the while that Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson could never dream of. Ambrose could possibly earn a similar title to Rossi’s in Moto GP. “The Surgeon, ” on the road courses.
Ambrose has shown many times that he can out brake anyone into a corner without losing exit speed. Anytime a road racer tries to out brake another racer, he understands that some exit speed will be lost. The main objective is to force your opponent off line and into a position where he will lose more momentum than the out braker. Ambrose does not have to worry about pushing his opponent off line, Ambrose is so explosive through the center of the corner when trying to outbreak he is gone before the opponent can think about defending.
So is it premature to call Ambrose “The Surgeon,” why? Because Surgeons cannot make mistakes. Ambrose has made a few at critical times. Ambrose has 3 Nationwide wins at Watkins Glen. But he gave away the 08 Montreal race to a pit road speeding penalty. He gave away the 09 edition at Montreal by missing the entry to the final turn of the final lap giving the win to Carl Edwards. The 2010 Montreal race ended with Ambrose having mechanical failure. The most famous mistake was at Sonoma in 2010 in the Sprint Cup race when Ambrose could not re-fire the car under yellow while leading with less than 10 to go.
Marcos Ambrose is undoubtly the most talented road racer in NASCAR. However, he has got to stop making mistakes to become the greatest road racer NASCAR has ever seen and earn the name “The Surgeon.”
Former Rally ace and DTM Champion Mattias Ekstrom will likely get another chance to battle in the top tier of American motorsports. Ekstrom has a scheduled test with Team RedBull NASCAR at North Wilksboro Speedway in North Carolina on Tuesday September 7. If all goes well and Ekstrom can get up to speed he will race September 11th at the Richmond International Speedway.
Ekstrom who traded his off road helmet in for a road race helmet years ago is slowly taking a big step toward super stardom in the States. Ekstrom is well know internationally but not so in America. Ekstrom did raise many eye brows in June when he lead 7 laps in the Toyota 350 at the Infineon Raceway NASCAR race in Sonoma. Ekstrom did not have a good finish as he was taken out late in the race by guess who, the guy who cant keep his fenders off of anyone better known as Brad Keslowski.
Check here for updates on just who will fill the RedBull #83 at Richmond this weekend.