Motorsports

Indy confirms return to Brazil

Indy has a long and proud history of racing in Brazil. And while the South American country was missing from this year's calendar, it has now been confirmed to be returning next season.

The race is scheduled to be held on March 8, 2015, at the Autodromo Internacional Nelson Piquet in the capital city of Brasilia – not to be confused with the track of the same name that existed in Jacarepaguá near Rio de Janeiro until its demolition a couple of years ago. The track has hosted a variety of racing series, including MotoGP, which arrived this year, and a Formula One exhibition race in 1974. The tightly packed circuit includes 12 turns over 3.4 miles of pavement and shares its site with the Estádio Nacional that hosted World Cup soccer games earlier this year.

The news ostensibly puts the IndyCar Series back on the international stage after this season's calendar consisted of seventeen races in the United States and one in Canada. Although the final calendar has yet to be confirmed, it's expected to include a round in Dubai. A new race in New Orleans was announced earlier this month.

This, of course, won't be the first time the series will have raced in Brazil. Indy competed in Rio between 1996 and 2000 and in Sao Paulo from 2010 to 2013 (pictured above). The series has a strong following in Brazil, sending us such star drivers as Hélio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan and of course Emerson Fittipaldi.

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