Less than two months after the 2012 Edmonton Indy ended, the event’s promoter and the city have announced that was the last time an IndyCar event will be held in Edmonton.
On Friday, Octane Motorsports released a statement that said the company had given up rights to organize a 2013 Indy Race in Edmonton.
In part, the statement read:
“Despite our tight management policies and all our efforts to offer to the fans a world-class spectacle, we were not able to make this event profitable and nothing allows us to hope for a better profitability next year. As we stated in a release earlier in July, this year’s attendance was good, but we were also convinced that the event, especially with the quality of the spectacle offered, should have attracted many more spectators over its three days.”
The statement went on to say the event needed strong attendance, and needed more support from local businesses – and they had “little confidence” the situation would improve for future events.
A short time later, the City of Edmonton released a statement, which said the city would not host an international car race in 2013.
“The City of Edmonton has made the decision not to seek another promoter, or pursue a race in 2013,” City official Lorna Rosen said.
“It all boils down to local people coming and local businesses supporting it, and there maybe wasn’t enough of that,” Mayor Stephen Mandel said Friday. “Therefore it couldn’t have been as successful as it should have been.”
The future of the race is also unclear – as no location had been secured to replace the track, after the City Centre airport closes.
With files from Susan Amerongen
