Where Should Indycar Run Races in Europe?
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- čas přidán 4. 07. 2024
- Indycar in the last 12 months or so has expressed interest in having races in Mexico and Argentina, and that got me thinking about the CART races that happened in Europe in the early 2000s such as the races at Lausitz, Rockingham and Brands Hatch.
Now, 20 years on, American open wheel racing is a lot healthier and could expand out to do some races that might increase interest this side of the Atlantic. But where should they race? I've picked three tracks that might be suitable candidates.
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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:56 Brands Hatch
5:27 Jerez
9:23 Zandvoort
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Short answer: yes
Long answer: yes to South America, then yes to EU.
Yes
I agree with that comment. Indy used to host races in Surfers Paradise in Australia and Motegi in Japan, not to mention it's a good excuse to expand the series outside of the US and Canada.
I would like to see IndyCar do a race at Silverstone as a support race for the British GP in F1.
@@izzdin6228
Make:
1 in Europe: Why not Brand Hatch/Donington Park in the UK or IMO Circuit Ricardo Tormo (always open for many series)
1 in South America: How about a track like Termas de Rio Hondo or Goiania
1 in Mexico in Puebla
1 in Japan: Either Motegi (Oval) or why not sth. like Autopolis/Okyama
1
@@eggselent9814 brands hatch is rubbish
You're right about IndyCar not being promoted well in the States. Over the years it's been a mish-mash of misplaced priorities and has been treated like NASCAR's red-headed step son.
But Roger Penske owns the Indianapolis Speedway now and has spent a metric $#!+ ton of money just updating it to contemporary standards. As the Indy 500 is the star, the crown, the cherry on the cake for the series so to speak, it appears that Mr. Penske will have an awful lot to say about whether IndyCar goes to Europe, Japan, Australia, Mexico, or elsewhere. Roger has an impressive and very successful record as a businessman. Buying the Speedway was Roger's crowning achievement and he will do nothing to endanger that legacy. His decision will be based entirely on whether he thinks the World market can bear European races or not. It will be exciting to see it, but can it turn a profit?
It's mostly a case of who's going to pay for it. Even before Penske took over, IndyCar went to Brazil and Surfers Paradise because those local governments footed the bill. It's the reason why a race in Argentina might happen because of the government and Juncos Hollinger Racing.
Penske mainly wants to be a North American series only, but he won't say no to money.
Let’s not forget, Roger is in his 80s now. How much longer can the guy run at full clip?
There is simply not much interest in Indycar anymore. But a lot of it is due to the infighting with CART that is their fault.
I'm Australian but went to college in America. So I know the American mentality pretty well and we've had the Indy cars here. I actually went to one as one of my clients at the time was racing in a support category. I Agree with all 4 of the people who have commented ahead of me here, but adding to this.
The reason why the Surfers Paradise races worked well was for several reasons, but here's the 2 I think matter in a discussion like this.
1) The drivers themselves were so much easier to deal with than the F1 guys at the time. Forget language issues it was simply came from how much better the American drivers were at promoting their own sport. They didn't treat the media as if they Satan's offspring and actually treated them as if they were worth something. As a result they got great coverage and response BEFORE THE RACING EVEN HAPPENED. I remember people from our media making comments comparing them to the F1 guys. The media all but said "Why are we wasting money on F1 when these people are so much easier to deal with."
2) Whether by luck or clever design the Surfers Track made for great racing. In those days Indy car ran metal brake discs on road & street courses. They only used carbon fibre on the ovals where they needed brakes that could be dead cold and then instantly work to get into the pits. I remember this because before that first race brakes were the hot topic. The original Surfers layout (we now run a shortened version) had 4 monster hard braking zones and the drivers were really concerned they'd all suffer late race brake issues and that was exactly what happened.
What I remember of that first race:
Everyone knew the Andretti name in Australia and we got a gift with John Andretti winning with some spectacular late race work. He'd managed to save his brakes a little better than others. The full race is still here on YT if you want to check it out. Of the 90s era I think if we compared the top 5 Indy races at Surfers to the top 5 F1 races in Adelaide and then ranked them 1 to 10. The 5 Indy car races would be ranked 1 to 5 and nobody would care about the other 5 races.
*Compared to what we were getting in those days with F1 in Adelaide the entire show was 1000% better.*
Unfortunately for all race fans Indy Car and CART then proceeded to destroy each other in a war of attrition they have never recovered from.
Finally - maybe the one thing that did come from that era was that F1 improved its media work massively.
Roger Penske doesn't just own Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He owns the whole series.
Don't know why, but Donnington seems like a good choice to me. Not against anywhere else - country or track - but it's not too dissimilar to some layouts in the American park tracks. Fast and flowing with some tricky corners.
I'd love to see Indy expand through the world and become a true world championship as a result. Unlike the hockey, baseball, etc etc etc...
The US has lots of amazing World Championships, in fact they are holders of many World titles. Although I think thats mainly because they don't let any other nations take part.
It's also right next to an international airport, so (relatively) easy on the logistics side.
It's a world championship because competitors from all over the world play in those leagues. Indycar is the same way, although they never claim to be "world champions," but rather "Indycar Champions." Likewise, F1 doesn't have any American drivers, so there's that. Hell, they don't even want to let an American team in.
F1 and it seems lots of their fans too are "elitist" about their sport compared to Supercars, Indycars and NASCAR, all series with much better on track products in terms of competition I might add. They seem to think they have the best drivers, but I'm not so sure that's the case. I'm not really sure any one series can make that claim and both Indycar and NASCAR drivers have to be more complete/versatile drivers because of the variation of track types: road and street courses, along with short, mid and long ovals. And let's be real, no other series has the pack racing like NASCAR does at Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta. That's a special skill all its own. Indycar used to have something similar, but they kind of ditched it after Dan Wheldon got killed in Las Vegas. Personally, I think all the series bring something different and that's what makes them all great in their own ways.
Basketball is in the top 3 biggest sports in the world and significantly more favored than all motorsports combined
I know it's not the *best* oval, but I still feel the Lausitzring should be considered. If there's to be a European swing, I feel at least one oval should be considered.
I like Brands Hatch and Zandvoort for Indycar, though. Maybe replace Jerez for Anderstorp, but that's just my opinion.
Out of pure curiosity I'd say the Sachsenring and the Lausitzring. How about a "Can Indycar Handle" Series?
Well, Lausitzring was bulit for CART and hosted CART races on the past so...
@@superninja252 When talking about the Lausitzring, it has to be mentioned that the oval would need a lot of love and care to be suitable for modern single seaters, not only because it's partially in a state of decaym but also because it isn't up to modern safety standards. It's also very similiar to Pocono and thus I think it might be to fast and dangerous for IndyCar's higher ups liking.
@@sebastianochs7603 It is just 2 miles thus it is shorter than Pocono, also again all it needs is repave and add soft walls, both are not that expensive
@@superninja252 I've read conflicting reports on the costs, most local news sources claim it would be pretty costly, about 5-10 million euros, but others say it would be much cheaper. DTM ran the first corner of the oval in their recent races there too, so the asphalt cannot be too bad. But a GT car may have a different tolerance for bumps than a single seater.
@@sebastianochs7603 DTM also uses the turn 3 and i saw some vids of people using turn 2
Zandvoort’s a great shout. And local support for Veekay.
Don’t know what state Anderstorp is in these days. But presumably a big crowd to see Ericsson and Rosenqvist.
Norisring seems a good shout. Portimao would definitely be in my short list. And maybe even Mugello?!
I'd say Portimao too, or Villa Real if you want a street track. The main issue for Anderstorp is logistics. Roads ar not really optimal for convoys of trucks and motorhomes. That being said, I don't know how the STCC and Carerra Cup Scandinavia solves that, besides that many Swedish racing teams use cargo buses instead of trucks/lorries.
EuroSpeedway Lausitzring is still open for races, i think they should make oval races outside amareica again
could maybe make an indy lights europe series, that way indycar could get european guys without them having to fail in f1 first
Interesting track and probably suit IRL well. Big oval and a loop thru the infield.
@@toomanyuserids hasn't been IRL for about 15 years now I don't think but I do agree it would be a good fit
Yeah, Lausitzring oval would be good, though I would like to see the road course used. I think more Europeans would go to the race on the road course than the oval. Another couple tracks I think would be good are Oschersleben and Nürburgring on the sports car layout.
@@DPW864 The oval seems well mainted and it looks that only need softwalls that dont are that expensive to put on the tracks
I have a feeling like they would try and restore Rockingham with it's modular infield and a pretty nice oval. Though that might be wishful thinking
@@thevoid6818 I'm quite jealous you got to see racing at Rockingham before it's unfortunate demise and subsequent turning into a parking lot
NASCAR really should consider doing one Europe race a year as well.
More guest starters from the Cup Series in EuroNASCAR would be fine too 😁
NASCAR should do an exchange program with the BTCC where NASCAR does one race a year at a BTCC track (think Brands Hatch or Silverstone) & BTCC does one race a year at a NASCAR track especially at an oval. Imagine BTCC cars engaging in pack racing at Daytona/Talladega or really causing carnage at a short track like Bristol or Martinsville & stock cars trying to pass each other on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit.
@@chrisguardiano6143 The blokes probably wouldn’t want to race the ovals.
@@chrisguardiano6143 BTCC at Martinsville would be awesome
@@WinstonPinetorum Maybe start them off on a flat, shorter oval. Think Louden, maybe the Milwaukee Mile
Yes, yes, yes!!! Very cool. Thanks for putting that together Aidan. I'd love to see it happen, and can't understand why they've been away so long.
You completely skipped the fact that ChampCar raced at both Zolder and Assen in 2007 with the fantastic Panoz DP-01 chassis, before it merged with the IRL for the 2008 season. These were both well-attended races and the racing was great.
I'm just at the intro sequence of the video so far, but I've always wanted to see Indycar race at Monaco I'd love to see how much passing would go on.
Very little passing actually, like F2 races.
Indycars are smaller and lighter than Formula One, so it probably wouldn't be that bad.
@@alexjenner1108 Indy Cars are not lightier than F1 cars, they are heavier, just have much less dirty air
Would love to see them race at hockenheim, spa and nuremburgring as a middle finger to F1
Le Mans would be nice too
Completely different beast.
UK had Rockingham oval but that's gone.
And I think Spa is a little too challenging to start with
Nordschleife, that australia mounten race idk how it called and Nürburgring if not nordschleife
ahh yes because F1 is going to care so much that IndyCar races at the Nurbergring?...
Hockenheim was dropped due to the pandemic, Spa is still on the calendar and is always sold out (i.e. it's rather unlikely that it'd be removed) and the F1 races at the Nurbergring were getting a bit boring in terms of on track action and these cars have rather outgrown that circuit.
hockenheim would probably suit these indycar's quite well as would Spa but the Nurbergring GP circuit is pretty tight & twisty, that'd be the most boring race IndyCar has ever had, other than the pit straight there aren't a lot of places where two indycar's could go side by side reliably & that'd force a lot of drivers to be quite timid and just play follow the leader.
my vote goes to letting IndyCar race on the Nordschleife, that would be amazing albeit probably lethal af.
Indycar expanding south makes sense since they are essentially operating in the same timezones. So the sponsors still get their target audiance in front of the screen. How many of them are going to watch six hours earlier than usual is another question.
That said, let's go to Thruxton. I don't know what but it was the first that popped in my head. There is also Donington, Mugello or Spa. Although the last I'm a bit worried about the runoff may produce shades of COTA.
Great video. Your sim racing looked fairly tidy as well. ✌️
A good circuit for an Indycar race would be Lédenon in Southern France. It's a hilly and twisty track and it has a very Californian feel to it. It's also pretty close to the city of Nîmes and not too far from the airports in Montpellier and Marseille
I wanna say, take them to the 1006 km circuit in Palanga, Lithuania. It's just a section of a motorway, that gets closed every mid july weekend for an 1006km enduro. Might fit, but will need A LOT of optimization.
What about indycar on a European oval? Germany still has both superspeedways they are used for testing road cars last I heard so should still be in good shape
Lausitzring was used for CART in 2000s and still hosts races of various classes each year
The DTM is racing on the Lausitzring road course this year.
I've taken Indycars around a lot of tracks in Assetto Corsa and rF2 and must say that most MotoGP circuits work incredibly well with Indycars.
Like these types of videos
I would go back to Lausitz Oval. We need more ovals on the schedule. Rather selfishly, I would go to snett (my closest circuit).
Brands hatch is a good one. Also, having Indycar back would have be engood this year as it would have been 45 years since there first. Jerez with Spanish links is good too.
Also last time indycar was at TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands crowds were good so Zandvoort good shout plus rinus veekay would generate press.
More left-field shouts but a race in Sweeden or going to New Zealand/Australia, given the obs commercial links
Unfortunately the oval corners of Lausitzring would need mayor updates... which are in the millions of Euros. Still hoping this will become reality one day.
@@digitalmaxism Lausitzring is still ative wont need much, only put softwalls for security and that wont be that expensive since even lemans have NASCAR-style walls in some of turns
@@superninja252 Speedweek had an article by Andreas Reiners, who claims the renovations of the ovals would cost a double-digit amount and dpa said it's 6 million Euro. It's a regular upcoming topic in German media like Motorsport-Total or Motorsport-Magazin, but sadly it's not looking great. So much as I would love to have Indycar there, the bankings really look pretty aged and are not open to formula cars until this day.
@@digitalmaxism I dont think is that much, the asphalt is not that wasted and track is still very used for races nowadays
it only needs the safty walls and those are not that expensive, even lemans maneged to get a turn with those
For obvious reasons being Irish I'd love to see them at Mondello, I even tried it on my channel. The only thing is the track is very remote and there's not a lot of spectator viewing much to the annoyance of even the small local crowds. But it would be nice to see a top level category back in Ireland for the first time since the world sportscar championship stopped by in the 2000s
Indycar would acc slap at mondello
I haven't seen a race there (on TV, I'm on the other side of the puddle) in years. BTCC I _think._ (The memory isn't what it was!) I just remember it being a cracker of a track.
It would also be great if BSB went there, given that a fair percentage of the various bike classes are filled with Irish wonders, from both sides of the divide (but let's forget about that). Given the sad news about the demise of some major road racing in Ireland, using a circuit could at least be a (potentially safer) way to entertain both viewers and bikers. I'd love the BTCC to go there too. It can also make up for the collapse of the attempt to build a new track in Wales a few years back. When I say "a few", that means in this century. It's true when they say that the memory is the first thing to ... Um, what was I saying? ;P
🏴🤝🇮🇪
Shorter tracks could have rallycross style qualifying heats for large grids.
Is Formula Libre still going in Eire?
@@MrNinjaFish indeed it is, and it's increasing in popularity to my knowledge
@@andymb601 If it would increase in popularity in Great Britain that'd be nice
Brands Hatch - I even like the short circuit - Assen and Most in the Czech Republic. It's like Portland + the kink from Road America.
Wait.... Rockingham was profitable!?!?
If Indycar can expand to Asia, I'd like them to race at Sepang and make it their SEA home for their Asia tour. It's a cheaper series to get into and I'm sure more people can afford to buy the tickets vs the skyhigh prices F1 was charging even at a discount during its final year here back in 2017. And if they can get a Malaysian driver on the grid, even better. F1 can keep the Singapore GP, let Indycar keep Sepang. But this is all my imagination for now.
Sepang is a great place
A video on race options across Asia would make for a nice follow-on video to this one. Mt Fuji? Sepang? A return to the Gold Coast perhaps?
While I would like to see them go to a few more races in North America 1st, a few races in Europe would be interesting, but they need to have them all together so they do not have to fly back and forth more than once. I do like the idea of them going to a F1 stomping ground, putting on a great race and having F1 fans in Europe go
"Damn, why can't our series put on this type of race"
Now this response is indeed wishful thinking.
A Dutch race would make sense considering Rinus van Kalmthout running Indycar and a Dutch cable company already broadcasting the races. The time difference would be a challenge though and I don't think Zandvoort can host a night race due to the sound curfew.
What I would really love though is for Indy to go back to Surfer's Paradise.
True...id even go with zandvoort,just to flex on f1...
There is also Assen ofcourse.... and that track already hosted Indycar back in the day when Robert Doornbos was in the American Minardi team
There's no way a Dutch race at Zandvoort is an option. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see Indycars racing here but we already have a situation where judges are involved and environmental activists gather at the gates every time someone even dares to say F1 out loud, no way we're getting an Indy race on top of the Dutch Grand Prix.
Maybe Assen could be an option
@@hayo919 idk assen is too narrow for these modern cars, zandvoort would be good as the f1 attention + the banking will hit home
@@mrbungle3310 I don't think it's too narrow. Indycars are not as wide as F1 cars ofcourse
Monaco. I know FIA likely have exclusive, but Indy I believe don’t need to follow the FIA graded layout. They can go to OG T1 and also relax the tunnel chicane a bit
In my country France (which could be a good market to target as we have two drivers in Indycar, and no more F1 GP for time being) I'd see two options. The first woud be the Bugatti circit at Le Mans, Indy at Le Mans would be a nice event and the circuit can host many fans and seems suited to Indycars. Or we could go to a track many F1 fans consider as the best French tracks to have ever hosted it, Dijon-Prenois.
In other countries we could imagine a trip to Anderstorp, halfway between Copenhagen and Stockholm, with the likes of Ericsson, Rosenqvist and Lundgaard in Indycar it could be smart to go to Scandinavia
Le Man Bugatti’s a great idea.
I'm currently enjoying indycar more than F1 lately so I'd love to have a race in the UK. Brands would be perfect
Portimao, Estoril, or even Spa if it can't hold on to its F1 race. Is Brno still active? That'd be an interesting one to see indy cars on.
Flip side: F1 should be racing at Road America. That layout would produce the best racing F1 has ever seen.
Brands Hatch i think is perfect for Indy. I'd suggest Mugello as well and perhaps Magny Cours, basically any track that has a lot of medium-fast corners, isnt too long and isn't a top f1 track (having IndyCar race on regular f1 tracks would be a bad idea imo)
I always enjoy racing at Algarve International Circuit in Portimao in the Sim. That could be fun.
A video on the Anderstorp circuit in Sweden and the Grands Prix held there would be interesting.
Lausitzring,Brands Hatch, or Jarama.
You’re kind of missing the point of why they would bring INDYCAR to Europe. Sure you can do road courses or a street course in Mexico or Argentina but if you do one of those in Europe you’ll just be the knockoff F1. If INDYCAR goes to Europe it has to do an oval, it has to show off what makes it a unique series compared to F1. It has to show what makes INDYCAR, INDYCAR. That answer is an excellent race done on an oval.
exactly
I do know that this is a little off topic, but I would love to see Indycar run at Surfer's Paradise again.
Spa and Silverstone are the two I think would fit the best. But pretty much any of the F1 circuits, as the cars are so similar to F1 cars.
All three would be great for Indycar… I was at F1 GP Zandvoort 2022, it’s an epic little track - there was actually a surprising amount of DRS overtakes down the main straight because it was extended through the final corner - I can imagine Indycar’s boost could still promote overtaking there.
nice video, it would be very cool if indycar where to come to Europe, sadly i suspect it is a long way of if it ever happens
My first thought was Brands Hatch GP....but you covered that😂 Donnington possibly or maybe Monza.
I think something more historic would be a bigger race for them. Spa could be pretty cool, but I think they'd put on the best race at a place like Mugello.
You mention a few of the tracks here in the states being hard to pass at, but pretty much every road course is hard to pass at these days because the cars are so even and then on top of that, the drivers are closer in skill and talent than ever before too. That's why the pit strategies and running great laps during the pit cycle is so crucial. Once a car gets out front, it's really difficult to pass when on the same tire/tyre compound.
5:06 nice one rFactor 2
Something about those trees at brands hatch seem way too close for cars this quick. Just thinking about what happened to the mclaren at GTWC race last year that went over the fence. Imagine that but quicker in an open wheeler??
The other two tracks are a good shout. I think Nurburgring would work well for them, not to mention it wouldn’t hurt racing in the country that supplies 50% of the engines in Motorsport worldwide!!
Also Adelaide street track! The perfect street circuit
There needs to be a follow up video as there are many more circuits to consider
Spa or monza to test the speed, Monaco to know the drivers with balls to overtake in a tight circuit.
I want to say Lauzitzring oval, but I’m not sure how the track is right now
Actually the track is fine, needs only a repave and softwalls but most parts are still ok, the circuit hosts various type of racing and tests each year so is still open for races
Silverstone, Spa, Monza, and maybe catalunya or another. They have a cool spot of agility for the gt circuits and also the pedal for a more oval shaped course. As an F1 fan in the states, I love the racing so much. I wish more companies were involved making the V6s and bringing unique tech to the sport, I really like the stability that we have had with GM and Honda, two of the worlds largest helping put on some nice packs of top level racing. I wonder how much they would be willing to change geometry and chassis wise in the IRL to make some things happen in europe. Once the cars are there, it could be relatively easy to get teams moved to a few different events before a break back to the other side of the ocean.
I'd personally want Estoril, Paul Ricard and Oscherschleben or Hockenheim
Oscherschleben 🤮
@@musyarofah1lol Oscherschleben would fit the Indy circuit profile 😂😂😂
The CART/Champ Car Series ran in Europe so why can’t the current Indycar series heck the current Indycar series has raced in Japan and Australia before
It's all about costs. They have no one to foot the bill to transport all the cars, staffs, drivers, facilities and equipment to venues outside of North America. Only recently they've seriously considered testing the waters in Argentina because Canapino is on their roster and he's a local favorite.
I’ve raced Indy cars on assetto corsa on all 3 of these tracks Aiden has suggested here. Plus many more European tracks but my favourite is Mugello followed very closely by Brands Hatch. Donnington is another great suggestion. But it all comes down to viability etc. Either way would love to see Indy cars in Europe or anywhere. As a fellow Brit I’ve always loved CART/Indycar as much as F1.
My top 3? Spa, Monza, and Circut du Sarth. Maybe silverstone.
given there's three NZers in Indycar I feel like there'd be interest in a race here in NZ. sadly our track situation is a bit harder, we have only one FIA grade 2 circuit and it's a bit of a deviation from that flowing elevation change thing. we have tracks like that but I worry they'd be a little too cramped
My 3... Mugello, Magny Cors, Nurburgring
Love to see them at monza
I suggest the old Monza 10km…Monza Road Circuit plus the oval!😂it could be an amazing race!😮
You'd need to resurface the oval and reconfigure the re-entry from the oval back to the circuit, and probably also build a secondary pit lane at the far end of the oval.
Hockenheim or Nurburgring would be also options for me, closish to frankfurt airport, abandonned by F1 tracks that some fans would love to see racing in. But I directly go against the premise that Indycar should avoid modern wide grade 1 tracks. What if what Indycar needs is to take a track where F1 routinely produces boring racing and put a banger there, for example Barcelona or Paul ricard.
I have a couple of tracks in mind, imola, magny cours, portomau, Le Mans Bugatti to name a few
Rockingham should be run, if that track still has the oval that is. So should that Lausitz oval.
Costs though would be a pain. We'd be right back to the CART in the 1990s style expenses.
I say New Zealand for a round, we are Motorsport deprived country but with such a rich history in Motorsport. with 3 current Indycar drivers and statistically the best driver of the 21st century. Kiwis love IndyCar.
Definetly hockenheim , and zolder in my opinion
Yes!
Donnington is a good choice.
Estoril is also a nice fast track, Nevers Magny-Cours is another good option.
Hockenheim Ring Short Circuit is another option and a fast one (sub 1 min possible).
In Canada they could race again on Mosport Racetrack, it's a fast one with a lot of overtaking possibilities and Nascar is using or was using it.
Brands Hatch is an awesome track and one of my favourites. However, it's very difficult to overtake - these Indycars would struggle to overtake.
So, for me, Donnington Park would be my track of choice for a UK circuit.
Brands Hatch Indy is a no-brainer. Slovakia Ring can be a tri-oval or several configurations of road course. Sachsenring, Val de Vienne in France seems like it'd fit IndyCar style racing. And throwing in an odd one, Tor Poznan in Poland which hosts the Euro Truck Championship would probably be a fun venue.
May seem a bit normie but austria would be a a great track its just so freaking beautiful
The sensible option for them to run in the UK is Donington, the mad mans option would be the Mallory Park mile oval (still think that would give you the greatest NASCAR Exhibition races of all time) and the dreamers option would be at the now cleared Rockingham Motor Speedway again. Brands Hatch is too small really for the International GT rounds it gets, it already hogs all of the events in the UK, doesn't have an amazing safety record as of late and even Euro NASCARs struggle to overtake around there, and as for Silverstone, the less said about that utter hell hole and the people that run it, the better.
It has to be said though, I think Indycar need to work more on their promotion before they start jumping across the pond, because there was a race on last weekend that it seems nobody even knew was taking place!
Lausitzring oval, Zandvoort, Nurburgring, Spa and the Old Hockenheim....and circuit de la Sarthe....
Indycar should obviously race at Brands Hatch, it would be amazing for those cars. Then they should race at Phillip Island, just outside Melbourne. And of course Tsukuba. Mexico City, and maybe Le Mans Bugatti Circuit.
Idk how feasible it would be but driving the Indy cars around Oulton Park is an absolute blast. Mugello and Hockenheim would be great as well.
This one made me have a think of some tracks that could host IndyCar in Europe. Donington was mentioned and we should probably give a shout to Circuit Paul Ricard, but here's some others I can think of.
Jarama in Spain would also be a good shout - it was modernised in 2015 and is about 20 miles (+-30km) from Madrid, so transport links should be decent.
Zolder in Belgium might also be a good shout - it doesn't have too many major series and the transport links aren't terrible (huge canal nearby for possible team logistics stuff, rail and road links).
Algarve International Circuit (Portimao) in Portugal would also be a good shout - it's a pretty new circuit and has hosted F1 twice recently, so the local infrastructure is pretty good - it is also quite warm there all year round so it could be a nice early season race for the teams.
Dijon-Prenois might also be a good candidate - reasonable travel links (+- 3 hours drive from Paris and regular train links) and it currently doesn't have a "big" series name attached (GT2 Euro Series probably its showpiece event).
Istanbul Park could be another candidate - recently hosted F1 and has great transport links but obviously regional security issues are a problem.
I'd say: Portimao, Hockenheim, Mugello and especially: Most in Czechia. It's quite fun to host Indycar races on this track in RaceRoom. If you have Most and the Formula RaceRoom US in your library, you should definitely give it a try!
Most reminds me of Portland + the kink from Road America; great suggestion!!
mugello :D:D
Snetterton might be fun, just because it has the most amusing name. The Brands sim looked very nice, though.
If there was a full EuroIndy calendar, LausitzRing should have a double header with both the oval and the infield.
While their are some former f1 drivers on the grid it’s open wheel but very different than F1 I’d dare say half the f1 grid would really struggle in Indy to begin. The best of the guys to come across is Ericsson who wasn’t the bestF1 driver and he’s been excellent on ovals go figure but his rookie season was brutal
Indycar is my favorite circuit, I watch all the races, love it. Watching GT's this weekend at Brands Hatch, had me thinking about Indycar there! Now, I run across this.... (In theory, next year, they will be able to accelerate/turn quicker with the addition of hybrid)
In 2003 CART ran in Brands Hatch. The full video is on IndyCar's CZcams channel under "2003 London Champ Car Trophy"
Would love to see some indy cars on these tracks! Brands Hatch… i wonder how many would over cook turn one like i always do? 😂🤣😂
Spa would be amazing
For IndyCar to grow they should explore this. The tracks in Europe look a lot better on TV than the tracks in the US look. And I think the turnout on race day will be great
Lausitzring could be a reliable pick to go back to, since Rockingham is dead. One new venue I would love to see open wheel racing at however, would be the Ahvenisto race circuit. Designed by the same guy behind Zandvoort and Suzuka to name a few tracks, it could suit the series very nicely.
Cadwell Park. Could be a laugh.
being completley biased here as i am from Corby. I would love for indy to give rockingham a shot as Cinch the new owners have teased that racing might return and the track has recently been used. whether this be Indy running the oval or the road course (same a BTCC used to run on)
Flowing circuits makes me think Portimao, but that's just me being a shill lol. I would also suggest Magny-Cours in the "flowing" category, but that's a logistical nightmare as either you or Josh Revel pointed out. For street circuits, you could use the grade 3 track in Villa Real, Portugal or the abandoned former F1 track in Valencia, And I suppose Penske could design - and probably even fund - a restoration and reconfiguration of the oval at Monza as well.
Lastly, I couldn't help but notice that you listed the Anderstorp Raceway. This circuit is only used for touring cars, Porsche cup and a minor national open-wheel series called Formula Nordic, so seeing an international event there would be cool. Especially IndyCar, given the 3 Swedish drivers currently competing in the seris. Home crowds for Marcus Ericsson and Felix Rosenquist would give it a great atmosphere.
Though the main issue with an Anderstorp IndyCar round is logistics. Where would the containers go? The port of Gothenburg is massive, and the closest route to the circuit is at least partially motorway. Going via Halmstad would give you a shorter route, but less optimal roads for that ammount of cargo. You could theoretically use rail for most of the route. Though none of the nearby stations have transshipment facitilies, so you'd have tu truck it full distance anyway.
Some good choices there.
Zandvoort being accessible to lots of countries is a good idea.
Indycar has more credibility than Formula 1 by the way.
Zandvoort is only accessible by overcrowded trains and bicycles.
In iracing I love raving the indy car at spa and also oulten park
Had it been built the early 90s square-ish oval at/using parts off sliverstone would have been AMAZING!
I think if Indycar should expand, it's to the rest of the Americas. Mexico City, Buenos Aries, Interlagos, Montreal, Mosport, Rio Hondo, all of those would be ideal options for expanding within the American lines. If they were to expand outside of the Americas an obvious answer would be Motegi, but also Kyalami or even Bathurst/Melbourne, Australia, because those are markets that all could really expand Indycar's reach after conquering the Americas. However, I do not believe Europe will be a good option for Indycar ever. Formula 1 has such an unbelievable stronghold that it would feel like a lesser American imitation rather than a legitimate series
Well nowdays you have pretty big number of european drivers in the field which i think have sparked an intrest in europe for indycar. I mean we got swedes, danish, britts, french, dutch, spaniards and probally forgotten some more. That doesnt count out a race in for example mexico or argentina. Why not aim for both? I think the problem is logistics and cost in both cases.
Make them a support race for the f1 calendar!😂
I live in Indy, grew up Indycar. Work for an indycar team.
Love both diciplines, record every F1 practice, quali & race. Yell at anyone that might give a spoiler before i can watch.
So many of us WANT a Euro swing.
$ / € / # / Pesos / sea-shells / Gilder / Florin or Franc. MONEY RUNS THE WORLD.
2 engine mfrs. Chevy (Ilmor) & Honda.
1 American made chassis. Dallara.
2 American & 1 Japanese companies can't build the furious patriotism & rivalries in Europe to bring the money needed to bring indycar over.
Our yearly budget is closer to the cost of all of Mick's '22 crashes but we still put a pretty good show.
(Indianapolis 500 only 2 weeks away)
Aidan: In all of your sim running, do you think there might be a Euro track that modern indycar could outrun modern F1?
Might make a good video & definitely start some conversations.
Cheers-
1:53 your German World Cup comparison doesn't hold up. The Federal Republic of Germany has won 4 world cups. The powerlifting gold medals are a valid comparison though (same for any other Olympic disciplines), for the timeframe 1968-1988. Fun fact: Had the independent Saarland won any medals, they apparently would also count to the German total.
I would like Rockingham, Eurospeedway Lausitz and Brands Hatch back in IndyCars folks. Plus Assen and Zandvoort too.
It's got to have room. It's got to have parking. It's got to be in some proximity of an audience. Or at least resort country. And shipping a team over has to be halfway reasonable. Hockenheim would be fine. Magny-Cours? Brands Hatch would be good.
Would be cool to see Indycars race at Zandvoort, but they first need to add more ovals. Bring back the 500 mile race at Michigan and some 1.5 mile ovals like Kentucky
Yeah, no idea why they run two races in Iowa of all places yet ignore Michigan which has way more fans plus is the home of the US auto industry.
@@Mishima505 I think NASCAR owns Michigan and they're not very friendly with Indy.
@@ryanyoder2694 Nascar has a good working relationship with Indycar ever since Rodger Penske bought Indycar. If the two series didn’t like each other then the Indycar/Nascar double at IMS wouldn’t be a thing.
Since Indycar is all about the show, the Eurospeedway infield would actually be ideal as this is the only road track I know where you can follow a car for the entire lap from pretty much every seat.
Zandvoort, Aragon and Donington would be fun.
I think two of the tracks you mentioned plus one city race. Is there a city that tried to get a downtown race on the F1 calendar and failed?
I saw the brands hatch cart race (on telly). It wasn’t great tbh. They used the Indy circuit as aiden mentioned, the whole thing was just too tight for cars like that. The final year of champ car they went to assen and zolder, though I don’t remember anything about it.
Indy at brands hatch and zandvort, yes please
There are like 30 cars on the Indy car grid. T1 and T2 at Brands Hatch would be an absolute bloodbath on lap 1
Weird thing is, of course the Indy 500 is a sell out always, yet if you look at the attendance of say Texas, Iowa, and Gateway, they're not sold out. Im a casual fan, but it seems as though it's as mentioned got a lot of promotion to do back in the USA too.
Iowa and Gateway have been in recent years. The big thing that hurt Gateway's attendance last year was the rain. Hopefully, Texas gets their stuff worked out as this year was the first good race at TMS for a very long time.
@@danielhenderson8316 I stand corrected. It's only from what I see on the TV. I'm just always surprised to see any empty seats at any Indycar oval. (I'm a Brit by the way, I just like to follow Indycar oval racing as it's so unique to us Europeans).