During a press meeting held last Friday, Francois Dumontier, President and CEO of Octane Management explained why he took the controversial decision not to organise the Edmonton Indy in 2013.
“First of all, I'd like to explain that the company that organised the Edmonton race was Octane Motorsports Events, a distinct compagny from Groupe de Course Octane that runs the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Canada,” said Dumontier.
“After having lost a great deal of money on the Edmonton race, I had no choice but to file a notice of intention to file a proposal to the creditors,” Dumontier added.
“Our contract with IndyCar had one year left, but unfortunately the event is not profitable. Every promoter of this event has lost money in the past, including us. Some of them lost several millions of dollars. We tried hard to make it work, but we were losing too much money. I was left with no other choice than to cancel the race. Physically, we also faced a major problem. The grounds of the airport where the race is currently staged will not longer be available from the end of 2013. We had to find another location, which is not easy for something like a racing event,” Dumontier continued.
The loss of the Edmonton IndyCar race is a major blow to Canadian motorsport. But an IndyCar race may be staged elsewhere in a not-so-distant future. We know that officials of the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly known as... Mosport) are keen to stage a NASCAR Camping World truck race or an IndyCar race.
“First of all, I'd like to explain that the company that organised the Edmonton race was Octane Motorsports Events, a distinct compagny from Groupe de Course Octane that runs the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Canada,” said Dumontier.
“After having lost a great deal of money on the Edmonton race, I had no choice but to file a notice of intention to file a proposal to the creditors,” Dumontier added.
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| Start of the 2012 race at Edmonton. (Photo: IndyCar) |
“Our contract with IndyCar had one year left, but unfortunately the event is not profitable. Every promoter of this event has lost money in the past, including us. Some of them lost several millions of dollars. We tried hard to make it work, but we were losing too much money. I was left with no other choice than to cancel the race. Physically, we also faced a major problem. The grounds of the airport where the race is currently staged will not longer be available from the end of 2013. We had to find another location, which is not easy for something like a racing event,” Dumontier continued.
The loss of the Edmonton IndyCar race is a major blow to Canadian motorsport. But an IndyCar race may be staged elsewhere in a not-so-distant future. We know that officials of the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly known as... Mosport) are keen to stage a NASCAR Camping World truck race or an IndyCar race.