_:n8b75f6ce19114e8dad148e673521388cxb0
<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"The Verizon IndyCar Series’ constituency largely disapproved of last year’s short five-month-long season, but CEO Mark Miles planned to stretch it out this year and in the years to come with the implementation of international races. But a month away from a race planned for Brasilia on March 8, that event was canceled on Jan. 29, leaving IndyCar without its only event outside North America. Brazilian politicians decided the financially strapped federal district can’t afford the luxuries of MotoGP and IndyCar, and it canceled both 2015 events and halted modifications at Autodromo Internacional Nelson Piquet. With time running out, IndyCar is left to open its season three weeks later than planned, on March 29 with the street race in St. Petersburg, Fla., and end the campaign Aug. 30 with the road race at Sonoma Raceway. That’s a season spanning five months and a single day. Now what? Miles certainly has work to do, and he recently said that while his goal remains to lengthen the season on the front end in an effort to avoid going head to head with the NFL, there might have to be a rethink of the plan. If IndyCar is to open its 2016 schedule in February, as Miles hopes, something firm must be solidified with the likes of Dubai, Abu Dhabi or anywhere else in the world IndyCar is considering. As with Brasilia, IndyCar must get financial guarantees before committing. (Brazilian press reported that IndyCar walks away from the canceled deal with $10 million.) But more important is the guarantee that the series won’t take another public-relations hit with another cancelation. The cancelation of the Brazil race was IndyCar’s second since the summer of 2012, when a street race in Qingdao, China, was scrapped because of a change in political leadership, something Brasilia experienced, too. This season, IndyCar is left with 16 races on 15 weekends (there’s a doubleheader in Detroit in late May, plus an additional weekend at Indianapolis for qualifying), and that’s not enough given the season spans only the five months and a single day. For now, IndyCar is rethinking its preseason testing program in order to get the cars’ new aero kits on the track sooner. Ideally, there’s an unveiling event that serves not only as promotion but a test. Maybe that happens at NOLA Motorsports Park, where IndyCar will race for the first time on April 12, or maybe the series treks to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to lay the groundwork for a return to Monterey, Calif. No matter what, IndyCar has work to do in lengthening its schedule."
<https://www.autoweek.com/racing/indycar/a1862881/indycar-wont-replace-brazil-season-opener-so-now-what/>