F1 to Long Beach in 2016 rumors won’t go away

By Apr 29, 2013, 11:03 AM EDT
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Despite strenuous denials from Long Beach Grand Prix organizers, rumors the race will become an F1 event from 2016 refuse to die down.

Long Beach Grand Prix CEO Jim Michaelian dismissed the reports which first arose two weeks ago, telling the Long Beach Press Telegram: “This is a story that keeps bouncing around every year or so despite the fact that the race isn’t for sale and there’s been no contact between anyone and Kevin about a sale.”

“Nothing is happening,” he continued. “You can contemplate all kind of scenarios, but nothing is happening. To keep speculating, playing this what-if game, just encourages more rumors that don’t amount to anything.”

Kevin Kalkhoven, who jointly owns the race with Jerry Forsythe, also denied the claims.

But veteran US journalist Gordon Kirby stood by his story in an article for MotorSport today. Kirby claims Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone, together with businessman and former racing driver Zak Brown and F1-era Long Beach race promoter Chris Pook, intend to make a bid for the race and bring Formula One back to the track.

All eyes are now on whether the mayor of Long Beach, Bob Foster, heads to the Canadian Grand Prix in June for a rumored meeting with Ecclestone.

Formula One last race at Long Beach in 1983. Since then the race has been held for IndyCars, and former F1 driver Takuma Sato won there last week:

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IndyCar disappointed by delay of video game but aiming to launch at start of 2024

By Mar 27, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
IndyCar video game 2024
IndyCar
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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”