52 replies to this topic

[kapow]

What would your ideal IndyCar schedule look like? I'd suggest keeping it within the realms of what would actually be possible.

Here are my thoughts but I'm not completely fixed on them. Milwaukee has to follow the Indy 500.

Surfers Paradise - Street
St Petersburg - Street
Long Beach - Street
Laguna Seca - Road
Barber - Road
Indy 500 - Oval
Milwaukee Mile - Oval
Cleveland Airport - Street
Detroit Belle Isle - Street
Texas - Oval
Road America - Road
Toronto - Street
Mid-Ohio - Road
Kentucky - Oval
Watkins Glen - Road
Gateway - Oval
Michigan - Oval
Portland - Road

Edited by kapow, 12 June 2018 - 19:05.

[Risil]

Cleveland Airport - Street

 

[Muppetmad]

St Pete

Long Beach

Barber

Cleveland

Indy 500

Detroit Double

Texas

Road America

Iowa

Toronto Double

Pocono 500

Baltimore (because we all need some insanity in our lives)

Gateway

Watkins Glen

Fontana 500

 

Let's get the triple crown of 500 mile races back. A few European races would be pretty awesome too - Imola, Brands Hatch, Rockingham and/or Lausitzring would all be welcome additions.

[Peat]

Start it at the beginning of March and end it no earlier than mid October. It doesn't need that many more races, just space them out properly.

[kapow]

Start it at the beginning of March and end it no earlier than mid October. It doesn't need that many more races, just space them out properly.

Needs to happen! At least it isn't finishing in August again.

[kapow]

St Pete
Long Beach
Barber
Cleveland
Indy 500
Detroit Double
Texas
Road America
Iowa
Toronto Double
Pocono 500
Baltimore (because we all need some insanity in our lives)
Gateway
Watkins Glen
Fontana 500

Let's get the triple crown of 500 mile races back. A few European races would be pretty awesome too - Imola, Brands Hatch, Rockingham and/or Lausitzring would all be welcome additions.

You'd prefer Pocono to Michigan?

[prommer]

I know Mark Miles has been generally derided for wanting a standalone winter series of overseas races, but I'd love some combination of the following: Interlagos, Surfers, Suzuka, a Dubai or Jeddah street circuit, maybe 2 of the 3 out of Imola, Monza, or Mugello; and anywhere else that is getting frustrated with paying $40 million or whatever to F1 and would like to run an Indycar race for a fraction of the price.

 

Seems after this weekend that a lot of the Indycar drivers would very much like to run a race in Montreal too, to show how it can and should be done. 

[maximilian]

More races!  31 total!   

 

* = Must Have

 

Street Courses:

 

St. Petersburg*

Long Beach *

Detroit

 

 

Road Courses:

 

Barber*

Sonoma (not as finale)

Road America*

Mid-Ohio*

Sebring*

CotA*

Portland

Indianapolis Infield GP*

 

 

Superspeedways:

 

Indianapolis 500 (triple crown)*

Pocono (triple crown)*

Daytona/Talladega would be really cool

Michigan or Fontana (triple crown)*

Indianapolis World Finals (season finale)*

 

 

Ovals:

 

Gateway*

Kentucky

Texas*

Iowa*

Kansas

 

 

Airport Course:

 

Cleveland*

 

 

International Races:

 

Surfer's Paradise*

Mexico City*

Toronto*

Montreal CGV*

Vancouver*

Brazil (anywhere)*

Motegi (how hasn't this been added back yet?)*

China (anywhere)

Europe (anywhere, but UK would be best)

[maximilian]

I know Mark Miles has been generally derided for wanting a standalone winter series of overseas races, but I'd love some combination of the following: Interlagos, Surfers, Suzuka, a Dubai or Jeddah street circuit, maybe 2 of the 3 out of Imola, Monza, or Mugello; and anywhere else that is getting frustrated with paying $40 million or whatever to F1 and would like to run an Indycar race for a fraction of the price.

 

Seems after this weekend that a lot of the Indycar drivers would very much like to run a race in Montreal too, to show how it can and should be done. 

 

I feel this international winter series is a real opportunity missed so far!  There definitely is a market for IndyCar out there in select locations, and other locations that will pay a pretty penny, even if there isn't a market.  Cash in!

[Risil]

maybe 2 of the 3 out of Imola, Monza, or Mugello

 

Make Alex Zanardi the grand marshal, pace car driver, chief drum banger and whatever else and we have a deal.

[sblick]

The fees to fly the cars and equipment over seas is most likely the stickler.  Races in Qatar, Oman, Bahrain in Feb; Aus, Brazil and Mexico in March; Regular schedule we have now. 

 

I think MIS is a no go due to Roger supporting Belle Isle and being ex-owner of MIS.  The ticket sales for MIS along with Belle Isle might be hard.  Then the need to slot it between or around the NASCAR Races there in June and August. 

Would love to see 500 triple crown.  The last race of the season deserves to be a 500 mile oval race.  The reason I like an oval for the finale is if you have a bad quali or something bad happens early in the race there is a chance to salvage a the race

 

Dream tracks of Laguna, COTA, and Cleveland,  Mugello or Monza, Silverstone or Brands, Is it Portimao in Portugal where Moto GP runs?

[PayasYouRace]

Airports aren’t streets. Cleveland was always considered a temporary road course. Great choice though.

Of the current schedule I’d keep:

St. Petersburg
Long Beach
Barber
Indy (but only the 500)
Detroit
Texas
Elkhart Lake
Toronto
Mid-Ohio
Pocono
Gateway
Portland

I’d drop:

Phoenix which doesn’t really work in its new configuration.
The Indy GP road course. I don’t think it’s needed.
Iowa as I think 1 mile should be a minimum for Indycars.
Sonoma which is too tight and twisty.

I’d add (in no particular order):

Michigan and/or Fontana (both are of an ideal configuaration for Indycars.)
Milwaukee and/or Loudon (for that classic 1 mile oval experience.)
Cleveland (as established, it’s a great circuit)
Laguna Seca (instead of Sonoma. It’s at least a more flowing layout.)
Rockingham and Lausitz (for a European summer leg and using their ovals for what they were intended.)
Watkins Glen
Motegi (a must given Japanese involvement in the sport.)

I’m in two minds about Detroit staying on, and I’d also like to see NOLA get another shot.

[Risil]

Is the Motegi oval back in operation after the 2011 earthquake? I remember they ran the last Indycar race there on the road course following damage to the big track.

[PayasYouRace]

Is the Motegi oval back in operation after the 2011 earthquake? I remember they ran the last Indycar race there on the road course following damage to the big track.

No idea, but I can’t imagine it was beyond repair.

[king_crud]

Gold Coast isn't happening again, I think they've built tram lines on the old circuit roads so couldn't be converted to car racing

[PayasYouRace]

Gold Coast isn't happening again, I think they've built tram lines on the old circuit roads so couldn't be converted to car racing

The Supercars layout would work just fine. It’s 2.9 km around. Toronto and St Pete are both roughly 2.8 km.

[Risil]

Gold Coast isn't happening again, I think they've built tram lines on the old circuit roads so couldn't be converted to car racing

 

Obligatory Champ Cars at San Jose:

 

[PayasYouRace]

Baltimore had a rail crossing too. That’s why it had that stupid final chicane.

Surfers is more a light railway which has replaced much of the road. The stretch after what was the second chicane is now a single lane road.

[kapow]

Haha

There could be a whole new topic of "Tracks with completely mental sections"

[djparky]

Aside from the insane scheduling, I'd like to see Cleveland and Milwaukee back and a second race in Canada.

[Obster]

They should be racing any weekend there is not an F1 race.

Doing this would give them top billing and undivided worldwide attention.

Indy is an exception, as it is always top dog for that weekend...

[prommer]

I was wondering that myself about Motegi oval, and here's our friend Sato-san driving it last December.

 

Looks like there's a pretty crazy bottoming-out bit at one point between 3 and 4. Other than that, good to go?!  Make sure all those Honda employees are in the stands too, please!

 

[Peat]

Sonoma which is too tight and twisty.

 

 

The only reason they still go there is so Mark Miles can quaff goblets of Napa wine and have a (another) week off playing Golf. 

 

 

I’d drop:


Iowa 
 

 

And with that, we can never truly be friends. We could try, but there'd always be bubbling resentment on my part. And for that, i'm sorry. 

[teejay]

Indycar on the V8 SC Sufers layout would be woeful. You'd have one overtaking spot into T1. 

[teejay]

On that note, bring back surfers! 

 

For me 

 

Road America 

Toronto

Vancouver 

Cleveland 

Indy

Milwaukee

Michigan 

Long Beach 

Gateway

Detroit

Portland

Laguna

Japan

A race in Mexico

A race in Brazil

One Europe race - road course, you need more than 12 people showing to a race so ovals are out.

 

Would make me happy. 

[Risil]

No Barber? Mon dieu!

[Muppetmad]

That must be an egregious omission.

[maximilian]

 

One Europe race - road course, you need more than 12 people showing to a race so ovals are out.

 

 

I think that just like with the overseas NFL games, the sheer unusual spectacle of Muricanism would draw crowds to an oval race in Europe, especially if the racing is good, which is something European fans are starving for!

[PayasYouRace]

The only reason they still go there is so Mark Miles can quaff goblets of Napa wine and have a (another) week off playing Golf. 
 
 

 
And with that, we can never truly be friends. We could try, but there'd always be bubbling resentment on my part. And for that, i'm sorry.

I’m rethinking Iowa. It’s a good track for Indycars. Still not keen on <1 mile tracks for Indycars though.

[PayasYouRace]

I think that just like with the overseas NFL games, the sheer unusual spectacle of Muricanism would draw crowds to an oval race in Europe, especially if the racing is good, which is something European fans are starving for!

I seem to remember the crowds were decent for the Rockingham and Lausitz races but the tracks have very large crowd capacities and will look pretty empty anyway.

[maximilian]

I seem to remember the crowds were decent for the Rockingham and Lausitz races but the tracks have very large crowd capacities and will look pretty empty anyway.

 

They may look empty, but... for just exactly WHICH event would those venues ever be NOT empty?  Are there ANY races over there where they get close to capacity?  I get the feeling these tracks are just idly sitting there...  Is there something being raced there that draws or would draw more spectators than IndyCar?

[PayasYouRace]

They may look empty, but... for just exactly WHICH event would those venues ever be NOT empty?  Are there ANY races over there where they get close to capacity?  I get the feeling these tracks are just idly sitting there...  Is there something being raced there that draws or would draw more spectators than IndyCar?

I’d imagine DTM and BTCC draw the biggest crowds for each respectively. Hard to know what sort of crowds each would draw for Indycar today.

I feel a bit sad about those two tracks, as their ovals aren’t being used for their intended purpose.

[Muppetmad]

If IndyCar ever came to Britain again, I'd drag along myself and anybody I know who has any interest in motorsport whatsoever. If all us Brits committed to doing that, we'd reach capacity in no time 

Edited by Muppetmad, 13 June 2018 - 14:25.

[Peat]

I’m rethinking Iowa.

 

[JvsKVB77]

 

 

and 3 additional trophy, each of the 10 rounds - Oval, Street, Road 

[Radoye]

Toronto in April? Seriously?

[maximilian]

 

 

 

and 3 additional trophy, each of the 10 rounds - Oval, Street, Road 

 

A for effort on this one - 30 races, sign me up!     Not sure about some of those parking lot venues, might wanna replace at least one of those with Surfers Paradise? 

 

Always thought Motegi was BORN to do a double-mixed-header, too.

[Tsarwash]

Rockingham is/was a massive white elephant, lord knows how anybody managed to raise to money for it. But it needs to start to be used else it will end up being ripped down. Already they have started to build a large housing estate less than a mile from it. The actual circuit itself looks great, and it is in the right part of the country where people would go to IndyCar or other non-British sports. (I.E. near Milton Keynes or Peterborough.)

[king_crud]

I think they should race in the UK at Brands Hatch because it's near my house

[Risil]

Toronto in April? Seriously?

 

I also got confused by Utah and Iowa in March but then noticed that the dates go underneath the track they correspond to.

 

I love the idea of having a Motegi road course and oval race on consecutive days but not being a operations expert I have no idea if that could ever work. I'm also not sure whether the oval ever returned to use following the 2011 earthquake.

 

I would have Portland instead of Utah, Richmond instead of Atlanta and find room for Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland. I can't stress this last one enough. God bless you for remembering the short-lived ALMS track in Washington, DC though.

[JvsKVB77]

Toronto in April? Seriously?

Dates are at the bottom 

 

 

replace at least one of those with Surfers Paradise? 

 

 

Full Surfers no longer used(

[prommer]

Damn, impressive. Send that to Mark Miles!   

[Radoye]

Dates are at the bottom

 

My bad, i see now.

[PayasYouRace]

and 3 additional trophy, each of the 10 rounds - Oval, Street, Road

Looks fun, though I only count 8 street tracks and 12 road courses.

I’d forgotten about Miller Motorsports Park. It has some of the best corner names ever.

[maximilian]

 

Full Surfers no longer used

 

Doesn't matter, it's still a viable track, and I want it back on the schedule 

[SlipLtd]

You'd prefer Pocono to Michigan?

I suspect Michigan would make for better racing but for diversity’s sake I wouldn’t mind Pocono. The 500 miler triple crown would then feature a triangle, a rectangle and an egg.

[Andrew Hope]

You can probably pick some holes in this regarding time of year or clashes with other series, but with my crash-compilation attention span and that you could reasonably call my typical trains of thoughts a crash compilation anyway this is what I've come up with:

Pre-season: somewhere foreign, and different every year. Brands Hatch, Zolder, whatever.

1 Long Beach
2 Barber
3 Phoenix
4 Indy GP
5 Indy 500

-

6 Somewhere foreign again, like Jerez or Portimao
7 Michigan
8 Mosport
9 Road America
10 Iowa

-

11 Pocono
12 Mid-Ohio
13 Milwaukee
14 Edmonton airport
15 Laguna Seca

-
16 Texas
17 Watkins Glen
18 Fontana

[Atreiu]

I think you guys can builds better calendars than I, I confess now knowing which ovals are in use nowdays, so I'll just name my must have circuits.

 

Surfers' Paradise

Long Beach - without the loop around the water fountain

Portland

Indy 500

Detroit - Belle Island

Road America

Cleveland Airport

Laguna Seca

Phoenix

 

I'd also like to add Norisring in Germany as a screw it-just do it circuit.

[sblick]

If I remember correctly Twin Ring Motegi was damaged in an earthquake.  Reason you see Sato bottoming out.  Allegedly the tunnel underneath is not structurally sound and Honda doesn't want to shell out cash to fix it.  Isn't this the track that the tunnel forms part of the road course?  We can still dream though.  Why not oval one weekend and road course next weekend.  2 for 1 deal for fans it they want it or single race for other fans for whatever they like.

[Anja]

I know most of us would like to see a longer calendar, but 30 races might be a bit of an overkill