IndycarUK
  • Home
  • News
  • 2017 Indycar Schedule & UK TV
  • Indycar UK Fantasy League
    • 2016 Standings
    • Fantasy League Stats
    • Blog Page >
      • Blog Roll
      • 2018 Fan Blogs
      • Fan Blogs (2017)
      • 2016 Indy 500 Diary
      • Fan Blogs (2016)
      • Fan Blogs (2015)
      • Fan Blogs (2014
      • Fan Blogs (2013)
      • Fan Blogs (2012)
  • MRTI Live
  • Downforce USA
  • Event Photos & Video
    • 2002 >
      • Rockingham - 2002
    • 2003 >
      • Brands Hatch - 2003
    • 2006 >
      • Watkins Glen - 2006
    • 2009 >
      • Indy 500 - 2009
    • 2010 >
      • Barber Test - 2010
    • 2011 >
      • Long Beach - 2011
      • Milwaukee - 2011
      • Iowa - 2011
    • 2012 >
      • Detroit Belle Isle - 2012
    • 2013 >
      • Indy 500 - 2013
      • ACS @ Fontana - 2013
    • Other >
      • Penske Factory Tour, Poole (UK)
    • Fan Videos
  • Polls
  • Interviews
    • Tammy Kaehler
    • Lloyd Read
    • Jack Hawksworth
    • Trevor Anthony
  • Competitions
    • Competitions 2016
    • Competitions 2013
    • Competitions 2012
  • Travel Guides
    • Barber - Birmingham
    • Detroit - Belle Isle
    • Fontana (Coming Soon)
    • Fort Worth - TMS (Coming Soon)
    • Indianapolis
    • Long Beach
    • Milwaukee (Coming Soon)
    • Pocono (Coming Soon)
    • Newton - Iowa
    • Sonoma (Coming Soon)
    • Toronto
  • 2016 Indy 500
  • Contributors
  • Archive
    • 2013 >
      • Teams & Drivers
      • 2013 Indycar Schedule & UK TV
      • Race Reviews >
        • R1 - St Petersburg, FL
        • R2 - Barber, AL
        • R3 - Long Beach, CA
        • R4 - São Paulo, BR
        • Indianapolis 500 Pole Day
        • Indianapolis 500 Bump Day
        • R5 - Indianapolis 500
        • R6 - Detroit, MI 1
        • R7 - Detroit, MI 2
        • R8 - TMS, Fort Worth, TX
        • R9 - Milwaukee IndyFest, WI
        • R10 - Newton, IA
        • R11 - Pocono 400
        • R12 - Toronto, CA 1
        • R13 - Toronto, CA 2
        • R14 - Mid-Ohio, OH
        • R15 - Sonoma, CA
        • R16 - Baltimore, MD
        • R17 - Houston, TX 1
        • R19 - Fontana, CA
      • 2013 Fantasy League Final Standings
      • #TheOffseason
    • 2014 >
      • 2014 Race Reviews >
        • R1 - St Petersburg, Fl
        • R2 - Long Beach, Ca
        • R3 - Barber, AL
        • R4 - GP of Indianapolis, In
        • R5 - Indianapolis 500
        • R6 - Detroit, MI (1)
        • R7 - Detroit, MI (2)
        • R8 - Fort Worth, TX
        • R9 - Houston, TX (1)
        • R10 - Houston, TX (2)
        • R11 - Pocono, PA
        • R12 - Newton, IA
        • R13 - Toronto, CAN (1)
        • R14 - Toronto, CAN (2)
        • R15 - Mid-Ohio, OH
        • R16 - Milwaukee, WI
        • R17 - Sonoma, CA
        • R18 - Fontana, CA
        • 2014 Standings
    • 2015 >
      • 2015 Indycar Schedule & UK TV
      • 2015 Standings
  • #Follow4Indycar
  • Links

To Turn Right, or Not, Is No Longer A Question... - Adrian (@rkid84)

1/10/2013

3 Comments

 
... It is a reality.

The inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis will be held on 8-10 May 2014

My feeling towards this race swing from 30-70 against when it was first seriously muted amongst the media to 70-30 for as we are today, post press conference. 

My original reasons against were from a traditional stand point, May should be about the 500, end of. But after hearing from those in charge of the series and also IMS discuss the virtues of having a road course race at the track it really hit home a number of key issues. Here are just a few thoughts on them and also about the race itself coming up...

1 - Indycar is no longer in the position it once was a decade or more back. Eyes on cars, cars on track has to be a good thing. (ABC/ESPN eyes too).

2 - The 'month' of May has been becoming shorter, this way we have more on track activity. I was watching the opening day stream earlier this year and stood near a car with no one else in sight was a friend of mine on her own, more people through the gates can not be a bad thing.

3 - Reality of modern life is that sport is a business and it has to pay. To have a racing facility just sat there for the majority of the year is wrong from a commercial stand point.

4 - Pricing, on the whole as a stand alone event, mixed to positive. I have seem some grumblings and do agree that with the close proximity of the 500, it wont hurt the 500, it will hurt the RC race. £12-£45 for a high quality race, compared to many sporting events this side of the Atlantic, I call that a great deal!

5 - I have attended races at Spa and Detroit in recent years, with very limited viewing of the cars on track.  This will not be the case at IMS, improvements to the mounds and addition infield seating will allow greater viewing of the cars, something I can actually agree with a higher price for!

6 - The schedule as it stands is still looking a little bare, although personally I would love to see more ovals, we have to be realistic with what actually works and where the series can get a race.

7 - Having the full 'Road to Indy' on the same weekend will be great for them, the drivers, teams and sponsors to have a race associated with IMS, great exposure to new fans and especially Indy Lights as the series goes forward.

8 - The track itself will have a number of improvements, this is not the F1 track from ten years ago, and lets be honest, the DW12 races well pretty much anywhere.
Picture
Not a definitive list of thoughts and issues but some I have had on my mind for the past few weeks. The time to complain about tradition for the track passed in 1994 when stock cars took to the Brickyard. For too long Indycar has stood still, whilst others have galloped past, time to get on that pony.
3 Comments
sejarzo
1/10/2013 17:58:05

My concern with the pricing is that some of the highest priced tickets have awfully bad views of the road course...specifically, Paddock Penthouse. I had tickets there for USGP and was massively disappointed, and I'd hate for misinformed folks to assume those are good and feel bad after attending.

Reply
Adrian
1/10/2013 18:00:39

As I said on twitter, would have liked a slightly cheaper sweetener for year 1, but $50 for a family of 4, that's a sound deal. GA could be big for this race (hope so)

Reply
Phil
2/10/2013 14:19:31

I must say I'm all for this. I can understand the traditionalists being upset, but this isn't 30 years ago, the whole nature of sporting events has changed. Indy can no longer to play the tradition card in this day and age, as that audience is dying out. A generation of fans raised in the internet age are just not going to have the same sense of tradition about a physical venue, in the same way they don't attach significance to physical media any more. For many, their favourite events and athletes exist on social media, the actual venues are largely secondary IMO. Look at the hits Ken Block gets on YouTube by way of example, then compare that to the dire state of WRC coverage. Times change. On that basis, tracks need a unique selling point, be it state of the art facilities (COTA etc), night racing in spectacular settings (Singapore) or whatever else. Just "being Indy" no longer suffices in this day and age. If done well, this could become that new selling point. From a purely financial point of view, it makes no sense to have an asset sat idle for so many days of the year, so anything to offset the fixed costs can only be good for the future of the place.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author - You!

    This is the place to air your views and opinions on Indycar, use the contacts us page to find out how.

    Archives

    January 2014
    October 2013
    September 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.