Paradise lost

Posted by Iannucci | 11/10/2008 | 4 comments »
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The open-wheel marriage of the IRL and Surfer's Paradise is officially over. Between the scheduling issues and the dollars involved this union had about as much of a chance of lasting as Madonna and Guy Ritchie. Or Sean Penn, for that matter.

IndyCar's will no longer be featured on Australia's Gold Coast after the open wheel series and local government failed to come to an agreement on a new race date.

A1GP will instead replace the IndyCar series in the traditional October festival which has lured thousands to Surfers Paradise since 1991.

The stumbling block to a new agreement was the government's refusal to move the date of the annual open-wheel event from October to March.

(MORE from TSN)
Of course this all but officially kills the Australian Vineyards sponsorship for KV Racing Technologies. Somewhere Will Power is weeping over a Foster's.

Meanwhile, before you get too choked up be sure to check out The Furious Wedge, where the idea of replacing the IndyCar series with A1GP is considered a win-win for everyone. Everyone except Mr Power, that is.

4 comments

  1. John in Speedway // November 10, 2008 7:46 PM  

    Lest we not forget that the IRL is a North American open wheel series (with the exception of Honda Japan), so at least we are staying true to our roots. I would have liked to see them reach an agreement, because that is such a great event. But first things first, let's focus on American soil first. Angstadt mentioned Cleveland and Portland in his statement, so adding those two races would make a 20 race schedule: 50% ovals and 50% road/street courses. As it should be. I hope for no less than 50% ovals in this series. Preferably 14 ovals though...let's get Michigan, Phoenix, New Hampshire, and California back on the schedule.

  2. Anonymous // November 10, 2008 8:20 PM  

    Well that blows goats if only because it's one less race on the schedule. Hopefully they can line something else up.

  3. Fred Hurley // November 11, 2008 11:31 AM  

    I posted some thoughts about this, and ended with:

    If tomorrow, the IRL announced that starting in 2009, the IndyCar Series would no longer race at Motegi or the Gold Coast, and that those races would be replaced by Road America and Phoenix, wouldn't just about everyone be thrilled? I think they would, and that says something about those events.

  4. Fred Hurley // November 11, 2008 11:33 AM  

    Follow-up to my prior comment:

    Let's replace Road America and Phoenix with two that might actually happen by 2010 - Cleveland and New Hampshire. Folks would STILL be thrilled.

    You shouldn't race anywhere that your fans would almost universally prefer be swapped for another venue, particularly a venue that expressed a desire to host you.