Trouble In (Surfers) Paradise?

IMO, the IRL will never become an international racing series for a very simple reason: they don't want to!

They had to leave Surfers on this year's calendar when they shut down Champ Car, but for the time being I can't see much chance for Surfers becoming an IRL race in the future. I'm sorry for those Australian fans who like the IRL.
I think, the responsibles of Surfers should contact A1GP and organise a race weekend together with them. The series has been running only for a few years, but it's already a far better series than the IRL. And with the new car and the rule changes it'll be even better this year and in the future respectively

Quote:

Neith
IMO, the IRL will never become an international racing series for a very simple reason: they don't want to!

I think that you are pretty close to the mark with that statement: I don't doubt that the Tony wouldn't mind a couple of international events each year IF he can make them "fit", meaning that they make logistical sense & they don't prove out to be where the championship is likely decided.

At the end of the day, the IRL has learned the lesson of the CCWS' demise; there is nothing to be gained by trying to fight for an audience share where F1 & A1GP are already established.

Sad but true, but I'd sure like to see the IRL become more respected on a global level. Sure changes would have to be made that would most likely cost way too much money, but what the hey, in for a penny, in for a pound.
They could begin by at least making the format more like the other world open wheeled racers. That could possibly help spark more interest, and create a competition, (Americans love competition) No ?
Adding to that thought, the A1GP could possibly be mimicked for a few seasons and see if any cross over races could be incorporated into the schedule. Kind of like a student exchange program.(you try our tracks, we'll try yours.
If something like that could somehow be done, maybe, North America could become a true feeder to F1. We may then start to see Americans in the line up on a more frequent basis.
IRL wouldn't be challenging others on their tuff as Champ Car tried, but joining ranks on an international level.
Just food for thought, but it could be a start

Sessions



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008:08:15:06:27:48 by sessions.

Quote:

IndyAndy
At the end of the day, the IRL has learned the lesson of the CCWS' demise; there is nothing to be gained by trying to fight for an audience share where F1 & A1GP are already established.

From what I heard, there were a lot of European racing fans, who were interested in Champ Car. I think, CC had an increasing fan base in Europe.
One of the reasons for CC's success in Europe was the fan-friendly attitude. At some F1 GPs you don't even have the opportunity to see and meet your fave drivers or the team you support. It's a quite disrespectful behaviour from the F1 circus, IMO...

European fans LOVE racing. And European CC fans were/are very disappointed about the farce that the IRL still calls "merger". Especially those, who wanted to go to this years European races in Assen, Zandvoort and Jerez.
Even I wanted to go at least to 2 of these races, when some fans told me about Champ Car - I was ready to give CC a chance to convince me and I was ready to become a fan. Everything was planned... I hate it, if someone ruins my plans.

Fact is, Mr. George and his series let many many fans down, not only in the USA, but in Europe and other parts of the world, as well... The really sad thing is, it didn't even come into their mind to say "we are sorry for those fans, who wanted to go to races we cancelled due to the merger" or something like that. Nothing demonstrates better than this, that the IRL wants to be only a national series, and therefore it will always stay a national racing series.

And what shall I, the simple European fan, do with a national US racing series? Why should it be interesting for me? Why should I find a racing series interesting, which I can't attend because it's too far away, and I can't even watch it on TV, because the broadcast in Europe is a cr*p?
It's more than obvious that the IRL wants to attract only US people. Their life will always be only about trying to battle Nascar for the sponsors and the TV ratings... But it seems that not even US people are interested in IRL. There are photos on the internet taken at different IRL events - and the grandstands are empty! These empty grandstands demonstrate the lack of interest, unless the IRL has decided to roll behind closed gates, and they don't allow fans to attend the sessions...

I watched the press conf on the internet, when they announced the "merger". My very first impression was when I heard those guys, that they don't have an idea what they're going to do next! They had absolutely zero plans! In that moment it was clear for me, that the only reason for the "merger" was to get rid of Champ Car, so that the IRL could survive. In the weeks after the announcement I still thought "What a chaos! They want to be a proper racing series?! They want to attract fans and sponsors with this chaos?!"
I don't follow the IRL closely, but this trouble with Surfers and what I read about the races here and there tell me that nothing has changed, and the IRL is still a chaos series both on track and away from it...

Of course this is only my own opinion - an outsider's opinion, as I'm not a fan of any former or current US racing series. Of course I'm aware that nobody in IRL cares, but as an average racing fan I also represent a potential fan base, and I know there are many fans around the world, who think like me...

@Neith

I hope that one day the IRL will find a way to make a stop (or 2) in Europe again, but you have to understand just how finanically strapped the series is right now, from top to bottom. Many of these teams are barely hanging on. For the time being, the IRL needs to concentrate on getting a firmer financial base set up & figure out just what sort of a series (in terms of chassis/engine specs & crafting a well-balanced schedule) it wants to present itself as. Then, hopefully in a couple of years, it can look for opportunities to race in Europe.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008:08:15:12:36:52 by IndyAndy.

Both sides of what is being discussed are true, but Tony George has done severe damage to open wheel racing in North America IMO. He's a home grown American with little global sympathy.
Maybe it's in the Name "GEORGE", because another GEORGE we all know is also pretty lame on global issues.
I wish it was CART that bought out the IRL, I'd surely have a lot more faith in its future.
Guys like Paul Newman (bless him) are needed in the sport, They'll stand up and not bend to the likes of guys like George by refusing to enter his car in Tony's 500.
Yes I know, that the whole thing is totally driven by the dollar bill; that's unfortunate, because the outcome is it's turning things into a business only, and not a sport.
Neith has pointed this out in his by comparison of CART's good attitude versus the coldness towards the fans demonstrated by F1.
It's really sad and upsets me because there is room for a very vibrant open wheeled racing program that could send numbers of Americans into F1, and still coexist with Nascar without stealing each others thunder.
I guess we'll just have to hope the North American viewer realizes this tragedy before it's too late, again.

Sessions



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2008:08:16:17:44:28 by sessions.