Honda Indy Toronto on move to Mosport: Sources (3rd Update)
08/30/14
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| Mario Andretti surveys his Brawner Hawk after crashing in qualifying in the 1967 IndyCar race at Mosport |
This rumor is upgraded to 'strong' today. There will be a Verizon IndyCar Series Honda Indy Toronto next year. It just won’t be in Toronto.
Green Savoree Racing Promotions revealed on Friday that they are in talks to move the race to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park for the 2015 edition of the summer festival of speed.
The reason for the move: The PanAm Games will take over the Exhibition Place temporary street course for virtually all of July and most of August next summer.
Although neither Green Savoree nor CTMP officials would confirm it, the Toronto Sun learned from two reliable sources close to the situation, that the deal is done.
In a joint statement, Honda Indy president Charlie Johnstone and CTMP president Myles Brandt both said discussions are ongoing.
“Understandably, the Toronto 2015 Pan Am & Parapan American Games have forced us to consider alternative dates and venues for next year’s race," Johnstone said. “We have worked tirelessly to explore all options and are close to making an announcement regarding when and where we’ll be racing in 2015."
Brandt said CTMP was willing to step in to help a fellow promoter.
“Kim Green and Kevin Savoree are friends within the motorsports industry and we will do whatever we can to help maintain an IndyCar date in 2015 here in Canada, given the challenges of the 2015 Pan-Am Games," Brandt said.
IndyCar technical boss Tony Cotman was at the Bowmanville track earlier this month and made a report to his bosses about the readiness of CTMP to host an open-wheel race.
CTMP co-owner Ron Fellows said he thought Cotman’s track inspection went well.
“We do have an inspection report (from Cotman), now we just have to sort through it," he said.
Fellows did say there didn’t appear to be any concerns about the track in the report that couldn’t be easily remedied. Dean McNulty, Toronto Sun
08/29/14 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly known as Mosport) confirmed on its website that it is working with the promoter of the annual street circuit race in Toronto about hosting IndyCar in 2015. Exhibition Place, which has been home to the Toronto race since 1986, will be unavailable in July next year due activities related to the Pan American Games.
Green Savoree Promotions, an Indianapolis-based company, received permission from Toronto city officials to move the event to June 5-7, but IndyCar was committed to racing at Texas Motor Speedway that weekend.
The Mosport facility, which opened in 1961, is located an hour east of Toronto near Bowmanville, Ontario. It is one of only two circuits to have hosted IndyCar, Formula One, the FIA World Endurance Championship and Can-Am races. The other is Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.
Indy cars raced at Mosport five times from 1967 to 1978.
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| Will there be a Honda Indy Toronto in 2015? |
07/15/14 In May of 2012, INDYCAR and Green Savoree Promotions LLC agreed to a three-year extension signed for the Honda Indy Toronto continue through 2014. At this juncture, no agreement has been reached for after this weekend's race.
Perhaps, complicating matters more is the Toronto will host the Pan Am Games from July 10-26, 2015. The traditional IndyCar weekend would be July 17-19 next year, and that will almost certainly not be an option.
Will the race simply take a year off and continue again in 2016? Will the promoter seek to hold the race at another location next year, before returning to Exhibition Place in 2016? Will the Honda Indy Toronto seek a different date for next year, before going back to its traditional July date?
Hard to say. But clearly the future of the very successful Indy car event in The Great White North will be on everyone's mind over the weekend.
AR1 Staff