I was in Quebec about 10 days ago, and imagine my surprise when I saw the headlines of the Journal de Québec: the city would be hosting an IndyCar race in 2011.
No question mark, no nuance, but a simple statement of fact, as if Quebec were already included on the 2011 calendar – which the IndyCar big shots won’t be disclosing before next October or November.
I gently snatched the paper from my neighbour’s hand (a good friend, don’t worry) to make sure I hadn’t just missed a scoop. To my intense relief, I quickly realized as I perused the article that the announcement was, at best, a pious wish.
As a racing fan, any mention of the possible coming of an event can only be cause for rejoicing, but humble reporter that I am, I nonetheless forced myself to adopt a more rational approach to analyzing this breaking news – or should I say media hype.
Firstly, I wasn’t able to contain my huge grin when I read the comments of minister Sam Hamad, responsible for the Capitale Nationale region, concerning the estimated economic benefits, comments that, let it be said, border on a popularity-winning bid: apparently, said benefits could be numbered in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
What’s more, our friendly member of parliament went so for as to say that IndyCar, just like Formula 1, is an international organization. To make such a nonsensical statement, you really have to be completely ignorant of the auto sports world.
I’ve been following the IRL/IndyCar/Champ Car/CART series for years, and as competitive as it may be, the latter is far from being a cash cow and even further from being a high-level international event.
If that were the case, IndyCar wouldn’t be on its deathbed, lacking any true sponsorship structure and suffering from a blatant dearth of media coverage as well as any television audience worthy of the name. There’s your reality, Mister Minister!
I can understand why André Azzi, owner of Quebec team FAZZT Racing, wants to promote the project. Another race in Canada could enable him to seduce Canadian/Quebecois sponsors that, generally speaking, need a lot of persuading when it comes to investing in events held outside their market.
But one man’s dream come true is another’s nightmare. Mr Azzi could well benefit from it, but as it has often been the case in the past, attempts at setting up shop in Europe and Asia fail because the big American sponsors, who have no commercial interest in these markets, are always reluctant to invest in something without prospects.
Don’t misunderstand me, such a race would be incredibly successful here, as the Québécois are hard-core racing fans that love a good happening more than anything and that harbour a sometimes secret, sometimes overt love for the city of Quebec.
Organize a race, yes, but for the right reasons. To attract visitors to Quebec, sure, but not by having us believe that IndyCar is like Formula 1, that the world stops turning for a weekend and that organizing such an event doesn’t cost a dime.
Rather, use the stage to pique the interest of the province’s business people, which could in return provide financial support and give a little hope back to the young racing talent that is becoming ever more rare.
And in so doing, maybe the good people of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières would not see disaster looming on the horizon, but rather an opportunity to showcase in their ladder series true Québécois hopefuls that would attract racing fans.
No question mark, no nuance, but a simple statement of fact, as if Quebec were already included on the 2011 calendar – which the IndyCar big shots won’t be disclosing before next October or November.
I gently snatched the paper from my neighbour’s hand (a good friend, don’t worry) to make sure I hadn’t just missed a scoop. To my intense relief, I quickly realized as I perused the article that the announcement was, at best, a pious wish.
As a racing fan, any mention of the possible coming of an event can only be cause for rejoicing, but humble reporter that I am, I nonetheless forced myself to adopt a more rational approach to analyzing this breaking news – or should I say media hype.
Firstly, I wasn’t able to contain my huge grin when I read the comments of minister Sam Hamad, responsible for the Capitale Nationale region, concerning the estimated economic benefits, comments that, let it be said, border on a popularity-winning bid: apparently, said benefits could be numbered in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
What’s more, our friendly member of parliament went so for as to say that IndyCar, just like Formula 1, is an international organization. To make such a nonsensical statement, you really have to be completely ignorant of the auto sports world.
I’ve been following the IRL/IndyCar/Champ Car/CART series for years, and as competitive as it may be, the latter is far from being a cash cow and even further from being a high-level international event.
If that were the case, IndyCar wouldn’t be on its deathbed, lacking any true sponsorship structure and suffering from a blatant dearth of media coverage as well as any television audience worthy of the name. There’s your reality, Mister Minister!
I can understand why André Azzi, owner of Quebec team FAZZT Racing, wants to promote the project. Another race in Canada could enable him to seduce Canadian/Quebecois sponsors that, generally speaking, need a lot of persuading when it comes to investing in events held outside their market.
But one man’s dream come true is another’s nightmare. Mr Azzi could well benefit from it, but as it has often been the case in the past, attempts at setting up shop in Europe and Asia fail because the big American sponsors, who have no commercial interest in these markets, are always reluctant to invest in something without prospects.
Don’t misunderstand me, such a race would be incredibly successful here, as the Québécois are hard-core racing fans that love a good happening more than anything and that harbour a sometimes secret, sometimes overt love for the city of Quebec.
Organize a race, yes, but for the right reasons. To attract visitors to Quebec, sure, but not by having us believe that IndyCar is like Formula 1, that the world stops turning for a weekend and that organizing such an event doesn’t cost a dime.
Rather, use the stage to pique the interest of the province’s business people, which could in return provide financial support and give a little hope back to the young racing talent that is becoming ever more rare.
And in so doing, maybe the good people of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières would not see disaster looming on the horizon, but rather an opportunity to showcase in their ladder series true Québécois hopefuls that would attract racing fans.