2016 IndyCar Schedule.

[bjohnsonsmith]

2016 IndyCar Schedule.

With the 2015 season nearly over, no race schedule has been finalised for 2016. However, the oraganiser's for St. Pete's, Green Savoree Racing Promotions, have announced March 11-13, 2016 as the weekend for next year's race.

http://www.indycar.com/News/2015/08/...-set-for-March

[rwintle]

Thanks for starting this.

All I can offer is that Charlie Johnstone of Honda Indy Toronto has publicly stated that the race will be back to its usual mid-July dates in 2016 after being shifted a month earlier this year due to the Pan Am Games. I don't think this has been put in writing anywhere though.

[10TENTHS]

Based on what's been confirmed and talked about so far, here's my educated guess:

March - St Petersburg*, Homestead
April - Long Beach*, Barber Motorsports Park, Phoenix
May - Indy GP*, 500*
June - Detroit x 2*, Texas, Road America*
July - Toronto, Iowa, Mid-Ohio
August - Milwaukee, Sonoma, Pocono
September - Boston*, Fontana

* - confirmed dates

[NaBUru38]

http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/11...-2016-schedule

http://motorsportstalk.nbcsports.com...come-together/

[10TENTHS]

Road America confirmed for June 26-28, multi-year deal: http://motorsportstalk.nbcsports.com...erica-in-2016/

Supporting classes are Indy Lights, Pro Mazda, USF2000, Pirelli World Challenge.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/11...-2016-schedule

http://motorsportstalk.nbcsports.com...come-together/

Mexico as the season opener in February would be superb and would help address the issue of such a long off season, though I don't think Bernie will be too pleased.

However, the Racer article also mentions Laguna Seca. As much as I would like to see return to such an iconic track, when Mark Miles was interviewed at Mid-Ohio and was asked about Laguna Seca he ruled it out.

[Yannick]

Elkhart Lake is making a welcome return. Congrats to IndyCar and to Road America for joining together again for an annual event. Now, let's have a SAFER barrier at The Kink (if there isn't one in place already).

It's good to see IndyCar officials are positive about Milwaukee.

Regarding Phoenix, it remains to be seen how the changes to the track which ISC has made since IndyCar last ran there, affect the current car's performance. If I recall correctly, the dog leg has been altered (smoothing the oval out into a D shape), the banking has been increased (by how much?) and faster asphalt has been laid out. Here's hoping IndyCar is testing the aero specifications at the track before they sign anything.

Miles has said he is not focussing on a return of Laguna at the moment. That must have got everything to do with Fontana and the overwhelming reaction to this year's race there. As he says no to Laguna, a return of Fontana is getting more likely - and in September at that.

Now, let's hope for a good turnout of fans at the next race at Pocono!

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Yannick

Elkhart Lake is making a welcome return. Congrats to IndyCar and to Road America for joining together again for an annual event. Now, let's have a SAFER barrier at The Kink (if there isn't one in place already).

It's good to see IndyCar officials are positive about Milwaukee.

Regarding Phoenix, it remains to be seen how the changes to the track which ISC has made since IndyCar last ran there, affect the current car's performance. If I recall correctly, the dog leg has been altered (smoothing the oval out into a D shape), the banking has been increased (by how much?) and faster asphalt has been laid out. Here's hoping IndyCar is testing the aero specifications at the track before they sign anything.

Miles has said he is not focussing on a return of Laguna at the moment. That must have got everything to do with Fontana and the overwhelming reaction to this year's race there. As he says no to Laguna, a return of Fontana is getting more likely - and in September at that.

Now, let's hope for a good turnout of fans at the next race at Pocono!

Since the reconfiguration of Phoenix in 2010/11, the Dog Leg is even more pronounced than before. If you look at the track on Google Earth and go back over the years, you can see the difference.

Fontana has been on the calendar since 2012 but I think Miles is making a mistake about Laguna Seca.

I personally would like to see another Canadian round and another attempt to get a permanent fixture in Brazil, would also help in reducing the long off season.

[bjohnsonsmith]

There was an interesting Q&A session with Derrick Walker and Road America president George Bruggenthies last Saturday on the 8th.

http://www.indycar.com/News/2015/08/...ent-transcript

[rwintle]

No Fontana(!).

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/indycar...4221--irl.html

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by rwintle

No Fontana(!).

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/indycar...4221--irl.html

Not good but if this means a return to Phoenix, that would be some recompense.

[Yannick]

Originally Posted by rwintle

No Fontana(!).

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/indycar...4221--irl.html

No surprise there. This was to be expected after no crowd of any significance showed up at Fontana this year to see a race that upstaged the Indy 500, due to its calendar slot being impractical and colliding with the Boston Consulting Group report for the racing season to end around Labor Day in September.

It's sad to see the "Triple Crown" being now effectively called off due to this cancellation. I expect there to be no other 500 mile race than the Indy 500 next year as Miles seems to follow the old adage of corporate governance: "Thou shalt not follow what your predecessor as CEO has started but thou shalt discredit him as much as possible by running his projects against a wall and making him look as bad as possible".

The presence of other tracks on the calendar whose contracts are up for re-negotiation has now become doubtful (Pocono). Milwaukee's promoter has shut down already, so at this point, I don't expect it to be back, which is the bigger loss when compared to Fontana dropping off the schedule.

Maybe, now it's time for somebody else to step up and talk with sponsor MAVTV and Fontana's owners ISC for an invitational one-off "breakaway" race in the fall, as Robin Miller suggested right after this year's race in June. We shall see.

[DS"]

Originally Posted by Yannick

Maybe, now it's time for somebody else to step up and talk with sponsor MAVTV and Fontana's owners ISC for an invitational one-off "breakaway" race in the fall, as Robin Miller suggested right after this year's race in June. We shall see.

Not just a breakaway race, I'd suggest a breakaway series. After all, the breakaway almost 20 years ago did plenty of damage to IndyCar racing. Maybe the next one will reverse its effects

[rwintle]

Originally Posted by DS"

Not just a breakaway race, I'd suggest a breakaway series. After all, the breakaway almost 20 years ago did plenty of damage to IndyCar racing. Maybe the next one will reverse its effects

It's this kind of progressive thinking that IndyCar needs!

Perhaps a German series? DTM crowds seem huge, I'm sure everyone would come out to see IndyCars at Hockenheim and the Nurburgring wouldn't they? Streets of Berlin, like Formula E? The possibilities...

[TheMightyM]

With IndyCar it seems like it's always two steps forward, one step forward… except when it’s one step forward, two steps back.

As long as IndyCar uses a promoter-based business model and asks for a significant sanctioning fee, you’re going to have significant schedule instability. IndyCar just isn't currently a big enough draw at most ovals or road courses to consistently make money there, though many track owners want to see the series succeed and are willing to give it a go… for awhile.

[NaBUru38]

Fontana on Saturday afternoon in June. Of course they don't want another stupid date like that.

[DS"]

Originally Posted by TheMightyM

As long as IndyCar uses a promoter-based business model and asks for a significant sanctioning fee, you’re going to have significant schedule instability. IndyCar just isn't currently a big enough draw at most ovals or road courses to consistently make money there, though many track owners want to see the series succeed and are willing to give it a go… for awhile.

So why don't they encourage the foundation of an independent sanctioning body for IndyCar racing, independet from the IMS? Let it be 1979 all over again, let the tracks that are willing to house open-wheel racing, yet unwilling to work with IndyCar and its restrictive schedule form the foundation of a new series. What is the speedway going to do? Ban them from the 500? Yeah, good luck with that, because you'd be practically banning everyone bar Ed Carpenter and AJ Foyt Racing

[TheMightyM]

Originally Posted by DS"

So why don't they encourage the foundation of an independent sanctioning body for IndyCar racing, independent from the IMS? Let it be 1979 all over again, let the tracks that are willing to house open-wheel racing, yet unwilling to work with IndyCar and its restrictive schedule form the foundation of a new series. What is the speedway going to do? Ban them from the 500? Yeah, good luck with that, because you'd be practically banning everyone bar Ed Carpenter and AJ Foyt Racing

Robin Miller suggested something like that a couple of months ago, to get the series to offer a longer calender. The problem is making the finances work for the teams independent of series money. Tracks would want to put up less, of course, given the size of crowds that IndyCar draws these days. So you’d need a big TV deal or someone willing to put up a lot of money to make it work. (I'm not advocating this, as you could easily end up with another ugly split, which is the last thing AOWR needs.)

[DS"]

EDIT: I decided to move my post to a more appropriate thread: http://tentenths.com/forum/showpost....&postcount=365

[10TENTHS]

They were offered multiple dates after Boston, the problem was disagreement on the start time of the race and the sanctioning fee.

http://motorsportstalk.nbcsports.com...quite-a-shame/

As for other tracks...Mid-Ohio seemed packed to me. The crowd on Sunday had already started filling in before the Indy Lights race.

[Coach Ep]

Any updates by now?

[NaBUru38]

No news on Phoenix or Pocono.

[Mekola]

BTW, is any possibility to see Laguna Seca again in the calendar? Or I'm just dreaming?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Mekola

BTW, is any possibility to see Laguna Seca again in the calendar? Or I'm just dreaming?

You're dreaming, and I wish but Mark Miles ruled it out.

[Coach Ep]

If the freshly released Pirelli World Challenge calendar for 2016 is anything to go by we might see a finale at Sonoma on the September 17/18 weekend.

(http://www.racer.com/pwc/item/121430...ove-out-as-ceo)