IndyCar Cancel Qingdao Race

IndyCar, sickness the sanctioning body for the IZOD IndyCar Series, has announced today its scheduled Aug. 19 race in Qingdao, China, has been cancelled.

Bernard had been working with promoters in Qingdao the last several months to salvage the race, which was announced last November to run at the same time as the International Beer Festival. The inaugural race would have been held on a temporary 3.87-mile street circuit in the city that hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics sailing competition.

“We wanted to give the China race every opportunity to move forward and be successful, but IndyCar has been notified by the promoter that the event is cancelled for 2012,” said Randy Bernard, CEO, IndyCar. “We were informed that the promoter was trying to move the event to a different date and location. After ongoing discussions regarding alternative dates, as well as doing our due diligence in exploring alternate venues in China, the promoter cancelled the event. A decision had to be made to allow INDYCAR and its participants to plan accordingly for the second half of the season.”

IndyCar announced plans for its inaugural race in China on Nov. 10, 2011. Bernard said IndyCar is “not closing the door” on opportunities for a future race in China.

Bernard added that IndyCar is investigating a possible replacement event that will keep the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule at 16 races.

“We are working with our promoters that host events in the second half of our calendar to keep them apprised of how the date of a potential new race could impact our current schedule,” he said.