Starting from 2000 and 2007, the Brickyard hosted the American Grand Prix in Formula One, but the series had little success within the US diehard racing fans. Eventually, the race was dropped by the 79-year old Brit at the end of the 2007 season.
Talking about the chances to revive this circuit in the world of Formula One, Ecclestone admitted that Indy has a good chance of returning in the sport, especially since it changed its management in recent months. One of the main causes why the race was dropped was because it was privately financed, something that happens on a regular basis on the North American continent.
“America works differently. Certain worldwide events, like F1 itself in certain nations or the Olympic Games, are financed by the countries. In the American continent, by contrast, they're organized by private companies, who want to make a profit even before the race is staged: that's a bit too much,” said Ecclestone somewhere in the autumn of 2008.
Today, the F1 supremo agrees that “nothing worked there really, we'd have to have a big change round,” but hinted that “we'd like to get back there.” Like the Indian market, the North American one has been targeted by Ecclestone for years, only the difference is that he wants to make this move on his terms, not like in the past.
As far as the IMS are concerned, the new management of the track issued a statement earlier this week in which they confirm their willingness to return to F1, but only after some thorough discussions on the matter.
“We continue to have dialogue with formula one, and we've long maintained we're interested in hosting their events. 2011 would be a long shot. Obviously, there's a lot to consider,” spokesman Chris Schwartz was quoted as saying by the Indianapolis Business Journal.
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