IndyCar opener in Brazil has been canceled

Brant James | USA TODAY Sports

CHARLOTTE - The season-opening IndyCar Series race scheduled for March 8 in Brasilia has been canceled.

IndyCar project manager Tony Cotman confirmed to USA Today Sports in an email that the race is off.

Band TV, the Brazilian channel set to broadcast the event, released a statement Thursday afternoon saying the race had been canceled "unilaterally" by promoter Terracap (Development Agency of the Federal District ).

In a statement released Thursday night, IndyCar said:

"Today's announcement by BAND that the March 8 INDYCAR race in Brasília was cancelled was both unexpected and disappointing. INDYCAR had received every indication that the race was already a success: Two-thirds of the seats available for the event had already been sold; a title sponsor for the event (ITAIPAVA) was announced yesterday; hospitality was sold out; and track construction was progressing and scheduled to be complete in time for the event. Although we have not received formal confirmation from our partners in Brazil regarding the cancellation, economically INDYCAR is protected and the paddock is protected from such action."

Reports in the country are that the government agency that owns the Autodromo Internacional Nelson Piquet and was providing funding has pulled out of the deal.

This marks the second time the IndyCar series has had an international event collapse. A conflict with a beer festival forced the cancellation of an race in Qingdao, China in 2012.

IndyCar CEO Mark Miles told The Indianapolis Star that the cancellation of the Brasilia event "is disappointing," but it won't hurt the sanctioning body or its competitors.

If true, IndyCar learned from the last-minute cancellation of the China race, when IndyCar did not receive the money it was promised. Miles said the Brazil event was financially front-loaded.

Helio Castroneves, a three-time Indianapolis 500 champion who was born in Brazil, tweeted his disappointment and hoped for a quick solution.

Before hearing the news, Castroneves told The Indianapolis Star that he expected a race-day crowd of 60,000 and a weekend total twice that.

"I guarantee you, a minimum of 60,000 people for a day," he said. "The region is very wealthy because of cattle business and people love cars; they love racing."

Said Castroneves after the announcement: "I was caught by surprise. As far as I knew everything was going well."

IndyCar's next scheduled race is March 29 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.

Contributing: Curt Cavin, The Indianapolis Star

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