Baltimore Grand Prix

The Indy Racing League announced yesterday that the 2010 season would commence in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  The negotiations between the IRL, the Brazilian government and local promoters have been ongoing for several months.  The race will be a street race at a to-be-determined location in Sao Paulo (at least two sites are being considered) and has been scheduled for March 14.

“While our primary focus continues to be building the sport of the IZOD IndyCar Series domestically, the race in São Paulo affords us a unique opportunity to visit a country that has a huge passion for open-wheel racing. With strong support from our major partner Aprex-Brasil, a significant television package from TV Bandeirantes, a large number of drivers from the country and the opportunity for a unique course, it makes sense from both a business and competition standpoint,” said Terry Angstadt, president of the Commercial Division for the IRL.

The IRL has a significant following in Brazil with such prominent drivers as three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan. The 2010 schedule now includes races in the United States, Canada (Toronto and Edmonton), Brazil and Japan.

Team Penske

For those of you who are new to the IRL and open-wheel racing in the U.S., I thought it might be helpful to provide information about the cars in the league and a bit about the technology behind them.  First, it’s important to understand that Indycars teams all use engines manufactured by Honda.  Most of the top teams utilize a chassis developed by Dallara.

The vehicles can achieve top speeds of 240 mph on oval tracks and typically hit speeds of 185-190 mph on street tracks like the one proposed in Baltimore.

I have attached the specs for the engines below.  Note that the IndyCar series is the greenest of any racing league in the world as all teams run on 100% cellulostic ethanol alcohol:

IndyCar Series engines are rev-limited to 10,300 rpm and produce approximately 650 hp. The valve train is a dual overhead camshaft configuration with four valves per cylinder. The crankshaft is made of alloy steel, with five main bearing caps. The pistons are forged aluminum alloy, while the connecting rods are machined alloy steel. The electronic engine management system is supplied by Motorola, firing a CDI ignition system. The engine lubrication is a dry sump type, cooled by a single water pump.

Specifications

• Engine Displacement: 3.5 L (213 in³) DOHC V8
• Gearbox: 6 Speed paddle shift gearbox
• Weight: 1,525 lb (691.7 kg) on ovals; 1,600 lb (725.7 kg) on road courses
• Power Output: 650 hp (485 kW)
• Fuel: 100% Ethanol
• Fuel Capacity: 22 U.S. gallons (83 liters)
• Fuel Delivery: Fuel injection
• Aspiration: Naturally aspirated
• Length: 192 in (4.88 m) minimum
• Width: 78.5 in (1.99 m) (outside wheel rims); 74 in (1.88 m) minimum (measured at the hub centerline)
• Wheelbase: 120 in (3.05 m)
• Steering: Manual, rack and pinion
• Speed: Around 385 km/h (240 MPH) Future IndyCar Formula

Earlier this month, the IndyCar series received a new title sponsor, partnering with clothing company IZOD.  The six-year deal purported to be in the $90 million range will include programs and brand-building efforts designed to attract fans beyond the IRL’s traditional audience.  

IZOD, who was already the league’s apparel sponsor, is the most significant title sponsor the IRL has had. CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Jeff Belskus called the sponsorship “one of the most significant announcements in the history of the IndyCar series.” 

Sponsorship is a key component of a sport like open wheel racing.   I’ve seen ads in the New York Times business section sporting the IndyCar logo.  That’s a great way to increase awareness of the IRL to a broad audience outside the typical target. 

What does this all mean for the Baltimore Grand Prix’s prospects?  The IZOD partnership will increase awareness among non-racing fans and hopefully excitement for the Baltimore Grand Prix.  If and when the race comes to town, IZOD’s name will be promoted throughout the entire weekend to thousands of spectators and a national audience.

IZOD and IndyCar in Long Beach

IZOD and IndyCar in NYC

A little off topic today.  Yesterday, I attended the memorial for Army SPC Christopher Coffland who was killed last week serving our country in Afghanistan.  Chris was a really special guy who volunteered to serve months before he turned 42 years old with full knowledge and expectation that he would be sent to combat.  I was a year behind Chris at the Gilman School in Baltimore and played football with him always admiring his toughness and loyalty to his teammates and friends.  Chris went on to play professional football in Finland after college, studied anthropology and lived with Pygmy tribes in Gabon and was an accomplished artist as well as a soldier.  He had a great sense of humor and never took himself too seriously.  He will be missed by his many friends and admirers.

Thanks for indulging me and I will be back on topic tomorrow……….

Over the last several weeks we have been negotiating a contract with the City, working to finalize traffic and sound studies and raising necessary capital for the project.  We have presented on our project to communities close to the track -   including Federal Hill, Otterbein, Ridgely’s Delight, and Harbor Walk.  We have also presented to and engaged with local business and community leaders at meetings of the Downtown and Waterfront Partnerships. 

We have been excited that a great majority of the community has embraced the Grand Prix.  We want to be responsive to legitimate concerns raised by community and business leaders and look forward to partnering with them to make the Baltimore Grand Prix a world-class event.    

Our target date for the event is Labor Day weekend in 2011.  We expect to negotiate a 5 year deal with the IRL and the City of Baltimore.  We appreciate your support to help make this happen.

 That’s all for now but check the blog daily for updates and news!

My name is Jay Davidson.  I am the COO of Baltimore Racing Development, LLC.  I am working with a number of talented people to bring an internationally televised open-wheel street race sanctioned by the Indy Racing League to Baltimore.  I will be blogging to update on our progress and hope to initiate discussions on racing in general (Indy, Nascar, F1 etc.).  We will be inviting Indy drivers and others to introduce themselves to our community through charmcitycurrent.com.

For those of you who don’t know, the Indy Racing League is a series of races throughout the U.S., Canada, Japan (hopefully Brazil) etc., on oval tracks (i.e. Indianapolis and Homestead) , road courses (i.e. Watkins Glen, Sonoma) and temporary street circuits (i.e. Long Beach, Toronto, St. Petersburg).  The most famous race on the circuit is of course the Indianapolis  500 which is the largest sporting event in the United States in terms of attendance.   The series had formerly competed with the Champ Car Series until Champ merged into the IRL in 2008. 

The series has a number of household names like Danica Patrick, Helio Castroneves and Dario Franchitti.  The cars that would race on the streets of Baltimore are the same cars that race at the Indy 500.  We expect speeds approaching 185 miles an hour on Pratt Street and elsewhere.  Street races like the one we are proposing are 4 day festivals that typically include a series of races, concerts, beach volleyball, go-kart races etc.  They have a significant economic benefit to the cities that host them.  

I look forward to a conversation with you all about our efforts and racing generally. Jay