By Andrew Cutler
May 13 2009

Terry Angstadt, the president of the IRL's commercial division, recently told reporters that the league has been in discussions with racing venues in both Brazil and China, and has visited tracks in both countries, with an eye towards adding more international events to the schedule in the comming years. 

Adding a race in Brazil would certianly make sense, given the league's business partnership with Apex Brazil, the supplier of ethanol to the teams. There is also the fact that there has always been a sizable contingent of Brazilian drivers in the IndyCar and Firestone Indy Lights ranks, which should readily translate into a solid fan base and a sizable crowd for a race there.

As for China, Angstadt says that, while there is not much of a fan base there yet, the chance to tap a new & economically growing market should lead to more sponsorship opportunities for the teams. Having Chinese sponsors plastered on the sides of some of the cars, he believes, would help draw the interest of the Chinese public, and might even help to open up a new source of future driving talent.

While all of this is still in the exploration/preliminary discussion stage, Angstadt is already convinced that he knows when a possible Brazilian date would fit on the current race calendar. “If we did that, we would probably start our season there because we think we start too late as it is. So we’d be looking at a March date or two and start in Brazil.”

I'll keep everyone apprised if I hear of any further developements on this matter.