IndyCar: The Five Best International Venues
By Alex Herbst
Magny-Cours
The French connection in IndyCar cemented its place in history in 2016, with Simon Pagenaud winning the series championship. That connection to France will continue in 2017, with both Pagenaud and Sebastien Bourdais returning to the series. Both men have great followers in their homeland, making a race at Magny-Cours one of the possibilities for schedule expansion.
Of course, the attention that the circuit is getting right now is not about an American open-wheel series coming to France, but the return of F1. Reports say that the French Grand Prix will be revived after a ten-year hiatus in 2018, making a move by IndyCar to the permanent road course more challenging.
As explained earlier with reference to Suzuka and Fuji, the FIA could potentially block a move to race at any track they already use for Formula One. However, other series including NASCAR have used facilities in the same year that a Grand Prix is run. Take for example NASCAR’s former Xfinity Series race in Montreal, run on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve track that hosts the Canadian Grand Prix. F1 cannot have a lock on all their tracks.
Perhaps what sets Magny-Cours apart from their competitors in Japan is the strong connection from the drivers. Both Pagenaud and Bourdais have raced on the international stage in their home country, and bringing IndyCar there could add new fans to the series, and bring in more French drivers to the open-wheeled division.