Back to the beginning and the six twitter users who first started using the #IndycarTeamUK for fun, give their views and opinions on the upcoming season of Indycar and beyond.
Taking part in Part Three this blog are Adrian Rickard (AR), Dave Render (DR), Jason McVeigh (JM), Matthew Spencer (MS), and Robin Panton (RP)
In our final part of the season preview we take a look at a bit of fantasy with drivers, tracks and how to attract back the fans.
Taking part in Part Three this blog are Adrian Rickard (AR), Dave Render (DR), Jason McVeigh (JM), Matthew Spencer (MS), and Robin Panton (RP)
In our final part of the season preview we take a look at a bit of fantasy with drivers, tracks and how to attract back the fans.
In the quest to make up this year's field of 33, if you were asked to enter a one off car at the Indy 500, who would your driver be?
RP – I’m going to have to pick Alex Lloyd. He absolutely dominated in Lights, took the gamble to go to CGR and was hung out to dry after just 2 Indy 500 starts with satellite teams. He looked relatively competitive on the ovals with Dale Coyne at a time when DCR was not remotely competitive. His final 500 qualifying effort in 2011 was in a true dog of a car which he somehow hustled it in. The car had no right being in the field. He is also a driver who not only raced 9 days after emergency surgery for appendicitis but he finished 13th, at the physically demanding Iowa Speedway no less!
MS – I would love to see Sam Bird or Adam Carroll get a season in Indycar never mind just the Indy 500. Both great overtakers with lots of single seater experience (admittedly not on ovals). Failing that, I'd give Kyle Busch a chance - he has oval experience, would get could PR with Kurt there and has indicated before he would like a go in single seaters.
JM – Paul Tracy. Always worth the price of admission and never one to do things half heartedly, I could count on PT pushing the car to it's limits during qualifying and the race. Also, let's not forget, Paul was the one who "really" won Indy in 2002. Sorry Helio fans.
DR – This is a great question I would have to say.... Alex Zannardi because he never had the chance to be in the 500 in his prime because of the split. And he is a hero of mine.
AR – With a number of returnees either confirmed or linked with a seat, maybe looking towards the future or at least present with invitation put out to unemployed F1 drivers to show Indycar as a viable option to take their career forward. Something for the future could be open tests for drivers to come and show what they can do hosted by teams and the series, but that's something for another day!
RP – I’m going to have to pick Alex Lloyd. He absolutely dominated in Lights, took the gamble to go to CGR and was hung out to dry after just 2 Indy 500 starts with satellite teams. He looked relatively competitive on the ovals with Dale Coyne at a time when DCR was not remotely competitive. His final 500 qualifying effort in 2011 was in a true dog of a car which he somehow hustled it in. The car had no right being in the field. He is also a driver who not only raced 9 days after emergency surgery for appendicitis but he finished 13th, at the physically demanding Iowa Speedway no less!
MS – I would love to see Sam Bird or Adam Carroll get a season in Indycar never mind just the Indy 500. Both great overtakers with lots of single seater experience (admittedly not on ovals). Failing that, I'd give Kyle Busch a chance - he has oval experience, would get could PR with Kurt there and has indicated before he would like a go in single seaters.
JM – Paul Tracy. Always worth the price of admission and never one to do things half heartedly, I could count on PT pushing the car to it's limits during qualifying and the race. Also, let's not forget, Paul was the one who "really" won Indy in 2002. Sorry Helio fans.
DR – This is a great question I would have to say.... Alex Zannardi because he never had the chance to be in the 500 in his prime because of the split. And he is a hero of mine.
AR – With a number of returnees either confirmed or linked with a seat, maybe looking towards the future or at least present with invitation put out to unemployed F1 drivers to show Indycar as a viable option to take their career forward. Something for the future could be open tests for drivers to come and show what they can do hosted by teams and the series, but that's something for another day!
Which five races tracks that you would love to see back or added onto the schedule?
RP – This is a great topic and I am keen to see other suggestions. My choice, In order of most wanted:
1.Road America
2.Cleveland (Burke Airport)
3.Michigan Speedway
4. Richmond (Short Oval),
5. Rockingham (UK not USA) or Lausitzring (both Ovals) - slightly out of selfishness, to have an accessible round for European fans but both circuits are good
MS – Cleveland, Chicagoland, Mexico City, Brazil (but use Sao Paulo) and Montreal. I'd also try to see if the Argentina circuit used by FIA GT's (Potrero de los Funes Circuit) was available.
JM – Nothing brand new, just a return to some old classics. Phoenix, Road America, Surfers Paradise, Cleveland and Vancouver.
DR – I love the traditional places like Road America, Phoenix, Cleveland, Michigan and of course a race here would be amazing.
AR – I would like to see Michigan return, it was the oval race I saw in 1999 that swayed me towards them! A return to Rockingham in Northamptonshire would be fantastic from 'local' viewpoint. Back to the States and a new race at COTA would add something to the schedule, not forgetting Laguna Seca and Road America. But not the moon...
RP – This is a great topic and I am keen to see other suggestions. My choice, In order of most wanted:
1.Road America
2.Cleveland (Burke Airport)
3.Michigan Speedway
4. Richmond (Short Oval),
5. Rockingham (UK not USA) or Lausitzring (both Ovals) - slightly out of selfishness, to have an accessible round for European fans but both circuits are good
MS – Cleveland, Chicagoland, Mexico City, Brazil (but use Sao Paulo) and Montreal. I'd also try to see if the Argentina circuit used by FIA GT's (Potrero de los Funes Circuit) was available.
JM – Nothing brand new, just a return to some old classics. Phoenix, Road America, Surfers Paradise, Cleveland and Vancouver.
DR – I love the traditional places like Road America, Phoenix, Cleveland, Michigan and of course a race here would be amazing.
AR – I would like to see Michigan return, it was the oval race I saw in 1999 that swayed me towards them! A return to Rockingham in Northamptonshire would be fantastic from 'local' viewpoint. Back to the States and a new race at COTA would add something to the schedule, not forgetting Laguna Seca and Road America. But not the moon...
What would you do to attract new or old fans back to the series?
RP – This is by far the most difficult question of the entire blog. The last 3-4 seasons have been excellent, especially the last 2. The last 2 seasons of Indycar are in the my personal top 5 season of open wheel racing since I started watching F1 in 1995 as an 8 year old! They are up there with CART seasons of 96/97/98 and 99. The product, in my opinion is not the problem. Try and get a Network TV partner and go free to air to try and grab a wider audience is one suggestion and possibly more active national marketing is another. Sadly these things cost money, something the series does not really have.
MS – It needs a decent TV package. When the ESPN NASCAR deal ends this year, I'd get Nicole Briscoe to front the coverage and with Toby Moody not doing motogp now, I'd get him on commentary to bring excitement to the coverage. The ladder to Indycar should get better with a new Indy Lights car. Indycar needs to be seen as a decent career for US drivers as well as foreigners for while Aleshin is quick, he is unlikely to get the casual fan drawn in. The fact you get $250k for finishing last in the Daytona 500 will however continue to be a problem to attract the homegrown driver (a concept the IRL was set up to achieve).
JM – this is the Million Dollar Question or rather, 100 million Dollar question if that is indeed how much Verizon are paying because I've got to believe that is what their plan is. For me, it's got to be about the personalities. Make people care about the drivers, tell a story and create heroes and villains. Nothing hits home more than human emotion and Indycar is full of it. Get people to see that and get them hooked.
DR – We all know how much damage the split did to Indycar, with loss of fans, sponsors and drivers to NASCAR. We all know just how good the races and the series are, it's just finding a way to show them and make them come back. My idea is this... Open the season or have a special race on a Friday or a Monday night under the lights somewhere, so you're not up against NASCAR or American football! Get ABC or FOX on board for just this race and see what happens. You may have heard of this idea somewhere before but I think it has potential!
AR – Having made a number of trips to America to watch Indycar over the past few years, I have seen attempts by the series to bring it back to the fans and to an extent it has worked, but the most important thing to build on now is consistency of the message the series is getting out to the fans and potential new ones. Hopefully with the Verizon backing, this is something that can happen, I have already noticed a change in the social media approach already, building a good marketing team is key and in Mike Kitchel at the helm, things are looking good!
Thanks for checking out our season preview blogs, the previous two are here - Part One & Part Two
The season gets under way on Sunday 30th March at St Petersburg and is Live on ESPN (UK) from 8pm.
RP – This is by far the most difficult question of the entire blog. The last 3-4 seasons have been excellent, especially the last 2. The last 2 seasons of Indycar are in the my personal top 5 season of open wheel racing since I started watching F1 in 1995 as an 8 year old! They are up there with CART seasons of 96/97/98 and 99. The product, in my opinion is not the problem. Try and get a Network TV partner and go free to air to try and grab a wider audience is one suggestion and possibly more active national marketing is another. Sadly these things cost money, something the series does not really have.
MS – It needs a decent TV package. When the ESPN NASCAR deal ends this year, I'd get Nicole Briscoe to front the coverage and with Toby Moody not doing motogp now, I'd get him on commentary to bring excitement to the coverage. The ladder to Indycar should get better with a new Indy Lights car. Indycar needs to be seen as a decent career for US drivers as well as foreigners for while Aleshin is quick, he is unlikely to get the casual fan drawn in. The fact you get $250k for finishing last in the Daytona 500 will however continue to be a problem to attract the homegrown driver (a concept the IRL was set up to achieve).
JM – this is the Million Dollar Question or rather, 100 million Dollar question if that is indeed how much Verizon are paying because I've got to believe that is what their plan is. For me, it's got to be about the personalities. Make people care about the drivers, tell a story and create heroes and villains. Nothing hits home more than human emotion and Indycar is full of it. Get people to see that and get them hooked.
DR – We all know how much damage the split did to Indycar, with loss of fans, sponsors and drivers to NASCAR. We all know just how good the races and the series are, it's just finding a way to show them and make them come back. My idea is this... Open the season or have a special race on a Friday or a Monday night under the lights somewhere, so you're not up against NASCAR or American football! Get ABC or FOX on board for just this race and see what happens. You may have heard of this idea somewhere before but I think it has potential!
AR – Having made a number of trips to America to watch Indycar over the past few years, I have seen attempts by the series to bring it back to the fans and to an extent it has worked, but the most important thing to build on now is consistency of the message the series is getting out to the fans and potential new ones. Hopefully with the Verizon backing, this is something that can happen, I have already noticed a change in the social media approach already, building a good marketing team is key and in Mike Kitchel at the helm, things are looking good!
Thanks for checking out our season preview blogs, the previous two are here - Part One & Part Two
The season gets under way on Sunday 30th March at St Petersburg and is Live on ESPN (UK) from 8pm.