History
The inaugural race was held in 2005 and was known as the West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix. It was known in 2006 as the West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix Presented by The Brick. In 2007, Katz Group signed with the Grand Prix of Edmonton as the race's lead sponsor. In 2010, Honda Canada Inc. was the title sponsor of the race. There was no title sponsor in 2011.
During the 2010 race weekend, it was announced that Octane Motorsports Events from Montreal, promoter of the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix and the NASCAR Nationwide race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, was taking over as the new promoter. In November, the City and the promoter not being able to reach an agreement concerning pavement work to be done on the Eastern runway of City Centre Airport, where the race course was to be moved, the event was cancelled. Further negotiations had the race returned on the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series schedule for July 22–24. On February 8, 2011, the promoter unveiled the new racecourse (13-turn, 3.579 km) which received rave reviews from several IndyCar drivers.
On September 21, 2012, Octane Motorsports announced that they will not stage the 2013 race due to poor attendance and lack of support from local businesses. City officials have said that they do not plan to look for a replacement promoter.
Read more about this topic: Edmonton Indy
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