Indycar News & Rumors.

[fieldodreams79]

Years ago I saw go karts racing on frozen rivers on YouTube. The real dream would be an IndyCar race on frozen lake!

[bjohnsonsmith]

A GP Ice Race was held in 2019 at Zell am See in Austria and again last year.



https://www.autocar.co.uk/opinion/mo...ort-its-oddest

[NaBUru38]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge1qCNJP2kE

[S griffin]

So any other ex-F1 drivers looking to go to Indycar? I know Maldonado has been looking at possibly racing in the series. That would be nice, although he would probably look more to the Indy 500 only. I’m sure there would be others willing to give it a try.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

So any other ex-F1 drivers looking to go to Indycar? I know Maldonado has been looking at possibly racing in the series. That would be nice, although he would probably look more to the Indy 500 only. I’m sure there would be others willing to give it a try.

That was back in 2017, with the now defunct KVSH Racing.

https://www.autosport.com/indycar/ne...ycar-programme

[S griffin]

I guess that wasn’t meant to happen, anyway it didn’t do him any harm to miss out

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

I guess that wasn’t meant to happen, anyway it didn’t do him any harm to miss out

It didn't exactly further his career.

[bjohnsonsmith]

No Ferrari in IndyCar.



https://racer.com/2021/02/05/ferrari...eing-explored/

[S griffin]

I never really thought Ferrari were that likely to enter the series, although it was possible

[TheMightyM]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

No Ferrari in IndyCar.

https://racer.com/2021/02/05/ferrari...eing-explored/

Not surprised. That always fell into the “I’ll believe it when I see it” category.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Some driver updates:


Charlie Kimball will race with Foyt at the 500,

https://racer.com/2021/02/11/kimball...ndy-with-foyt/


and Helio Castroneves will compete at the inaugural, Music City GP at Nashville, with Meyer Shank Racing.

https://racer.com/2021/02/12/castron...h-meyer-shank/

[fieldodreams79]

No sure where else to place this:

Bob Jenkins, longtime Indy 500 broadcaster, announces battle with brain cancer

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...le/6765111002/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...le/6763021002/

Wish Bob & his family the best.

[broadrun96]

He's just that voice I hear for motorsports on ESPN2 with the certain graphics those of us of a certain age can still picture. When ESPN2 was the wild child of ESPN and "edgy"

[rwintle]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Some driver updates:


and Helio Castroneves will compete at the inaugural, Music City GP at Nashville, with Meyer Shank Racing.

https://racer.com/2021/02/12/castron...h-meyer-shank/

Interesting. I wonder why Nashville instead of Barber? Maybe it's as simple as that Transcard sponsorship.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by rwintle

Interesting. I wonder why Nashville instead of Barber? Maybe it's as simple as that Transcard sponsorship.

Given the era and travel, yeah, I would say having the check writers get to attend a "home" event for the sponsorship dollars was the decision.

[S griffin]

It will be good for Meyer Shank to have someone of Helio’s experience and record. Already this season has plenty to look forward to, especially with the schedule of races

[jimclark]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

He's just that voice I hear for motorsports on ESPN2 with the certain graphics those of us of a certain age can still picture. When ESPN2 was the wild child of ESPN and "edgy"

Ditto. (Almost as much as I can still hear and see Chris Economaki)

Prayers Mssr Jenkins.

[S griffin]

Yes I hope he pulls through too, he's been a big of part of the Indy broadcasting team as plenty who have been before him. Just have to hope for the best, all we can do

[HighParker]

It appears there's now more concrete planning for development at Exhibition Place in Toronto. It involves a new entertainment venue and a "Phase 2" hotel tower, to go along with the hotel property already there, where the pit lane and grandstands had been for the IndyCar race up until a few years ago.
Assuming this project happens, and it's difficult to see much getting in the way since it's apparently privately financed, it looks like it will take up the space where there has still been one of the grandstands, and some of the outdoor space used by support series and vendors area.
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/m/3d635...-releases.html
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/...ile-157860.pdf
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/spor...venue-by-2025/

[bjohnsonsmith]

This is the current race track layout superimposed on a map of the Exhibition Center, with the proposed hotel, as well as on an aerial photo.

[rwintle]

I am hopeful this avoids the track as it seems it will (thanks for the plan views). The renderings in their promotional video also seem to suggest it won't touch any roadways currently used by the track.

The CP24 article mentions that the site is the one previously approved for the second Hotel X tower, and purchased from Hotel X by OverActive Media. That makes me think that the archeological surveys that hamstrung the Hotel X development for so long may have been completed for the new site, which would be encouraging.

https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/02/...ibition-place/

I was also wondering about the heritage buildings on the site but it's clear from your plan view that they are completely missed by the new building, so that's good.

I wonder how this venue might be used by the three big annual events on the grounds (Honda Indy Toronto, Canadian National Exhibition, and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair). The RAWF only uses that area for parking but as noted, HIT paddocks (in recent years, NASCAR and Porsches, although I believe NASCAR's contract with HIT expired in 2020 and they're certainly not back in 2021) and vendors are going to take a space hit. Presumably the CNE uses this area too but I haven't been in decades so not sure.

[HighParker]

As they did previously with the first hotel, I assume they will be able to shift things around and fit them into the smaller available infield space. The biggest problem I can see is going to be that the new hotel construction will eliminate the present largest grandstand at Turn 11, which looks like it has almost half of the crowd.
https://hondaindy.com/festival/festivalmap

I think the best option to replace it would be to move or reduce the Honda World area to put up some grandstands there at Turn 9 and 10.
After this past year, I wonder if they've been able to keep enough sponsors to break even. The races in Vancouver and Edmonton were both eventually going to have their sites become unavailable because of development, but the real reason both were discontinued was that they lost money, unable to attract enough corporate sponsorship to cover the cost of the event.

[rwintle]

Originally Posted by HighParker

As they did previously with the first hotel, I assume they will be able to shift things around and fit them into the smaller available infield space. The biggest problem I can see is going to be that the new hotel construction will eliminate the present largest grandstand at Turn 11, which looks like it has almost half of the crowd.
https://hondaindy.com/festival/festivalmap

I think the best option to replace it would be to move or reduce the Honda World area to put up some grandstands there at Turn 9 and 10.
After this past year, I wonder if they've been able to keep enough sponsors to break even. The races in Vancouver and Edmonton were both eventually going to have their sites become unavailable because of development, but the real reason both were discontinued was that they lost money, unable to attract enough corporate sponsorship to cover the cost of the event.

The grandstand is certainly an issue, but not an insurmountable one. It's not going to take out the T11 grandstands, just trim back the eastern end of them. [EDIT - I'm a doofus and can't read a map. You are right, of course it does.]

In the past there have been other places to put grandstands - although of course some disappeared with the move of the pit lane. Infield side of T10 could come back, or there could be a return of the old grandstands along the opposite (north) side of Princes Avenue. They could put one in on the infield somewhere between T4 and T5 if they wanted. Probably other places that I'm not thinking of - there used to be a small one on the outside of T1, for example, although I think that was for VIP or Honda corporate hospitality or something.

Sponsorship is always a worry, although I haven't noticed any real decline in trackside banners in recent years. That doesn't necessarily translate one-to-one to dollars though, of course.

[fieldodreams79]

I've referred to him as Monsieur Crashie for years, but this is a bit extreme dontcha think?

Gene Haas Pulled Romain Grosjean's IndyCar Sponsorship Out of Fear of Facing 'Widow or His Kids'

https://www.thedrive.com/news/39466/...ow-or-his-kids

[jimclark]

And now, "for the rest of the story".....

"On the other hand, Haas's crisis may be less one of morality than one of money. Grosjean told The Race the reason he and his former F1 teammate Kevin Magnussen were ejected from Haas was due to financial issues, hence Haas selling a seat to the PR nightmare that is Nikita Mazepin.

How much of Gene Haas's F1 and planned IndyCar sponsorship budgets come from the same pool, of course, isn't known to the public, so it's hard to conclude this is definitively why Haas and Grosjean are parting ways.