October will never be the same again for the Fengtai District of Beijing as the city welcomes the Beijing Indy 600. The non-championship race event will be held on a street course that runs 2.56 miles in total.
According to Hulman & Company's CEO Mark Miles, IndyCar has been in collaboration with Asia Region Development (ARD) regarding one of the most-awaited races this year.
ARD's CEO Joe Chrnelich was responsible for the ineffectual IndyCar race in 2012.
The exciting race is still left unconfirmed, according to Miles, due to a number of factors that they are concerned about. One of the concerns was the upfront payment to the series.
Another reason for the delay in confirmation is the long approval of the track design built by Tony Cotman of NZR Consulting for this particular race.
Although the event is still not finalized, Miles said that about 50 percent of the streets have been constructed already, while the real estate development is to be expected to be started soon.
Miles also confirmed that the title of the race event does not mean that it would be a double-header, 600-kilometer race. He stated that there would only be a single race using the usual track length.
In relation to this, Miles said that the championship finale will not be hosted in China in 2017. Also, he does not envision Beijing as a host for championship races in the future, particularly when it comes to season finale.
Motorsport.com reported that the organizers are expected in early June to provide an answer as to whether the event will push through or not.
Race organizers in Beijing do not think that February is a fitting month for events that pay international points, despite the fact that February is an opportune time for such kind of race events.