2015 IndyCar schedule

[NaBUru38]

Thanks for the tip!

[HighParker]

Originally Posted by rwintle

... I'm more used to Victoria Day and the ALMS weekends where attendance is sparser (approaching "nil" if Victoria Day is cold). Not sure what TUSC is going to look like... I suspect no more than the usual ALMS weekends, but we'll see. I'd forgotten about the trucks weekend.

Still, I stand by my point - IndyCar in Toronto relies on public transit. I severely doubt there is enough interest in the series that a reasonable crowd would show up were it moved to Mosport, much as I love that track (and I do)...

Both venues have their good and bad points, but I like that both are there. I'm lazy, so I'll cut and paste a comment I saw after a Globe and Mail article on the future (or possible lack of it) for the Toronto race.

Mosport is a better place to watch racing. Obviously a city street course is going to have a limited amount of good viewing locations because of buildings, barriers and fences. But for whatever reason, the people in charge of the Toronto race don't seem to understand that turns are a better place to watch than the middle of straightaways. They actually made the situation worse this year by blocking the view from the most expensive grandstand seats with a large bunch of corporate seats with a roof over them on the other side of the track. Last year you could see the cars going through turn 10 and 11 and onto the pit straight, but this year you could only see the last part of turn 11 and the pit straight. I cringed when I heard the advertising for the "festival" -- as if the racing was an after-thought (oh, and there's also going to be these noisy car things going around this "festival" we're putting on at Exhibition Place).

That said, Mosport needs more improvements, not just in track safety but spectator facilities, if it wants to host bigger events and attract more and younger fans, not just the middle-aged RV camping crowd. Having a three mile long line up of spectators' cars trying to get into the place is not something to brag about, as they did after last year's Nascar Truck race. It shows the people running the place are still stuck in the 1970s. Other large weekend events in rural locations, including races (and golf tournaments, air shows, etc.) rent school buses to shuttle people in from the nearest metropolitan area, to more efficiently move a large crowd into and out of a place like Mosport with its narrow rural access roads. Co-incidentally, it also encourages more people from that urban and suburban area, including younger ones who don't drive and otherwise would not even consider attending, to buy tickets, assuming they are made aware of the situation with advertising for the race.

In any case, I doubt there's much chance of IndyCar racing at Mosport or anywhere else in the Toronto area except Exhibition Place. It's almost certainly a new June date for the race or nothing, at least for 2015. Dean McNulty of the Toronto Sun implies that the city has to subsidize it with $2 million a year, which if true does not sound promising.
http://www.torontosun.com/2014/07/21...nto-indy-dates

[Salamus]

There isn't a thread for 2015 driver line-ups. bjohnsonsmith, can this thread be changed to allow discussion for both the 2015 schedule and driver line-ups?

Here is silly season update 1.

Pagenaud has a tough decision to make. And his decision ultimately decides where Hinch ends up.

Apart from that, it doesn't look like there is going to be any major changes to the driver line-ups. Which is a good thing. I like consistency among the teams.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Salamus

There isn't a thread for 2015 driver line-ups. bjohnsonsmith, can this thread be changed to allow discussion for both the 2015 schedule and driver line-ups?

Here is silly season update 1.

Pagenaud has a tough decision to make. And his decision ultimately decides where Hinch ends up.

Apart from that, it doesn't look like there is going to be any major changes to the driver line-ups. Which is a good thing. I like consistency among the teams.

I don't see why not. What do you want to call it?

[Salamus]

How about 2015 Indycar News and Rumours or 2015 Indycar Season.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Salamus

How about 2015 Indycar News and Rumours or 2015 Indycar Season.

2015 Indycar Season sounds good as there already is a news and rumours thread but I didn't start this thread so it's only fair to run it by NaBUru38, who did.

[somebodysb2]

Any news on those 2015 Honda/Chevrolet aerokits?

[Burp]

Be interesting to see them (areo kits) when they finally get revealed.

[Burp]

On Racer.com Marshall Pruett says the roumor is both areo kits have lost the roll hoop airbox so we will see the return of open (CART/Chapcar style) roll hoops.

Thats more like it

http://racer.com/more/viewpoints/ite...owall=&start=1

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Burp

On Racer.com Marshall Pruett says the roumor is both areo kits have lost the roll hoop airbox so we will see the return of open (CART/Chapcar style) roll hoops.

Thats more like it

http://racer.com/more/viewpoints/ite...owall=&start=1

Marshall Pruett also said in that article, ''Not so sure the sidepods will be as drastically different as we'd hoped; Walker told RACER last month that allowing more freedom with sidepod design is the one regret he has with the 2015 regulations.''

[Salamus]

An update on the 2015 schedule.

As mentioned previously, IndyCar plans to add a couple international races. Besides that, the schedule stays about the same. This is what the schedule could look like:

Feb UAE Dubai Street Good chance of happening
Mar BRA Jacarepagua Good chance of happening
Mar USA St. Petersburg Confirmed
Apr USA Long Beach Confirmed
Apr USA Barber Probable
May USA Indy GP Confirmed
May USA Indy 500 Confirmed
May USA Detroit (x2) Confirmed
Jun CAN Toronto (x2) Probable if Texas is moved or dropped
Jun USA Houston (x2) Might change dates
Jul USA Pocono Maybe
Jul USA Iowa Probable
Jul USA ? Toronto's old date, might be filled by Texas, Houston, or Louisiana
Aug USA Mid-Ohio Probable
Aug USA Milwaukee Probable
Aug USA Sonoma Probable
Aug USA Fontana Probable

Texas and Louisiana are big question marks.

[Hendrix]

It would be nice if they did add the two dates before St. Pete as it would make the gap between seasons a little more bearable.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Salamus

An update on the 2015 schedule.

As mentioned previously, IndyCar plans to add a couple international races. Besides that, the schedule stays about the same. This is what the schedule could look like:

Feb UAE Dubai Street Good chance of happening
Mar BRA Jacarepagua Good chance of happening
Mar USA St. Petersburg Confirmed
Apr USA Long Beach Confirmed
Apr USA Barber Probable
May USA Indy GP Confirmed
May USA Indy 500 Confirmed
May USA Detroit (x2) Confirmed
Jun CAN Toronto (x2) Probable if Texas is moved or dropped
Jun USA Houston (x2) Might change dates
Jul USA Pocono Maybe
Jul USA Iowa Probable
Jul USA ? Toronto's old date, might be filled by Texas, Houston, or Louisiana
Aug USA Mid-Ohio Probable
Aug USA Milwaukee Probable
Aug USA Sonoma Probable
Aug USA Fontana Probable

Texas and Louisiana are big question marks.

So Dubai and Jacarepagua are potentially going to be part of the 2015 season, rather than a separate, 'off season' international series?

[Salamus]

The article made it clear that the races would be added to the Indycar schedule. There was no mention of an international series.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Salamus

The article made it clear that the races would be added to the Indycar schedule. There was no mention of an international series.

I'm not disputing the article but it was mooted earlier on this season that there might be a short winter international series, during the off season.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/109365

[Salamus]

I remember the proposed winter international series. But there hasn't been any mention of it for a while so I would imagine that it's not happening.

The possible addition of international events to the Indycar schedule could suggest that the international series idea is being scrapped.

I guess we'll find out soon when the official schedule comes out.

One quick note. For a series that at one point had an all-oval schedule, there are now only 5 or 6 ovals left on the schedule. I hope we see the addition of at least one new oval by 2016. I guess NASCAR's strong influence on many oval circuits can be troublesome for Indycar.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Salamus

I remember the proposed winter international series. But there hasn't been any mention of it for a while so I would imagine that it's not happening.

The possible addition of international events to the Indycar schedule could suggest that the international series idea is being scrapped.

I guess we'll find out soon when the official schedule comes out.

One quick note. For a series that at one point had an all-oval schedule, there are now only 5 or 6 ovals left on the schedule. I hope we see the addition of at least one new oval by 2016. I guess NASCAR's strong influence on many oval circuits can be troublesome for Indycar.

5 of those 17 provisional venues, on that list, are ovals. If you take two CART seasons from the '90s at random,the combination of ovals and road/street courses has fluctuated by quite a bit.

in '98, there were 19 rounds, with 8 on ovals and in '91, there were 17 rounds, with 5 on ovals but I agree, I would like to see at least two more oval venues next season.

[Purist]

I'm not holding my breath on more ovals next season, or necessarily in the next few seasons.

The Brazil round would be at the permanent circuit outside Brasilia, not Jacarepagua outside Rio, which may be totally gone by now, with the Pan-Am, World Cup, and Olympics construction going on there.

[codename_47]

Originally Posted by Burp

On Racer.com Marshall Pruett says the roumor is both areo kits have lost the roll hoop airbox so we will see the return of open (CART/Chapcar style) roll hoops.

Thats more like it

http://racer.com/more/viewpoints/ite...owall=&start=1

Fantastic news, it does feel like this series is finally trying to shake off the mistakes of the past and get pointed in the right direction doesn't it?

Let F1 mess about with airboxes, American Open Wheel cars should be airbox free

[Yannick]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

5 of those 17 provisional venues, on that list, are ovals. If you take two CART seasons from the '90s at random,the combination of ovals and road/street courses has fluctuated by quite a bit.

in '98, there were 19 rounds, with 8 on ovals and in '91, there were 17 rounds, with 5 on ovals but I agree, I would like to see at least two more oval venues next season.

In the days of one open wheel series before 1996, the number of ovals on the calendar was more or less constant and in the single digits. After the "Split", in the early 00s, CART had obviously reacted to IRL by adding more ovals: in 2001, CART reached a maximum of 8 ovals, 2 of which were abroad. Also, during the 90s and early 00s, a lot of new ovals were introduced in both series.

It shouldn't be a surprise that now, after reunification, the number of ovals has settled in at 6 yet again. These must become sustainable again before a further expansion can take place. In the USAC days, there were several ovals which hosted 2 events per year. In IRL, Eddie Gossage's TMS used to do that for a while. Which one of the current ovals besides Indy could attract enough people to fill the stands twice a year?

[NaBUru38]

New Orleans is coming, according to Curt Cavin at Indy Star:

A proposed new event at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, La., is close to being finalized for next season.

"We'll be announcing something soon," Andretti said of the New Orleans-area plans. "We're extremely excited about that event. I think it's going to be way bigger than anybody thinks it will be."

[Yannick]

I'm glad to see the Milwaukee Mile Indyfest will continue.
And NOLA looks like a good addition to the calendar.

Yet, with those scheduling difficulties between TMS and Toronto, and fans already asking for the season to please continue beyond Labor Day, how about staging the season finale for 2015 on the weekend after Labor Day at TMS?

I guess they will only be able to finalize the new calendar after they know how the crowd turned out at Fontana because due to the expected hot weather, at best, a date change might be in order.

Also, I've read that Houston's promoter Mike Lanigan has had talks with his sponsor Shell to move the race away from the June date at Reliant Park. Might that be all about COTA? Or would he join forces with Eddie Gossage's TMS?

Here's hoping the Dubai race, should it take place, will not be a downtown street race but will be held at Dubai Autodrome, the best permanent road circuit in the Middle East.

Also, when it comes to additions to the schedule, would anybody be interested in a return of Portland? That is one of the markets they should have kept during the merger back in 2008 but didn't.

Here's hoping the 2016 calendar will run until at least mid-October again. Boston Consulting Group's best suggestion was staging a street race in Boston. IndyCar should rather have tried that than to end the season on Labor Day. That way, the date equity of the late season events would not have been ruined (Houston, Fontana, Sonoma to some extent even).

[August]

Originally Posted by Salamus

Mar BRA Jacarepagua Good chance of happening

That Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet mentioned in the article is in the city of Brasilia. Jacarepagua has been demolished for the Rio Olympics venues.

[Salamus]

Originally Posted by August

That Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet mentioned in the article is in the city of Brasilia. Jacarepagua has been demolished for the Rio Olympics venues.

Someone else mentioned it earlier too. I apologize for the mistake. But in my defense, it makes no sense to give two tracks the exact same name.

[icemachine]

My best guess at the 2015 schedule

Dubai - Feb 15 or 22 (if it happens)
Brasilia - March 8 (if it happens)
Houston replacement race March 22 (if it happens)
St. Petersburg - March 29
Long Beach - April 12
Birmingham - April 26
GP of Indianapolis - May 10
Indianapolis 500 - May 25
Detroit - May 30/31
Texas Motor Speedway - June 6
Toronto - June 13/14 or 20/21
Iowa- June 27
Pocono - July 12
Mid-Ohio August 3
Milwaukee August 16
Sonoma August 23
Fontana August 29
New Orleans September 6