Green Savoree announces MRTI two-year deal at three races - MotorSportsTalk

The Mazda Road to Indy has two-year partnerships in place with the three Green Savoree Promotions races at St. Petersburg, Toronto and Mid-Ohio, announced by GSP on Monday. It will see all of the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda in action at those events.

In 2015, Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will host the season-opener for the Mazda Road to Indy, which takes place March 27-29. The three series will then visit Honda Indy Toronto, the only Canadian stop on the series calendar, June 12-14, and will head to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Honda Indy 200 weekend from July 31-August 2.

“We are very excited to partner with Green Savoree to secure these premier events on our schedules,” Dan Andersen, owner and CEO of Andersen Promotions, said in a release. “These are doubleheader races for all three series with Mid-Ohio being a tripleheader for USF2000, so they are key rounds in the championships in addition to being fantastic events with tremendous fan support.”

Toronto’s date shifts from July to June this year to account for the Pan-Am Games at Exhibition Place next July.

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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.”