WEC Looking at Indianapolis

[cosworth151]

The World Endurance Championship is looking at a possible race at The Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Representatives of the WEC and the ACO (Automobile Club de l'Ouest - the Le Mans people) visited The Speedway during the 500 week-end.

"We have plans to return here with Andrew Craig to discuss with the people from Indianapolis," said WEC CEO Gerard Neveu while standing on the Indy 500 grid.

"It's absolutely unique. Since the beginning of the story of the WEC, there is another big race you have to visit one day – the 500. We found the right opportunities here, so we are doing it and it is great.

"This race is one thing you can do in America [but] probably not in another place, because you understand very quickly that fans are part of the show. There's good discipline, large entertainment starting at the beginning of the week.

"There are many points similar at Le Mans regarding the enthusiasm, regarding the proximity between the fans and the paddock. We can say that this is two parallel events with a lot of sister events, for sure. Different cars, [so there's] nothing to compare there, but all around this is very similar. We learned a lot because this is an American approach of motorsport and there's some very good ideas that we can try to develop ourselves for Le Mans.

"As you know, Le Mans is always looking for innovating for the fans, for the technical rules, for the competitors. And that is the idea [behind this trip]. Enjoy, first, I have to say, but just to feel the spirit, to understand. The third idea is maybe is why not one day bring the WEC here? It makes sense."

"I think there's a lot of ideas to take here, but [Saturday] when I come inside the track, you know you have something – there is a feeling," ACO head Pierre Fillon said. "It is the same at Le Mans. You can feel the story, you can feel the soul and it was my first impression with everything we saw.

"There are three big races in the world. You have the Grand Prix of Monaco, you have Indianapolis and you have the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I went to Monaco, I went to Le Mans and it's my first time at Indianapolis, and I'm very, very happy to see this."

I'm sure they were also impressed with the 330,000+ attendance on race day. The American race of the WEC is currently being run on a life-size Hot Wheels track somewhere in the southwest.

Hopefully, a WEC move & the the departure of Bernie Ecclestone could clear the way for F1's return to the oldest operational speedway in the world.

http://www.racer.com/wec-le-mans/item/130239-wec-series-evaluating-indy-round-after-500-visit

[Jericoke]

I would be curious about the economics.

I'm impressed that Indy was full this year, it hasn't been a given over the last few years.  Certainly Indy has the best racing fans, and the track knows how to provide a good value on their experience.

Counting on those same fans to pay to see WEC and F1 on top of the 500, the Grand Prix at Indy and the Brickyard 400 might be stretching things.  I don't know.

There are worse problems than choosing amongst (a possible) 5 world class racing events every year!

[cosworth151]

During the Indy F1 years of the early 2000's, the three largest attendance single day sporting events in the U.S. were the Indy 500, the Brickyard 400 & the U.S.G.P. @ Indy.

[cosworth151]

I just listened to this week's Mid Week Motorsports on Radio Le Mans. John Hindhaugh was talking about the meeting at Indy. He mentioned that the WEC is not at all pleased with the lack of attendance growth at COTA. He said that the series has been interested in a move to Indy for some time.