add site
services
publishers
database
health videos
toolbar
stats
live show
health store
more stuff
JOIN/LOGIN
| advertise add site services publishers database health videos
| | about toolbar stats live show health store more stuff JOIN/LOGIN |
Personal Trainers throughout United States - CFR - Leading Personal... fitnessandresults.com | 2001 State Farm Grand Prix steeplechasers.org | Coaching: United States, directory for Coaching/United States healthysense.com |
This article is about the Formula One race. For other uses, see United States Grand Prix (disambiguation).
The United States Grand Prix is a motor race which has been run on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The race later became part of the Formula One World Championship.
[edit] History [edit] American Grand PrizeThe race was known as the American Grand Prize from its start in 1908 to 1916. [edit] RevivalThe United States Grand Prix was revived on October 12, 1958 as a sports car race at Riverside International Raceway. The race formed part of the USAC Road Racing Championship and the American Chuck Daigh won in a Scarab, beating Dan Gurney's Ferrari into second place.[1] [edit] SebringRussian-born Alec Ulmann organized the first Formula One American Grand Prix on the road course at Sebring, Florida in December, 1959 as the last race of the season. The starting grid included seven American drivers, but New Zealand's Bruce McLaren, in a Cooper, took his first win in F1 and was, at the time, the youngest driver ever to win a Grand Prix. McLaren took the lead on the last lap of the race when his team-mate, Jack Brabham, ran out of fuel. Brabham had to push his car over the line to finish fourth and clinch his and the team's first World Championships. Despite providing an exciting climax to the season, the race wasn't successful from the hosts' standpoint, as the promoters barely broke even. [edit] Return to RiversideUlmann moved the race to the Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California in 1960. Stirling Moss put on quite a show in his privately-entered Lotus by winning from the pole. However, while the driver's purse was enormous (as at Sebring), the event was received no better than the previous year's and became another one-off.  [edit] Watkins GlenIn 1961, however, when Cameron Argetsinger was asked to host the race at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York, where international road racing was well established, the third time was indeed the charm and F1 found the United States Grand Prix's home at The Glen. Over the next twenty years, the event became a cherished tradition among the fans as loyal crowds gathered each year on the wooded hills of upstate New York. It was one of the season's most popular events with the teams and drivers as well, receiving the Grand Prix Drivers' Association award for the best organized and best staged GP of the season in 1965, 1970, and 1972. From 1976 to 1980 the race was called the United States Grand Prix East to differentiate from the United States Grand Prix West held in Long Beach the same years. In 1980, financial difficulties and the inability of the circuit to safely handle the increasingly faster and stiffer ground effect cars of the era led to the Glen's exit from the Formula One calendar after Alan Jones won the 1980 race for Williams. Since then, no United States Grand Prix has been held on a natural road course. [edit] Long BeachSee United States Grand Prix West. [edit] Las VegasSee Caesars Palace Grand Prix. [edit] DetroitSee Detroit Grand Prix. [edit] DallasSee Dallas Grand Prix. [edit] PhoenixPlans to continue Formula One races in the Detroit area at the nearby Belle Isle did not materialize, and in 1989, Formula One moved to Phoenix, Arizona. The Phoenix street circuit was laid out in downtown Phoenix and was unpopular with drivers and the local crowd. After the race in 1991 was attended by little more than 18,000 spectators, Formula One left and did not return to the United States until 2000. [edit] Indianapolis  It was not until 2000 that another United States Grand Prix took place, this time at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 2.606-mile (4.194 km) infield road course uses about a mile of the storied oval, but in a clockwise direction. This is distinctly different from most United States motor racing, which is run counter-clockwise, although it follows the general procedure of F1, in which the vast majority of races are run clockwise. The crowd at the 2000 race was estimated at over 225,000, perhaps the largest ever in F1. Michael Schumacher's win was his second of four straight to end the season as he overtook Mika Häkkinen for his third Championship. In 2001, the race took place less than three weeks after the events on 11 September 2001 in the US, and many teams and drivers featured special tributes to the USA on their cars and helmets. The 2002 edition was known for Schumacher and team-mate Rubens Barrichello trading places near the finish line. Held in September its first four years, the USGP at Indianapolis was moved to an early summer date in 2004. In 2005, problems with Michelin tyres led to seven teams withdrawing from the race after the formation lap. Only the three teams (six cars) with Bridgestone tyres started the 2005 United States Grand Prix, and the event was considered a farce. Many commentators questioned whether a United States Grand Prix would be held in Indianapolis again, but the 2006 United States Grand Prix was held the next year, on 2 July 2006, without controversy. On 12 July 2007, Formula One and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced that the 2007 US Grand Prix would be the last one held at IMS for the foreseeable future, as both sides could not agree on the terms for the event. Reportedly the door has been left open to renegotiate the possibility of returning the USGP to Indianapolis. [edit] FutureThe future of the United States Grand Prix is extremely uncertain following the announcement that it would not return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2008.[2] Though there was no United States Grand Prix for 2009, it remains to be seen if the event will be held in the USA in future years. Formula One commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone has also said that he is considering having a second US Grand Prix, possibly on the west coast, in the future years.[citation needed] It was thought that the race would return to the calendar for 2009 on the track configuration that was used for the 2008 race in the MotoGP championship.[3] The Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner at the time, Tony George, claimed that the USGP would not return to Indianapolis unless it made financial sense. Due to the expensive fees paid to host a grand prix, the race would require a title sponsor to be economically viable. Just Marketing International has been hired for the purpose of finding a sponsor.[4] Ultimately, the United States Grand Prix was not on the Formula One calendar for 2009. According to the Speed Channel's broadcast team, Ecclestone met with teams at Spa-Francorchamps shortly before the running of the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix on 7 September 2008 to tell them that the United States Grand Prix will likely return in 2010[citation needed], but no confirmation was made regarding whether Indianapolis will again serve as the race venue. In August 2009, Ecclestone remarked that there was no immediate plan to return Formula One to the US, vowing "never to return" to Indianapolis.[5] He also remarked that races in Las Vegas or New York were "not currently doable". The FIA is currently working on securing a circut for the grand prix, likely to be run in 2011.[citation needed] [edit] Winners of the United States Grand PrixEvents which were not part of the Formula One World Championship are indicated by a pink background. Notes:
[edit] Title sponsors
[edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ↑ top of page ↑ | about thumbshots |
