 | |
| IndyCar Series | |
|---|---|
| Location | Edmonton City Centre Airport,Edmonton,Alberta, Canada 53°34′32″N113°31′22.5″W / 53.57556°N 113.522917°W /53.57556; -113.522917 |
| First race | 2005 |
| First ICS race | 2008 |
| Last race | 2012 |
| Laps | 75 |
| Previous names | West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix (2005) West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix Presented by The Brick (2006) Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton (2007) Rexall Edmonton Indy (2008–2009) Honda Indy Edmonton (2010) Edmonton Indy (2011–2012) |
| Most wins (driver) | Sébastien Bourdais (2) Scott Dixon (2) Will Power (2) |
| Most wins (team) | Penske Racing (3) |
| Circuit information | |
| Surface | Concrete |
| Length | 3.579 km (2.224 mi) |
| Turns | 13 |
TheEdmonton Indy was a round of theIndyCar Series held at a temporary circuit set up at theEdmonton City Centre Airport near the downtown area ofEdmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was originally launched in 2005, as a race in theChamp Car World Series called theWest Edmonton Mall Grand Prix, and was one of three Champ Car races added to the2008 IndyCar Series following the merger of the twoAmerican open-wheel racing series.
The inaugural race was held in 2005 and was known as the West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix. It was known in 2006 as theWest Edmonton Mall Grand Prix Presented by The Brick. In 2007,Katz Group, whose holdings include Rexall Drugs, signed with the Grand Prix of Edmonton as the lead sponsor, with that year's race known as theRexall Grand Prix of Edmonton, becoming theRexall Edmonton Indy following the merger of Champ Car and Indy Car during the 2008 season. In 2010,Honda Canada Inc. was title sponsor of theHonda Indy Edmonton.[1] For 2011 and 2012, there was no title sponsor, with the race known simply as the Edmonton Indy.
During the 2010 race weekend, it was announced that Octane Motorsports Events fromMontreal, promoter of theFormula 1Canadian Grand Prix and theNASCAR Nationwide Series race atCircuit Gilles Villeneuve, was taking over as the new promoter. In November 2010, the city and the promoter were not able to reach an agreement concerning pavement work to be done on the Eastern runway of City Centre Airport, where the race course was to be moved, initially cancelled the 2011 event. Further negotiations had the race reinstated on the2011 IZOD IndyCar Series schedule, for July 22–24. On February 8, 2011, the promoter unveiled the new 13-turn, 3.579-kilometre (2.224 mi) racecourse.[2]
On September 21, 2012, Octane Motorsports announced that they would not stage the 2013 race due to poor attendance and lack of support from local businesses. City officials stated that they would not look for a replacement promoter,[3][4] and the Edmonton Indy has not returned since.
Over the eight race history of the Canadian-based Edmonton Indy, there was only one podium finish by a Canadian driver, whenPaul Tracy finishedsecond in 2005; Tracy also led all Canadian drivers with six top-6 finishes over the history of the race.
The 2005 race festivities took place from July 15 through July 17, 2005.
In 2006, there were 3 support series events. TheChamp Car Atlantic Championship series, theCASCAR series, and D-SportDrifting Demo. The 2006 race festivities took place from July 21 through July 23, 2006. The CASCAR race event took place on Saturday, July 22, 2006. The Champ Car Atlantic Championship race, the Champ Car World Series race, and the D-Sport Drifting Demo all took place on Sunday, July 23, 2006.
The 2007 race festivities took place from July 20 through July 22, 2007. The Northern Alberta Sports Car Club held GT and Vintage class support races also.
The 2008 race festivities took place July 24 through July 26, 2008. There were also 2 support series events, theAtlantic Championship series and theNASCAR Canadian Tire Series.The IndyCar Series race took place on Saturday and not Sunday in 2008 because of an agreement betweenIndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. By agreement, IndyCar is not permitted to race opposite theNASCAR Sprint Cup SeriesBrickyard 400, which took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday.
Held on July 26, 2009, it was the eleventh round of the2009 IndyCar Series season.
The race festivities took place from July 23 through July 25, 2010. There were three support series at this event, theIndy Lights Series,NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and the Northern Alberta Sports Car Championship. In addition, there were also a demonstration provided by D-Sport Drifting.
This year also saw the creation of an off the track event team calledRace Week Edmonton. This all volunteer team's mandate was to assist in promoting the Honda Edmonton Indy with various events such as car shows, a go kit derby, autoslalom, and a large slate of music events.
The race festivities took place from July 22 through July 24, 2011. However, steady rainfall saw the cancellation of all on-track events on July 22. This caused Indy Lights and IndyCar practice sessions to be moved to July 23. There were two support series at this event, theIndy Lights Series and the Northern Alberta Sports Car Championship. Unlike previous years, the Indy Lights Series ran two races with one on Saturday and one on Sunday, these were known as the Edmonton Twin 100s Race.
This event also saw the debut of a new course, moving from the western runways to the eastern runways of the City Centre Airport. This was caused by redevelopment of airport lands by the City of Edmonton. As well, Octane Motorsports took over the promoting of the race from Northlands declined to continue to run the race. This caused a temporary cancellation of the event in November, 2011. During this cancellation, theNASCAR Canadian Tire Series released their schedule and saw Edmonton not scheduled for the 2011 season.
The 2012 Edmonton Indy race was the eleventh round of the2012 IndyCar Series season. Indy Lights and theNASCARCanadian Tire Series also took place. It took place on Sunday, July 22, 2012.Hélio Castroneves won in the IndyCar Series,Carlos Muñoz won in the Indy Lights series, and D. J. Kennington won in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.[5]
The 2012 Edmonton Indy was the last in Edmonton. The city had spent over $12 million[6][7] over the last three years and a total of $22 million over eight years.[7] Beginning in 2008 the non-profit organizationNorthlands ran the Indy for three years, losing $12.5 million.[6] There was also drop in attendance for the event over the last few years;IndyCar forbids releasing attendance numbers.[5][6] This also played a part in the decision to cancel.
| Season | Date | Driver | Team | Chassis | Engine | Race Distance | Race Time | Average Speed (mph) | Report | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laps | Miles (km) | ||||||||||
| Champ Car World Series history | |||||||||||
| 2005 | July 17 |  Sébastien Bourdais | Newman/Haas Racing | Lola | Ford-Cosworth | 88 | 173.624 (279.42) | 1:38:55 | 105.302 | Report | [8] |
| 2006 | July 23 |  Justin Wilson | RuSPORT | Lola | Ford-Cosworth | 85 | 167.705 (269.895) | 1:40:30 | 100.112 | Report | [9] |
| 2007 | July 22 | Sébastien Bourdais | Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing | Panoz | Cosworth | 96 | 189.408 (304.822) | 1:45:41 | 107.517 | Report | [10] |
| IndyCar Series history | |||||||||||
| 2008 | July 26 |  Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara | Honda | 91* | 179.543 (288.946) | 1:51:06 | 96.967 | Report | [11] |
| 2009 | July 26 |  Will Power | Penske Racing | Dallara | Honda | 95 | 187.435 (301.647) | 1:42:42 | 109.498 | Report | [12] |
| 2010 | July 25 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara | Honda | 95 | 187.435 (301.647) | 1:50:37 | 101.666 | Report | [13] |
| 2011 | July 24 | Will Power | Penske Racing | Dallara | Honda | 80 | 180.48 (290.454) | 1:57:23 | 90.949 | Report | [14] |
| 2012 | July 22 |  Hélio Castroneves | Penske Racing | Dallara | Chevrolet | 75 | 169.2 (272.301) | 1:38:51 | 101.246 | Report | [15] |
| Season | Date | Winning driver |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | July 17 | Katherine Legge |
| 2006 | July 23 | Simon Pagenaud |
| 2007 | July 21 | Raphael Matos |
| July 22 | Raphael Matos | |
| 2008 | July 25 |  Jonathan Bomarito |
| July 26 | Jonathan Summerton |
| Season | Date | Winning driver |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | July 25 | J. R. Hildebrand |
| 2010 | July 25 |  James Hinchcliffe |
| 2011 | July 23 |  Esteban Guerrieri |
| July 24 | Josef Newgarden | |
| 2012 | July 21 |  Carlos Muñoz |
| Season | Date | Winning driver |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | July 21 | J. R. Fitzpatrick |
| 2008 | July 26 | Alex Tagliani |
| 2009 | July 25 | Andrew Ranger |
| 2010 | July 25 | J. R. Fitzpatrick |
| 2012 | July 22 | D. J. Kennington |
The fastest official race lap records at Edmonton Indy are listed as:
| Category | Time | Driver | Vehicle | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Circuit: 3.579 km (2011–2012)[17] | ||||
| IndyCar | 1:17.3629 | Josef Newgarden | Dallara DW12 | 2012 Edmonton Indy |
| Indy Lights | 1:23.0712[18] | Esteban Guerrieri | Dallara IPS | 2011 Edmonton 100 |
| Original Circuit: 3.175 km (2005–2010)[17] | ||||
| Champ Car | 0:58.653 | Sebastien Bourdais | Lola B02/00 | 2007 Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton |
| IndyCar | 1:02.0233[19] | Will Power | Dallara IR-05 | 2008 Rexall Edmonton Indy |
| Formula Atlantic | 1:05.647[20] | Simon Pagenaud | Swift 016.a | 2006 Edmonton Formula Atlantic round |
| Indy Lights | 1:06.8782[21] | James Hinchcliffe | Dallara IPS | 2010 Edmonton 100 |
| Trans-Am | 1:17.361[22] | Tomy Drissi | Jaguar XKR | 2005 Edmonton Trans-Am round |
In its inaugural year (2005), Edmonton set the attendance record for a Champ Car event in Canada at 200,052.[23]
| Year | Race Day | 3-Day Total |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 78,080 | 200,052 |
| 2006 | 63,921 | 171,391 |
| 2007 | 60,508 | 167,152 |
| 2008 | 60,000* | 160,000* |
* Estimate[24]
From 2008 onwards, event organizers have refused to disclose attendance figures due to an agreement with theIndy Racing League.[23][25][26]
