Unfortunately, the course doesn't extend that far down Santa Clara Street. And normally there are a slough of barriers (old tires, hay bales, concrete walls, etc...) between the street and any large obstacles like buildings and such.
Well, it isn't necessarily "news" that Champ Car is a minor-league circuit. And, other than the Sharks -- who probably won't play this season -- isn't San Jose pretty much "America's minor league city?" Let's see...currently, we've got: * a struggling soccer franchise in a league that calls itself "Major" (wink-wink, nudge-nudge)... * a championship Arena Football League team nobody cares about until the playoffs, and barely then... * an aptly-named professional lacrosse team... * a Class A minor league baseball franchise... * a university that's so weak at sports...especially the all-important, beloved football...that they should be playing teams like San Jose High ... ...so it seems to me Champ Car would fit right in. Unless some other competing potential location can hire an opinionated, blustering doctor from Palo Alto to stick a wrench in the plans, like what happened with NASCAR in the 80s.
His research is a bit askewed. "In other words, San Jose can't stage a second-rate race and expect to succeed, or have ``millions'' watch." Champcar does not stage second-rate races. Champcar racing is amongst the best in the world, depsite what the IRL has done to try to kill it off. Take a look at some weekend attendances at Champcar races around the world. You'll cream your pants when you see some of those numbers.
Even better than Formula-1? BTW, that Mark Purdy article is nothing more than a NASCAR (and IRL) fetish in disguise (which happen to be some of the most bogus car racing circuits around). Nowhere in that article does Purdy promote using these resources for team sports, and a home team in need like the Earthquakes.
F1 is a great spectacle certainly. But the actual racing can be suspect sometimes. With that said I watch every F1 race on Speed Channel. Champcar racing with all of its past problems, still puts on some of the best damn racing you'll see anywhere. BTW, rep to Chandu for recognizing Puddy's true intnention in that article. edit ** blasted..... You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Chandu again.
I'm not interested in car racing of any kind. So I can't say that have much knowledge about any aspect of the "sport." On the one hand, if the City is going to do this, then I hope it works out well. On the other hand, I can imagine all kinds of things going wrong. I could end up costing the City a bundle. Is there a chance that one of the cars could crash into spectators?! I've seen video of that at some race tracks, but I've no idea whether or not there's any possibility of it in a Champ Car race. And the bottom line is that San Jose should promote the hell out of soccer and the Quakes. The Quakes are two time league champions. The CyberRays won their league (and may again?). SCU has good soccer teams. So does Stanford and SJSU has been to the College Cup (men's at least) recently. I want to puke. GO QUAKES!! - Mark
I can't remember the last spectator incident at a road / street course. There have been a few oval incidents with flying tyres or car wreckage, but there wouldn't be any problems cith a Champcar hitting a building or spectators on a street course.
http://www.champweb.net/headline.php?t=h&id=26789 Downtown San José will be the site of the San José Grand Prix open-wheel street race on the international Champ Car World Series in July 2005 as a result of today's approval by the San José City Council. The San José Grand Prix, scheduled for July 29-31, 2005, will be contested around the HP Pavilion and surrounding downtown streets. It will be the eighth stop on the 2005 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford schedule. "The San José Grand Prix will bring world class racing excitement to our downtown streets, and it will bring San José to the attention of millions of people across the nation and around the world," said Mayor Ron Gonzales.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/12/20/BAG0DAECMC1.DTL SAN JOSE A city gambles on grand prix Officials pick up tab for event, hope for downtown boom "San Jose officials are betting that a grand prix car race roaring through downtown will be the economic engine that revs up hotels and restaurants suffering from the lingering Silicon Valley slump and a Sharks hockey season stuck in the deep freeze. City officials say investing $690,000 in startup money -- which race promoters agreed to repay in five years -- will pay off when a hoped-for 100, 000 speed freaks flock to San Jose next summer and spend more than $20 million during a weeklong grand prix "festival," culminating with the July 31 road race around HP Pavilion. It's the same HP Pavilion that is known as "the Shark Tank," when the Sharks aren't locking out their players as part of the National Hockey League labor dispute." While the Sharks remain the city's lone pro sports team, the HP Pavilion has hosted other big events, including the NCAA women's basketball Final Four tournament and the National Figure Skating Championships. E-mail Alan Gathright at agathright@sfchronicle.com.
I'm telling ya'll...... a cross marketing plan by the Earthquakes and the race organizers would be in everyone's best interests!
So far, all it says is "TV Schedule unavailable at this time". It'll most likely be on Speed Channel, though. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
4 races on CBS, and 2 on NBC have been confirmed. Last year races wer eon Spike TV. The current rumor is CNBC might be in the mix.
entire series. I'd imagine San Jose GP would be lumped in the overall package. However it is possible that the race could be picked up by a network in your local market.
I don't know, but he did highlight this: "While the Sharks remain the city's lone pro sports team, the HP Pavilion has hosted other big events, including the NCAA women's basketball Final Four tournament and the National Figure Skating Championships. E-mail Alan Gathright at agathright@sfchronicle.com." And, I sent Mr. Gathright an appropriate email.
I prefer to deal with the top of the food chain. Why bother with one of a thousand writers. So, I called The Editor of the Chronicle Mr. Phil Bornstein. I left him a voicemail message on several fronts. ie: all San Jose Earthquake related. I urge everyone else to do the same. You can get right to his voicemail without a secretary gatekeeper if you call after hours.