THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON — IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said he will sit down next week with the promoter of the Edmonton Indy, but says as far as he’s concerned the series is racing in the Alberta capital next year.
Bernard said the contract between IndyCar, the city, and promoter Octane Motorsport Events, runs through 2013.
"From our standpoint we have a three-year contract (through to 2013)," said Bernard.
He said any financial concerns over the event itself have to be worked out between Octane and the city.
Octane is on the second year of the three-year deal to run the event, on the temporary street course at the City Centre Airport.
Bernard said while the crowds have been good there is a concern about advertising and sponsorship.
The event does not have a title sponsor, considered the anchor contract for other smaller deals.
"If I was the promoter (the lack of title sponsor) would be a very big issue for me," said Bernard.
"Probably the biggest area (where) this series is struggling here is support from local sponsors. That’s one of the big areas we want to see some help on."
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Lotus Woes
It was another bad day at the track for the HVM Racing team and driver Simona De Silvestro.
The HVM team is struggling with a weaker Lotus engine this year, and the fact there were no caution flags in Edmonton played havoc with their fuel consumption.
"It was kind of a weird day, no yellows (flags)," she said. "We had to make one more stop than most everybody else because our fuel consumption is pretty bad."
The Swiss driver was 23rd in the 25-car field.
"It is what it is," she said. "We had a strong race car, but we’re just not fast enough right now."
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Dixon Engine Problems
The engine problems continue for Scott Dixon.
The Target Chip Ganassi driver had to serve a 10-spot grid penalty at the Edmonton race for being over the season limit on engines.
And even his sixth engine wasn’t running on all cylinders.
"We had a problem at the start within the first five laps," said Dixon.
"Whenever I went into the braking zones, the engine would go into neutral.
Dixon climbed eight positions from his starting spot to finish 10th, but said it was too much to overcome.
"When you start that far back like we did, you need to work on fuel mileage and take some chances, but we just couldn’t really go anywhere."
