After Octane Motorsport Events Inc. announced late Tuesday that it had reached agreements with the city of Edmonton and that the IZOD IndyCar Series race will therefore be run as originally scheduled on July 22-24 at Edmonton City Centre Airport, IndyCar has now officially confirmed that the race, which was dropped from the calendar last November, has been reinstated.
"We are extremely pleased that the City of Edmonton and Octane were able to reach an agreement to continue our event,” said IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard. “We have to thank the city, mayor, local businesses and Octane for working together to make this happen and, of course, the fans for pushing for it. We know our fans in Edmonton are looking forward to seeing this race restored and we plan on to deliver a great event for them.”
Octane said it has also agreed on terms of a three-year (2011-2013) sanction agreement with IndyCar to act as promoter and organizer of an IZOD IndyCar Series race at a new racecourse, designed on and around the Eastern runway.
"We are extremely glad to finally be able to officially invite racing fans to gather in Edmonton, next July 22, 23 and 24. It is now a reality; the popular Edmonton Indy is back on the IndyCar Series calendar," said François Dumontier, president of Octane Motorsport Events. "While it has taken more time than expected to confirm its return, our group has all intentions to use the next seven months to offer to Edmontonians and Western Canadians the very best motorsports spectacle they've seen since 2005 in Alberta's Capital City."
Octane said it intends to open its Edmonton office early in 2011 and provide to fans as soon as possible in the coming weeks, all necessary details concerning tickets sales.