Will IRL do Road Racing

[billkirbywofb]

If ChampCar fold, and all teams that are going to the IRL do so, will Tony George infact run the road racing that he has promised. In my concideration, the road races were to lure away ChampCar teams that wanted road/street races on the IRL schedule. But without any places for these teams to go, and the IRL the only game in town, might Mr. George then cancel his plans for road course races and let the IRL remain as an oval-only series.

[3state]

This thread probably belongs over on the IRL forum.

They've already stated that they plan to possibly as soon as next year, and I would say that should Champcar fold, the chances will be far greater.

[3state]

oh and welcome to the forum billkirkywofb.

[marcus]

they will run road courses , but not on this forum

Im gonna move this to the Indycar forum

[Down F0rce]

I wonder if the fact that Fernandez and possibly Jourdain have/could leave will have any effect on the Mexican races? Maybe they'll wanna come over as well?

[Hazza]

And why not? They could pop down to Mexico city, and while they are south of the border, they could head too Rio...

[BootsOntheSide]

I don't think they will run road courses this year, mainly because the cars are not prepared for it, and the schedule is already locked in.

As for 2005, they're already planning to run 4 road courses - Watkins Glen, Sears Point, Road Atlanta and Road America seem like the most likely. It's possible that Tony would run 2 series in the near future - one on ovals the other on road courses, with their races on different days, so teams can run in either or both series.

[marcus]

interesting concept Boots , why do you say two series instead of one ?

[Testure]

As mentioned, the IRL has been promising road-races in 2005 since last year and I see no reason to doubt them. At this point, I don't think I've heard a single IRL driver who doesn't want them on the schedule.

Here's an ESPN article with quotes from a bunch of drivers: http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?id=1750840 As you can see, Kanaan, Herta, Franchitti, Manning and Dixon would like the schedule to have 50% or more road races. I don't think that percentage is too likely, but road courses are almost guaranteed. (Watkins Glen, by the way, has long been ruled out because it's no longer for fast open-wheel cars.)

So, it looks like the IRL will have mostly turned into CART within the next two or three years. That's fine by me, but might not be good news for those who were expecting it to be a series that could attract the young American drivers from sprint cars, etc.

[GP Racer]

I'm not so sure about the IRL turning into CART.

I think your right about the IRL having about 4 road races, but I'm not sure you'll see much more than that. That could be bad news for Canada, Mexico and Australia, and I seriously doubt that the IRL is going to Europe anytime soon. Tony George has never spoken about going international, like CART did. I do believe, that Tony realizes how important it is, to have a decent number of American drivers in his series, along with having the vast majority of his races in the states. Unfortunately for CART, they got away from that, and I think they paid a heavy price.

The pressure on George will be immense to change his series and morph into CART. CART venues, teams and sponsors will be screaming in TG's ear, to do this or that, and drivers from around the world will be clamoring for a ride, but in the end, I think he will resist any big changes. He will, within reason, stick somewhat close to his vision, with only small changes, alittle at a time.

The IRL is more likely to look like the old USAC of the sixties and seventies, than the CART of the eighties and nineties.

[rustyfan]

Just read an interesting article over at Motorsport.com today, about the IPS series, and according to that article the IPS will go road racing as well in 2005. Perhaps to be expected, but it's nice to read something more solid about it

Should certainly make IPS more interesting to many aspiring drivers out there, including those who have their sight set on working their way up the Formula BMW/Toyota Atlantic/Champ Car ladder.

[Testure]

Originally posted by rustyfan
Just read an interesting article over at Motorsport.com today, about the IPS series, and according to that article the IPS will go road racing as well in 2005. Perhaps to be expected, but it's nice to read something more solid about it

Indded, it's good to know that plans are firming up. Seems that proper chassis testing will be taking place in August this year - just a few months away, really.

Originally posted by rustyfan
Should certainly make IPS more interesting to many aspiring drivers out there, including those who have their sight set on working their way up the Formula BMW/Toyota Atlantic/Champ Car ladder.

Yeah, I'd agree with that and the article does mention "The Ladder" system for a driver in the US. There seem to be something of a "disconnect" between series and driver, at least until road-racing comes in. Basically, the series isn't attracting USAC drivers, despite being all-oval. Road-racing will bring in the kind of drivers both IPS and Indy Car are looking for.

As an aside, my impression is that the system is considerably simpler in the US than it is in many European countries. Many have their own Karting --> FFord --> F3 system, but then there's FRenault, F3000, FNissan and a dozen others to think about. In the US, it looks like Champ Car is: Karting --> FBMW --> Atlantic --> Champ Car and Indy Car is: Karting --> IPS --> Indy Car. Is that about right?

[rush1]

Possibilities for road races include. 1.Road America, 2.Long Beach 3. Somewhere in Mexico, 4.Toronto, 5.Australia, and as Boots said 6.Sears Point and 7.Road Atlanta.

I would like to see Road America, Toronto, Mexico and the heart of NASCAR country, Road Atlanta.

[sgw2]

The IRL will do road racing in 2005

Three races are obvious:

1) Long Beach (Dover will drop OWRS after the race)
2) Sears Point or Laguna Seca (NorCal market is #4 in NA)
3) Mid-Ohio or Road America (need midwest fans)

The fourth will be reserved for amongst these three
1) Mexico, Canada (Toronto or Montreal), or Road Atlanta

It will happen.

[Patrick B]

Ive heard that Watkins Glen is a sure thing for 2006.

[GP Racer]

I'd like to see it happen, but everyone keeps saying that its not up to the modern safety standards required for open wheel racing, and they can't change it, due to historical factors.

Race fans continue to suffer in the north-east US, from a lack of a decent road course. All I can think of is Lime Rock Park in Ct., but I'm not sure that open wheelers can race there. Very frustrating!

[Patrick B]

Man there's tons of tracks in the north east-

Mosport
Mount Tremblant
Shannonville
Montreal
Watkins Glen
Limerock
Rumbling Road(sp)
and probably some more i cant think of...

Try living in the north west. We have Portland and Calgary... thats it and they both are poor quality.

As far as open wheel racing at the Glen goes, the Formula Renualt series will be at the Glen this year with the GA series. It should give a good idea as to what needs imporving for the IRL to run there.

[Bob Riebe]

Originally posted by Patrick B
Man there's tons of tracks in the north east-

Mosport
Mount Tremblant
Shannonville
Montreal
Watkins Glen
Limerock
Rumbling Road(sp)
and probably some more i cant think of...

Try living in the north west. We have Portland and Calgary... thats it and they both are poor quality.

As far as open wheel racing at the Glen goes, the Formula Renualt series will be at the Glen this year with the GA series. It should give a good idea as to what needs imporving for the IRL to run there.

What about Kent, Washington? Or has that track gone dormant too.
Donnybrooke in Minnesesota, with its 5,000 ft. straight would be tremendous but all they care about is drag racing.

PS-Roebling road (I think )

[Testure]

Originally posted by Patrick B
As far as open wheel racing at the Glen goes, the Formula Renualt series will be at the Glen this year with the GA series. It should give a good idea as to what needs imporving for the IRL to run there.

FRenault and a series like Indy Car (or Champ Car or F1, for that matter) are very different in terms of their safety requirements. The FIA web site has documents describing what a circuit needs to provide in order for it to be allowed to run particular classes of race cars. I know there's a lot of interest from fans who'd like to see powerful open-wheel cars at Watkins Glen, but everything I've heard tells me it'll never happen.

[chunterer]

I can;t remember the last time serious open wheelers ran at The Glen? Who can tell us?

It would be great to have them there next year but although i'm not privvy to expert opinion on the track, i'd agree with it not being upto spec for such cars.

Long Beach, Elkhart Lake, a Canadian round (either Montreal or Toronto?), Road Atlanta, Hermanos Rodriguez (Mexico City)and perhaps Rio would surely be the leading contenders for road races?

[Down F0rce]

You might have to go back to the 60's when The Glen was the host of the US GP? Not sure though.

[rustyfan]

CART raced there between 1979 and 1981.