Event shifts from oval to road course in wake of March earthquakes
The IZOD IndyCar Series will have a final chapter at Twin Ring Motegi after all.
The devastating Japanese earthquakes in March also caused damage to the track’s 1.5-mile oval, but INDYCAR officials have announced this morning that the Sept. 18 race — the last one for the series at Motegi — will be shifted to Motegi’s 2.98-mile road course. The road course is used for sports car and motorcycle racing, such as MotoGP.
“After weighing a variety of options, we felt it was best to move the race to the road course,” INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard said in a statement released today. “We understand that Japan is steadily moving forward with reconstruction and we look forward to entertaining our strong fan base at Motegi with our inaugural run on the road course.”
Hiroshi Oshima, president of track operator Mobilityland Corporation, said that fixing the oval was considered but due to costs and “the large-scale public works impact on society in this circumstance,” the move to the road course was chosen instead.
“Though we have been forced to change what we have been doing by the earthquake disaster, we will make sure our fans experience another exciting race,” said Oshima.
The shift to the road course may play a key role in the outcome of the championship, considering that the season was expected to close with three straight ovals (I have a hunch that Team Penske’s Will Power doesn’t mind this decision one bit!). With that said, I’m just glad the great race fans in Japan will get to have a race — as well as something to take their minds off of rebuilding, if only for one weekend.
