Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2017 12:37:27 GMT
Racer: IndyCar future at Long Beach secure - Kalkhoven
For all the concerned IndyCar fans that Long Beach could be snapped up by Liberty Media and return to Formula 1, Kevin Kalkhoven has a message: relax.
"We haven't heard from anyone in F1 or negotiated with anyone in F1, but it's really not practical for us," said Kalkhoven, who co-owns the iconic street race's rights along with Gerald Forsythe and has a contract through 2018 with IndyCar. "The real issue is that, together with the tens of millions of dollars for physical reconstruction of the circuit, paddock and pits, plus the tens of millions of dollars for the sanction fee – I believe COTA pays $25 million and Texas taxpayers subsidize that – the cost of the race would make the entrance fees for the L.A. families prohibitive. Together with the fact that they would never be allowed to be in the paddock and the costs of the Paddock Club would be $2,000-$3,000 per person, this would hardly be a 'thanks' to all the race fans who have made this event so successful.
"Would we talk to Formula 1? Sure. But I think everyone is pretty happy with the IndyCar race and it's not going anywhere."
Preparing for it's 43rd running on April 7-9, Long Beach began as a Formula 5000 race and switched to F1 from 1976-'83 before founder Chris Pook shocked Bernie Ecclestone and replaced F1 with CART Indy cars for 1984.
Attendance sagged during the Champ Car/Indy Racing League war when Kalkhoven and Forsythe got the rights to Long Beach and most of the top teams had defected to the IRL. But after Kalkhoven unified open-wheel racing with Tony George in 2008, the longest-running street race in the world next to Monaco has made a strong comeback in recent years and is easily IndyCar's pride and joy after Indianapolis.
"Last year was the biggest crowd Long Beach has had in some 20 years, 186,000 over three days, and this year's ticket sales are up," said the 73-year-old Australian (pictured) who announced last week that he was shutting down KV Racing after 14 years. "It's a good race but it's a great event and it's become part of IndyCar's heritage."
Still sponsored by Toyota (despite the fact it has no engine competing in the IndyCar race), this year's non-stop weekend of action consists of IMSA sports cars, Pirelli World Challenge, SST races, drifting and vintage Can-Am cars are replacing the celebrity race.
"Wait until people hear those 1,000-horsepower motors coming down Lakeshore," said Kalkhoven, who also owns Cosworth which is positioned to badge an Indy engine if a third manufacturer can be secured.
He's enjoying his winter in Florida but plans to be at Long Beach and possibly Indianapolis. "I enjoyed most of the last 14 years, met a lot of good people and winning Indy (in 2013 with Tony Kanaan) was the pinnacle. There's a photo of me sitting all alone in the timing stand while everyone was celebrating and I was staring at the scoring tower as if to say: 'We won? We really won?'"
"We haven't heard from anyone in F1 or negotiated with anyone in F1, but it's really not practical for us," said Kalkhoven, who co-owns the iconic street race's rights along with Gerald Forsythe and has a contract through 2018 with IndyCar. "The real issue is that, together with the tens of millions of dollars for physical reconstruction of the circuit, paddock and pits, plus the tens of millions of dollars for the sanction fee – I believe COTA pays $25 million and Texas taxpayers subsidize that – the cost of the race would make the entrance fees for the L.A. families prohibitive. Together with the fact that they would never be allowed to be in the paddock and the costs of the Paddock Club would be $2,000-$3,000 per person, this would hardly be a 'thanks' to all the race fans who have made this event so successful.
"Would we talk to Formula 1? Sure. But I think everyone is pretty happy with the IndyCar race and it's not going anywhere."
Preparing for it's 43rd running on April 7-9, Long Beach began as a Formula 5000 race and switched to F1 from 1976-'83 before founder Chris Pook shocked Bernie Ecclestone and replaced F1 with CART Indy cars for 1984.
Attendance sagged during the Champ Car/Indy Racing League war when Kalkhoven and Forsythe got the rights to Long Beach and most of the top teams had defected to the IRL. But after Kalkhoven unified open-wheel racing with Tony George in 2008, the longest-running street race in the world next to Monaco has made a strong comeback in recent years and is easily IndyCar's pride and joy after Indianapolis.
"Last year was the biggest crowd Long Beach has had in some 20 years, 186,000 over three days, and this year's ticket sales are up," said the 73-year-old Australian (pictured) who announced last week that he was shutting down KV Racing after 14 years. "It's a good race but it's a great event and it's become part of IndyCar's heritage."
Still sponsored by Toyota (despite the fact it has no engine competing in the IndyCar race), this year's non-stop weekend of action consists of IMSA sports cars, Pirelli World Challenge, SST races, drifting and vintage Can-Am cars are replacing the celebrity race.
"Wait until people hear those 1,000-horsepower motors coming down Lakeshore," said Kalkhoven, who also owns Cosworth which is positioned to badge an Indy engine if a third manufacturer can be secured.
He's enjoying his winter in Florida but plans to be at Long Beach and possibly Indianapolis. "I enjoyed most of the last 14 years, met a lot of good people and winning Indy (in 2013 with Tony Kanaan) was the pinnacle. There's a photo of me sitting all alone in the timing stand while everyone was celebrating and I was staring at the scoring tower as if to say: 'We won? We really won?'"