Filed under: Motorsports
Indianapolis loses F1, gains MotoGP in 2008!
By now most have heard that F1 will not hold a race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2008, meaning that the fate of F1 in the U.S. is in question. Don't shed a tear for Indy, though, as it's just been announced that MotoGP will bring the new Red Bull indianapolis GP to the Brickyard on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008. Incredibly, this will be the first time in almost 100 years that motorcycles have raced at Indy. The last time was August 14th, 1909, according to Indy. For the event, Indy is constructing a new 16-turn, 2.601-mile motorcycle road course on which riders will travel counter-clockwise, which is rare for a road course event at Indy. The event organizers promise lots of passing and side-by-side racing, as well. Like any big motorsport event, the Red Bull Indianapolis GP will be a three-day affair with supporting races and qualifying that begin on Friday, Sept. 12, 2008.
Together with the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix that's held at Laguna Seca, MotoGP now hosts two big races in the U.S. The current defending champion, Nicky Hayden, is also from the U.S., Owensboro, KY to be specific, so MotoGP's arrival at Indy is both appropriate for the motorsport and extremely exciting. While losing F1's USGP was a hit to Indianapolis, the storied track has recovered nicely with the announcement of MotoGP's pending arrival, and we'll be eager to see how it goes.
Thanks for the tip, Thor!
[Source: IndianapolisMotorSpeedway.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Allan 4:23PM (7/16/2007)
Wow... if they're going to build a whole new area of track to get this, that's pretty crazy. I wonder if they'd be able to use this course layout for other events though...
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StinkyPete 4:35PM (7/16/2007)
F1 leaving? I didn't know it was even there… (j/k)
There's just not as much fanfare for the F1 race as the 500 or 400 receives. I can understand why though. After the Michelin debacle, I was surprised to hear it was coming back.
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Kumar 4:43PM (7/16/2007)
Yeah, F1 wasn't such a hit, esp post 9/11 in our red state since a majority of my fellow hoosiers have don't really care for any foreigners.
Sucks though, since the people that blew into town every year for the race spent a lot more than the fans for the other races, and were a good time to hang out with.
Oddly, this track woul've been more exciting to watch the F1 race on... the first turn always took out a few cars on the first lap, and the last two turns were worthless (caused the high speeds that in turn caused the tire debacle)
If F1 were to return, it would be a lot better to watch on this track.
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Travis Rassat 5:23PM (7/16/2007)
I agree - this track layout could be cool for F1, too.
I also enjoyed having some people coming in from other countries for the race. It was nice to have some international exposure. Unfortunately, there do seem to be a lot of people around here who don't like the "foreigners."
Just a little silly story: At last year's USGP, my friends from Minnesota and I were leaving the track on Saturday after watching the other races and were walking along the fence when a shirtless, drunken redneck asked us through the fence if he could get a light for his cigarette. We just quietly told him "sorry, we don't smoke" and kept walking. He yelled back at us as we walked away, saying "You don't smoke? It's downright un-American to not smoke!" and "you f***in' foreigners can go back! To hell with you!" We've referred to him as "The Great American Ambassador" ever since. It was both funny and embarrassing at the same time. I can't help but wonder if Bernie Ecclestone met with him during the discussions on the USGP's return... lol!
John P. 5:07PM (7/16/2007)
Kumar, I agree, adding that turn in there is a nice idea for the bikes and would have been cool for the cars, even though they run the other direction.
I seriously doubt many are going to miss F1 though. It's not what it used to be, for me anyway. Having said that, it would be cool if they did a night race in the streets of Manhattan or something. Imagine the Party! F1's expansion into new markets may even bring an end to Silverstone I hear. Now that would be a real shame.
bye-bye F1, it was nice knowing you.
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Nick 5:20PM (7/16/2007)
I am a super motogp fan, this is indeed great news! I hope more ppl in the US pay attention to this sport now.
by the way, Motogp in Laguna Seca is on July 22-23. make sure you watch it live on Speed TV from 4pm - 5pm or replay on ABC on July 30 1pm - 2pm.
Go Nicky Hayden, Rossi and Colin Edward!
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Cory 8:08AM (7/17/2007)
Don't forget Hopkins!! You will definitely see me there next year! Count me in!
adamsonar 5:24PM (7/16/2007)
F1 at Bristol, anyone?
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Travis Rassat 5:32PM (7/16/2007)
I'm personally not very familiar with MotoGP. Does anybody have any idea how big MotoGP is worldwide, compared to F1? Does this have the potential to draw in the amount of people that came for F1?
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Ian 5:58PM (7/16/2007)
Seems MotoGP owners have more foresight in creating 2 UIS based races in 2008 than FOM which moves to zero. I bet the MotoGP manufacturers are a happy lot and the F1 manufacturers an unhappy lot.
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Nick 6:31PM (7/16/2007)
Motogp is huge in Europe, a normal race will usually draws about 70k ppl attend. For example, there were more than 90k ppl attended the race in Italy this year. In addition, there are billion of ppl watch motogp broadcast globally.
The sad thing is not as many ppl pay attention to it in the US. ppl farther watch cars that only make left turns for hrs instead of watch one hr of motogp race that full of excitement and surprise.
One thing I like motogp better than F1 is that you normally dont see drivers pass each other in F1, driver who took pole positions are mostly predicted to win the race, but in motogp you will see riders take over leading position back and fore, or leading rider crashing their bikes. Especially rider like Valentino Rossi, which dont like to take pole position but he can actually advanced his position from 7 to being No.1 . It's truely amazing races!
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Jared 6:38PM (7/16/2007)
Sad to lose the USGP, but I never really liked it at Indy. I don't like the layout. I hope MotoGP does well though.
I think MotoGP will do better than F1 per expectations.
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why not the LS2LS7? 6:55PM (7/16/2007)
Great!
Can they please take the MotoGP race away from Laguna Seca now so Laguna Seca can put the curbing back to normal?
The corkscrews lost its teeth when they changed it for MotoGP, and with the new (flat) curbing on the inside of turns now, they cut 2-3 seconds off the lap times for cars. It's absurd.
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Brad 7:18PM (7/16/2007)
If Indy had that layout to begin with we might not have had the debacle of 2005 in the F1 race. I don't care anything for motorcycle racing but maybe the race can make it. I would certainly think the sanctioning fee for MotoGP is a lot less than for Formula 1. I love F1 and hopefully one day it can return.
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Spectacular Bid 7:21PM (7/16/2007)
Fine by me that F1 leaves Indy as I never liked attending the races there. I'd love to see them go to Road America up in Wisconsin. F1 fans will go anywhere for a race so FIA officials need not worry that ticket sales will be slow. That is the best, longest, and most challenging track in the US by far if not the world with so many other tracks made more bland by modification. If you want to see cars overtaking one another that is it.
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FamilyGuy 7:55PM (7/16/2007)
Boo that F1 is gone!
WooHOO that MotoGP is here!
MotoGP has a massive following, with most races bringing in 90K-100K fans. Can't imagine what the parking lots are going to look like with nothing but bikes every where.... Its going to be insane for sure. Also, I am very happy to see that they have added more turns to the track. Its going to be quite an interesting race for sure. Hopefully Michelin will bring the correct tires, lol.
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chris 8:03PM (7/16/2007)
MotoGP attendances are only limited from how many people can fit around the track, I've watched every race this year and can't think of any time where it wasn't completed sold out. The first race (in Spain from what I remember) could get over 150,000 people in to watch the race. And that's an actual race track, not just some oval with seating all around.
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ermax18 11:02PM (7/16/2007)
USGP attendance was 200,000+. So I hope MotoGP can bring more then 150,000. They also say that the F1 fans spent more money around town then the broke (average) NASCAR fans did.
It's a shame I couldn't make it up to IMS to see the V10s and now it's a bigger shame I will never even get to see the V8s at IMS. I guess I will have to tuck it all the way to Canada. Canada has a better track layout anyways.
All American Dude XX 8:49PM (7/16/2007)
well hey at least we still have NASCAR and IRL racing there guys, don't fret! (threw up a little in my mouth while i typed that)
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spdracerut 3:28AM (7/17/2007)
This is great news! I absolutely love MotoGP; you'd be hard pressed to find any sort of motorsport that's more exciting.
I believe this will pull in a bigger draw than F1 because there are FIVE Americans in MotoGP (and they're actually doing well) as opposed to one in F1.
The comment about the 'redneck' and how it's 'un-american' to not smoke is rather hilarious and just shows the ignorance of some people. I'm in France for work right now and tons more people smoke here than back in the states. Well, I guess if you never leave the trailer park....
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