Edmonton Indy

Last updated
Edmonton Indy
Edmonton Indy Logo.png
IndyCar Series
Location Edmonton City Centre Airport, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
53°34′32″N113°31′22.5″W / 53.57556°N 113.522917°W / 53.57556; -113.522917
First race2005
First ICS race2008
Last race2012
Laps75
Previous namesWest Edmonton Mall Grand Prix (2005)
West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix Presented by The Brick (2006)
Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton (2007)
Rexall Edmonton Indy (2008–2009)
Honda Indy Edmonton (2010)
Edmonton Indy (2011–2012)
Most wins (driver) Sébastien Bourdais (2)
Scott Dixon (2)
Will Power (2)
Most wins (team) Penske Racing (3)
Circuit information
SurfaceConcrete
Length3.579 km (2.224 mi)
Turns13

The Edmonton Indy was a round of the IndyCar Series held at a temporary circuit set up at the Edmonton City Centre Airport near the downtown area of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was originally launched in 2005, as a race in the Champ Car World Series called the West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix, and was one of three Champ Car races added to the 2008 IndyCar Series following the merger of the two American open-wheel racing series.

Contents

History

The inaugural race was held in 2005 and was known as the West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix. It was known in 2006 as the West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix Presented by The Brick. In 2007, Katz Group, whose holdings includeRexall Drugs, signed with the Grand Prix of Edmonton as the lead sponsor, with that year's race known as the Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton, becoming the Rexall Edmonton Indy following the merger of Champ Car and Indy Car as of the 2008 season. In 2010, Honda Canada Inc. was title sponsor of the Honda Indy Edmonton. [1] For 2011 and 2012, there was no title sponsor, with the race known simply as the Edmonton Indy.

During the 2010 race weekend, it was announced that Octane Motorsports Events from Montreal, promoter of the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix and the NASCAR Nationwide race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, was taking over as the new promoter. In November 2010, the city and the promoter not being able to reach an agreement concerning pavement work to be done on the Eastern runway of City Centre Airport, where the race course was to be moved, the 2011 event was initially cancelled. Further negotiations had the race reinstated on the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series schedule, for July 22–24. On February 8, 2011, the promoter unveiled the new 13-turn, 3.579-kilometre (2.224 mi) racecourse. [2]

On September 21, 2012, Octane Motorsports announced that they would not stage the 2013 race due to poor attendance and lack of support from local businesses. City officials stated that they would not look for a replacement promoter, [3] [4] and the Edmonton Indy has not returned since.

Over the eight race history of the Canadian-based Edmonton Indy, there was only one podium finish by a Canadian driver, when Paul Tracy finished second in 2005; Tracy also led all Canadian drivers with six top-6 finishes over the history of the race.

Festivities

2005

Paul Tracy at the Edmonton Grand Prix 2006. Paul Tracy Edmonton Grand Prix 2006.jpg
Paul Tracy at the Edmonton Grand Prix 2006.

The 2005 race festivities took place from July 15 through July 17, 2005.

2006

In 2006, there were 3 support series events. The Champ Car Atlantic Championship series, the CASCAR series, and D-Sport Drifting Demo. The 2006 race festivities took place from July 21 through July 23, 2006. The CASCAR race event took place on Saturday, July 22, 2006. The Champ Car Atlantic Championship race, the Champ Car World Series race, and the D-Sport Drifting Demo all took place on Sunday, July 23, 2006.

2007

The 2007 race festivities took place from July 20 through July 22, 2007. The Northern Alberta Sports Car Club held GT and Vintage class support races also.

2008

The former track layout in relationship to the rest of the airport Edmonton City Airport map with the racing road course map overlaid.png
The former track layout in relationship to the rest of the airport

The 2008 race festivities took place July 24 through July 26, 2008. There were also 2 support series events, the Atlantic Championship series and the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. The IndyCar Series race took place on Saturday and not Sunday in 2008 because of an agreement between the IRL and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. By agreement, the IRL is not permitted to race opposite the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

2009

Held on July 26, 2009, it was the eleventh round of the 2009 IndyCar Series season.

2010

A new track from the 2011. Circuit Edmonton City Centre Airport 2011.svg
A new track from the 2011.

The race festivities took place from July 23 through July 25, 2010. There were three support series at this event, the Indy Lights Series, NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and the Northern Alberta Sports Car Championship. In addition, there were also a demonstration provided by D-Sport Drifting.

This year also saw the creation of an off the track event team called Race Week Edmonton. This all volunteer team's mandate was to assist in promoting the Honda Edmonton Indy with various events such as car shows, a go kit derby, autoslalom, and a large slate of music events.

2011

The race festivities took place from July 22 through July 24, 2011. However, steady rainfall saw the cancellation of all on-track events on July 22. This caused Indy Lights and IndyCar practice sessions to be moved to July 23. There were two support series at this event, the Indy Lights Series and the Northern Alberta Sports Car Championship. Unlike previous years, the Indy Lights Series ran two races with one on Saturday and one on Sunday, these were known as the Edmonton Twin 100s Race.

This event also saw the debut of a new course, moving from the western runways to the eastern runways of the City Centre Airport. This was caused by redevelopment of airport lands by the City of Edmonton. As well, Octane Motorsports took over the promoting of the race from Northlands declined to continue to run the race. This caused a temporary cancellation of the event in November, 2011. During this cancellation, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series released their schedule and saw Edmonton not scheduled for the 2011 season.

2012

The 2012 Edmonton Indy race was the eleventh round of the 2012 IndyCar Series season. Indy Lights and the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series also took place. It took place on Sunday, July 22, 2012. Hélio Castroneves won in the IndyCar Series, Carlos Muñoz won in the Indy Lights series, and D. J. Kennington won in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. [5]

The 2012 Edmonton Indy was the last in Edmonton. The city had spent over $12 million [6] [7] over the last three years and a total of $22 million over eight years. [7] Beginning in 2008 the non-profit organization Northlands ran the Indy for three years, losing $12.5 million. [6] There was also drop in attendance for the event over the last few years; IndyCar forbids releasing attendance numbers. [5] [6] This also played a part in the decision to cancel.

Past winners

SeasonDateDriverTeamChassisEngineRace DistanceRace TimeAverage Speed
(mph)		ReportRef
LapsMiles (km)
Champ Car World Series history
2005 July 17 Flag of France.svg Sébastien Bourdais Newman/Haas Racing Lola Ford-Cosworth 88173.624 (279.42)1:38:55105.302 Report [8]
2006 July 23 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Justin Wilson RuSPORT Lola Ford-Cosworth 85167.705 (269.895)1:40:30100.112 Report [9]
2007 July 22 Flag of France.svg Sébastien Bourdais Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Panoz Cosworth 96189.408 (304.822)1:45:41107.517 Report [10]
IndyCar Series history
2008 July 26 Flag of New Zealand.svg Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara Honda 91*179.543 (288.946)1:51:0696.967 Report [11]
2009 July 26 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Will Power Penske Racing Dallara Honda 95187.435 (301.647)1:42:42109.498 Report [12]
2010 July 25 Flag of New Zealand.svg Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara Honda 95187.435 (301.647)1:50:37101.666 Report [13]
2011 July 24 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Will Power Penske Racing Dallara Honda 80180.48 (290.454)1:57:2390.949 Report [14]
2012 July 22 Flag of Brazil.svg Hélio Castroneves Penske Racing Dallara Chevrolet 75169.2 (272.301)1:38:51101.246 Report [15]

Atlantic Championship

SeasonDateWinning Driver
2005 July 17 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Katherine Legge
2006 July 23 Flag of France.svg Simon Pagenaud
2007 July 21 Flag of Brazil.svg Raphael Matos
July 22 Flag of Brazil.svg Raphael Matos
2008 July 25 Flag of the United States.svg Jonathan Bomarito
July 26 Flag of the United States.svg Jonathan Summerton

Firestone Indy Lights

SeasonDateWinning Driver
2009 July 25 Flag of the United States.svg J. R. Hildebrand
2010 July 25 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg James Hinchcliffe
2011 July 23 Flag of Argentina.svg Esteban Guerrieri
July 24 Flag of the United States.svg Josef Newgarden
2012 July 21 Flag of Colombia.svg Carlos Muñoz

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series

SeasonDateWinning Driver
2007July 21 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg J. R. Fitzpatrick
2008July 26 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Alex Tagliani
2009July 25 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Andrew Ranger
2010July 25 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg J. R. Fitzpatrick
2012July 22 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg D. J. Kennington

Lap records

The fastest official race lap records at Edmonton Indy are listed as:

CategoryTimeDriverVehicleEvent
Grand Prix Circuit: 3.579 km (2011–2012) [17]
IndyCar 1:17.3629 Josef Newgarden Dallara DW12 2012 Edmonton Indy
Indy Lights 1:23.0712 [18] Esteban Guerrieri Dallara IPS 2011 Edmonton 100
Original Circuit: 3.175 km (2005–2010) [17]
Champ Car 0:58.653 Sebastien Bourdais Lola B02/00 2007 Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton
IndyCar 1:02.0233 [19] Will Power Dallara IR-05 2008 Rexall Edmonton Indy
Indy Lights 1:06.8782 [20] James Hinchcliffe Dallara IPS 2010 Edmonton 100
Trans-Am 1:17.361 [21] Tomy Drissi Jaguar XKR 2005 Edmonton Trans-Am round

Attendance

In its inaugural year (2005), Edmonton set the attendance record for a Champ Car event in Canada at 200,052. [22]

YearRace Day3-Day Total
200578,080200,052
200663,921171,391
200760,508167,152
200860,000*160,000*

* Estimate [23]

From 2008 onwards, event organizers have refused to disclose attendance figures due to an agreement with the Indy Racing League. [22] [24] [25]

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References

  1. ↑ "Honda named as title sponsor of Edmonton Indy". ctvedmonton.ca. 2010-03-25. Retrieved 2010-03-25.
  2. ↑ Lewandowski, Dave (8 February 2011). "Edmonton Indy launches on new course". IndyCar.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
  3. ↑ "Edmonton Indy race crashes and burns, says city". Edmonton Sun. Sun Media. September 21, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Edmonton IndyCar race folds". The Globe and Mail. Associated Press. September 21, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Race Review". IndyCar. INDYCAR. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 "Edmonton Indy cancelled". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  7. 1 2 Klinkenberg, Marty; Klingbeil, Cailynn (20 September 2012). "End of the line for Edmonton Indy". Edmonton Journal . Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "2005 West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix of Edmonton". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  9. ↑ "2006 West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  10. ↑ "2007 Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  11. ↑ "2008 Rexall Edmonton Indy". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  12. ↑ "2009 Rexall Edmonton Indy". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  13. ↑ "2010 Honda Indy Edmonton". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  14. ↑ "2011 Edmonton Indy". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  15. ↑ "2012 Edmonton Indy". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  16. ↑ Harris, Mike (July 27, 2008). "Scott Dixon drives to fifth IndyCar victory". Barre Montpelier Times Argus . Associated Press . Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  17. 1 2 "Edmonton - Motor Sport Magazine". Motor Sport Magazine . Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  18. ↑ "2011 Edmonton Indy Lights". Motor Sport Magazine . 23 July 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  19. ↑ "2008 Edmonton Indycars". Motor Sport Magazine . 26 July 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  20. ↑ "2010 Edmonton Indy Lights". Motor Sport Magazine . 25 July 2010. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  21. ↑ "Edmonton:Race notes". 17 July 2005. Archived from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  22. 1 2 Jones, Terry (2009-07-19). "IndyCar Review". Edmonton Sun. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  23. ↑ Martin, Bruce (July 28, 2008). "Little ado about something". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
  24. ↑ "Promoter: Edmonton Indy returning". The Canadian Press. Sportsnet.ca. January 11, 2011. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
  25. ↑ Collum, Robert (July 28, 2008). "Capital Ex attendance confidential". Edmonton Journal. Archived from the original on September 8, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
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