Russian GP organizers say October race will go on as planned - MotorSportsTalk

Despite the crash of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border, organizers of the upcoming Russian Grand Prix say that the inaugural event at Sochi will go on as planned.

According to the Associated Press, race organizers have issued a statement that all preparations for the Oct. 12 event remain ongoing, adding “organizers are confident that the inaugural Russian Grand Prix will be comfortable for all.”

Thursday’s disaster, however, figures to raise a significant degree of doubt about the race’s true status.

The Sochi Autodrom, which will host the race near the city’s Olympic Park, is situated around 335 miles from where MH17 went down. All 298 people aboard the flight were killed.

It bears noting that back in May, the political crisis between Russia and Ukraine caused FIA president Jean Todt and race organizers to insist that the event would not be postponed.

Earlier in April, said unrest helped lead the FIM to cancel the Russian round of this year’s World Superbike Championship season. That race was to have taken place at Moscow Raceway in September.

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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.”