Could the defunct Molson Indy return to Vancouver?
Yesterday, Octane Motorsports Events announced the cancellation of the 2011 Edmonton Indy and said they are considering holding the event in other cities, including Calgary, Quebec City and Vancouver.
“There is no doubt that Vancouver is an interesting, major international city,” Normand Prieur, spokesman fot Octane Motorsports, said yesterday.
Walt Judas, a vice-president with Tourism Vancouver, said the event would be welcome as it was popular and generated a lot of buzz.
“It kept locals in the city on Labour day when people normally leave town.”
Vision Coun. Geoff Meggs said people would be ecstatic about having Indy return to Vancouver. The track would have to be close to transit and would need room for bleachers, he added.
In spite of the popularity of the event, NPA Coun. Suzanne Anton said hosting the event would likely be quite challenging.
“I am a fan of the event,” said Anton, but the organization would first have to “iron out the problems” because “much of the course is now the Olympic Village.” The Molson Indy was last held in Vancouver during the summer of 2004 but was cancelled due lack of sponsorships and the pending construction of the Olympic Village in Southeast False Creek.
