OFFICIAL: China round cancelled
After weeks of speculation surrounding its future, the IZOD IndyCar Series' inaugural race in China has now been scratched. The Associated Press first reported the cancellation this morning, followed by an official confirmation from INDYCAR later.
The street race in the seaside city of Qingdao was slated for August 19 and was to be INDYCAR's coming-out party in a country with one of the world's biggest economies. However, the AP's Jenna Fryer reported this morning that recent changes in city officials triggered a movement on their end to find a new date or location for the event.
Judging from the report, those efforts were not ultimately successful.
"We wanted to give the China race every opportunity to move forward and be successful, but INDYCAR has been notified by the promoter that the event is cancelled for 2012," said INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard in a statement from the sanctioning body.
"We were informed that the promoter was trying to move the event to a different date and location. After ongoing discussions regarding alternative dates, as well as doing our due diligence in exploring alternate venues in China, the promoter cancelled the event. A decision had to be made to allow INDYCAR and its participants to plan accordingly for the second half of the season."
For some time now, there have been theories on which track would be suitable for "Plan B" (i.e. the race that would fill in for China on the schedule). Amongst the possibilities that have been thrown out there are Road America, Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania, and even a return trip to Texas Motor Speedway.
"We are working with our promoters that host events in the second half of our calendar to keep them apprised of how the date of a potential new race could impact our current schedule," Bernard said later in the statement.
That said, INDYCAR will also have to consider that Auto Club Speedway in California has been hyping their Sept. 15 IZOD IndyCar Series event as the season finale under the "INDYCAR World Championships" banner. Should it decide to stage "Plan B" after that race, you'd imagine somebody at ACS would be at least annoyed.
The street race in the seaside city of Qingdao was slated for August 19 and was to be INDYCAR's coming-out party in a country with one of the world's biggest economies. However, the AP's Jenna Fryer reported this morning that recent changes in city officials triggered a movement on their end to find a new date or location for the event.
Judging from the report, those efforts were not ultimately successful.
"We wanted to give the China race every opportunity to move forward and be successful, but INDYCAR has been notified by the promoter that the event is cancelled for 2012," said INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard in a statement from the sanctioning body.
"We were informed that the promoter was trying to move the event to a different date and location. After ongoing discussions regarding alternative dates, as well as doing our due diligence in exploring alternate venues in China, the promoter cancelled the event. A decision had to be made to allow INDYCAR and its participants to plan accordingly for the second half of the season."
For some time now, there have been theories on which track would be suitable for "Plan B" (i.e. the race that would fill in for China on the schedule). Amongst the possibilities that have been thrown out there are Road America, Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania, and even a return trip to Texas Motor Speedway.
"We are working with our promoters that host events in the second half of our calendar to keep them apprised of how the date of a potential new race could impact our current schedule," Bernard said later in the statement.
That said, INDYCAR will also have to consider that Auto Club Speedway in California has been hyping their Sept. 15 IZOD IndyCar Series event as the season finale under the "INDYCAR World Championships" banner. Should it decide to stage "Plan B" after that race, you'd imagine somebody at ACS would be at least annoyed.
