2003 CART calender

[Peter Scillitoe]

Originally posted by hakkiman
I'd go with Paul Ricard.

Sorry, but no chance. It's owned by Bernie.

[theracegypsy]

Chicago is always hot and sticky to work , in a not so good end of town, and we are usually all a bit tense. The race is usually a boring one too, on a flat oval. Turn 1 hangs in a cage on the wall, and they always say the view the other way is more interesting, watching the various street activities.

BTW, Yesterday at Mid -Ohio, the official announcemnet from CART on 2003 schedule included the words "May4th - UK, this does not mean nessecarily Corby" ! watch this space.

[Mal]

The CART website does state Corby, Rockingham Motor Speedway.
RPM.ESPN.com says that the April 27 race will be 'Southern Europe'.

[rustyfan]

They should invest some money into restoring the oval section of Monza and use that one

[tanalised]

Southern Europe..hmmm. Fiorano perhaps?

[Rob29]

Sitges?

[StuiE]

Originally posted by Muzza


Unfortunately the presence of Fontana in the CART calendar for a mid- and long-term is still pretty much uncertain.

The current deal between CART and the ISC expires right after next year's race, so although it is fine to hear that Fontana was kept, it only means that it did not go away before the contractual date, and not that CART and ISC re-negotiated an agreement.

I talked with a member of California Speedway operations team about one month ago and he told me that 2003 will likely be the last CART race in Fontana, no matter what the future of CART may be.

Thanks Muzza, I thought it was in doubt for 2003.

[StuiE]

Originally posted by Liz


Ovals can prosper outside the USA, where they are less usual and may draw a crowd, but Pook is correct when he says "America does not want to see open wheel cars on oval tracks." Judging by the number of people that show up for them, anyway, no matter how many may profess to like them in the abstract.

How about a CASCAR Canadian Oval?

[mac]

With the doubt over the F1 race at Spa, that would be awesome. However, that would not be a particularly big market. I reckon it'll either be in Germany, France, Italy or maybe Spain.

[f1manoz]

I think CART will have the race in Germany again as CART is tremendously popular there.

[pferrf1]

Pook said in the teleconference that the Apr. 27 date will be in Southern europe. People asked him about South of France, he said he wasn't taking the bait. Maybe Paul Ricard is a possibility. I'm sure Bernie would never say no to an opportunity to make money. The other rumours are a street race in Rome, or a race in Barcelona that apparently Oriol Servia has been involved in helping get off the ground.

With respect to Fontana...I'd expect it to be replaced with Las Vegas, if CART chooses to keep the ovals. By 2004/2005, enough time can heal their relationship with SMI. A member on another forum e-mailed the staff at LVMS and they replied that if they thought they could turn a profit on it, they would do it. CART's TV ratings have been very good for them in Vegas. They could follow it up with the awards banquet that week.

In reality, CART already has the Long Beach race in the Los Angeles market and LV can provide that sort of 'getaway trip' for the fans to end the season combining the race and the obvious Las Vegas tourist atractions. Las Vegas is also close enough to attract some of the current Fontana fans as well as old fans in the Arizona-Phoenix market. The track is also a fantastic facility and the banking is appropriate for the CART cars. Besides, a few drivers, like PT, PC, Tags and I believe Vasser live in Vegas year round so they would provide obvious promotion opportunities for the organizers. I'd suggest a co-promotion arrangment for CART.

[paul-collins]

Back to the schedule:

Originally posted by hakkiman
DATE VENUE
...
May 18 Chicago – Tentative, TBA
June 1 Milwaukee, Wisconsin – The Milwaukee Mile
June 15 Monterey, California – Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
June 22 Portland, Oregon – Portland International Raceway
July 6 Cleveland, Ohio – Burke Lakefront Airport
July 13 Toronto, Ontario – Street Course
July 27 Vancouver, British Columbia – Street Course
Aug. 10 Lexington, Ohio – Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Aug. 17 Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin – Road America
Aug. 31 Denver, Colorado – Street Course
Sept. 7 Montreal, Quebec – Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve
...

Isn't Vancouver at a strange time? I'd consider either swapping it with Montreal or with Cleveland, to improve the travel.

Since they had the Labour Day weekend until this year, it's not like they're wedded to the date. Montreal is new as well, so they're not wedded to their date - but I'd guess they'd prefer to space their races (June to September instead of one month apart). So a switch with Cleveland would make most sense - and only change each race by three weeks. Don't know if Cleveland would go for it, though.

[pferrf1]

I don't think necessarily wants to do all their geographic races together at once...i.e. all west coast, etc. By doing the Laguna/Portland back to back it does help with the travel a bit. But by going back again a month later, it gets CARt back to the attention of the northwest, andinto the west coast time zone to keep the attention up on that side of the continent.

Also, don't many teams go back to Indianapolis (or wherever is home) to work on the cars again anyway. It would seem strange to keep the crew totally on the road for two or three weeks at a time without at least a few days at home.

[paul-collins]

Well, they're also in the west for the Denver race Labour Day weekend. Maybe switching with Montreal makes more sense after all.

[Jordi]

southern Europe... I wish it was here...

[theracegypsy]

better fit than this year if you have to pay your own travel costs.