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Editorial |
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Will
CART miss this boat too,
by Mark Cipolloni The FIA was recently forced to change their position, CART can now race on any type of circuit around the world, including those that host F1 races. CART has a golden opportunity. By 2004, the CART schedule may look very different, as it should. |
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Go to our forums to discuss this article |
Others by Mark |
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Up until a few months ago CART was restricted by the FIA to only running on oval tracks outside of North America for fear of detracting from the Formula One series. They threatened stiff penalties to CART and it's participants if they disobeyed that agreement. However, now all that has changed because the FIA, under pressure by the European Union (EU) for monopoly practices, finally recognizes CART as an official 'World Championship' series, which means it can race on road courses or ovals outside of North America. And although the FIA would prefer CART become 'the' oval-track world championship, CART stands more to gain by not restricting itself to oval tracks. We examine what this can mean to CART, if they play their cards right. Except for Australia that was grandfathered in, CART abided by their agreement with the FIA to restrict their overseas races to oval tracks. Hence, CART made agreements to race on ovals in Japan, Brazil (although that is changing), the new Rockingham oval in England, and the new Eurospeedway in Germany. Unfortunately, to date CART has had mediocre results at its overseas oval races. The primary reasons are simple - 1) until recently CART and its drivers were largely unknown to most of the world, completely overshadowed by F1, 2) outside of the USA, the world races on road courses. Ovals are purely an American tradition. Fans around the world better identify with road course racing. Whereas oval races in Japan and Brazil have had mixed results (although this years RIO races was a sellout), when CART races on the streets of Surfers Paradise, fans flock out in droves. No sooner did the FIA announce their change of policy towards CART, promoters (Emerson Fittipaldi et al) in RIO, Brazil jumped at the chance to move their race from the oval track at the Nelson Piquet Speedway to the Jacarepagua road course (also at the Nelson Piquet Speedway) that hosted F1 from 1978 to 1989. Why would a promoter ask to move their race from an oval that attracted a sellout crowd last year, to a road course next year? It's quite simple, they believe that 1) they can attract even more fans with a road course event and, 2) if it rains the race goes on. It is a major undertaking for CART to move all of its equipment to an overseas race. If an overseas oval race were to be postponed because of several consecutive days of rain, CART could not afford to fly the entire circus back again another weekend, and the new 22-race schedule is so tight, when would they find the time? This years race in Motegi Japan was rained out on Saturday, but luckily for CART and the promoter, they were able to get the race in on Sunday, the designated rain date. What would have happened if Sunday were wet too? I am not suggesting that CART move all its overseas races to road courses because of the threat of rain. Although one can use that as a valid argument, there is another reason that is far more important. There is an abundance of world renowned road course circuits around the globe that either can't get a F1 race, or are begging for a another big race each year in addition to their one F1 race. Monza, Nürburgring, Sepang, Malaysia, and Spa-Francorchamps come to mind. The list is long and the possibilities endless, but does CART want to be a true international series, someday on par with F1, or does it want to continue to be a North American series, butting heads with NASCAR and the IRL, with an occasional overseas foray? Some argue that to prosper, CART must race more in the USA and less overseas, however, one has to look no further than F1 to see what a worldwide following can do for the sport. While adding more overseas races and dropping a few USA races would better serve CART and its sponsors, we think CART should avoid trying to be a F1 copy. Its cars are around 400 pounds heavier, with driver, than its F1 counterparts and will undoubtedly be slower if they were to race on the same road courses as F1. There are, however, some high-speed road courses that Champ Cars may turn similar lap times as F1 cars because they do have more HP (900 vs. 820), but that is generally an exception. For many reasons, we feel CART should put Champ Cars on a diet, but that's a topic for another story.
While CART should try to avoid racing on the exact same circuit as F1 cars, that does not mean it can't add more overseas road courses in the future. There are numerous great road courses that CART could consider - Silverstone, England (when the F1 race moves to Brands Hatch); Paul Ricard, France; Adelaide, Australia; Zhuhaï, China. Recently bought by F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, the Paul Ricard circuit near Marseilles in southern France, hosted the French GP 14 times between 1971 and its final race there in 1990. Imagine how pleased with CART Mr. Ecclestone would be if they agreed to race at his track Whether the F1 race returned there or not, every promoter wants more than one big race per year. Even more intriguing is the possibility of racing at places like Monza, Nürburgring, Sepang and Spa on slightly different configurations to avoid a direct comparison. As the pictures to the right indicate, does CART realize how many people would attend a Champ Car race at the state-of-the-art track in Zhuhaï, China? 200,000? 300,000? 400,000? We suspect it would be that big given the size crowd that shows up for the 4-hour endurance race each year. China is becoming an economic powerhouse. Will CART be reactive or proactive in China? Slowly many of CART's sponsors are making inroads into the potentially lucrative China market. We ask, therefore, when will CART race in China? We have written on numerous occasions that CART must reduce its reliance on USA races where it continually butts heads with powerful NASCAR, and branch out more into the international market. The world is too big for even F1, who can't satisfy the demand for races. They are there for CART's taking. Because of its 22-race schedule, one would think CART can't afford to add many more overseas races, there just isn't enough time in the schedule to do that. However, lets examine how, with careful planning and dropping some weak North America races, CART can add some strategic overseas races. Races that would help to elevate CART to world renowned status, a status worthy of the 'World Championship' title recently bestowed upon its series. The maps below show the proposed location of CART's 2004 24-race schedule. That's one more than CART's 2001 schedule (if you count Indy, which some teams will compete in). The season starts in Miami on the downtown streets. Click on the North American map first and follow the numbers as we walk you through the proposed 2004 schedule. Below the maps is a table where we list the schedule in chronological order and the reason why they are included. They show what CART's 2004 schedule would look like if we were running the show. Some traditional CART races got the axe, including Mid-Ohio, Portland and Milwaukee. However, in their place are races that will draw a bigger attendance and bring the drivers, teams, and sponsors the worldwide recognition needed to grow CART into a worldwide powerhouse. The top F1 driver will carry the title of World F1 Driving Champion. The top CART driver will carry the title of World CART Driving Champion. Who is better can be left to barroom debates and is sure to touch off a little worldwide rivalry between the two series. CART, are you listening? Or will you be standing by the dock when yet another boat leaves port, destined forever to ride in the shadows of NASCAR?
The author can be contacted at markc@autoracing1.com Go to our forums to discuss this article |
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