If you think the racing in our City gets underway on Friday, you’re mistaken. Race Week Edmonton and the Edmonton Indy are already knee-deep in race preparations and special events all centred on the Indy.
The races themselves take place July 20 – 22 at the City Centre Airport track, but the site is already buzzing with activity.
“There must be a good 200 plus people on the track now, working,” says Ike Janacek, Edmonton Indy General Manager.
“We’re well on time. There’s plenty of activity going on. The transporters are starting to come in, we’ll be good, we’ll put on a good show come Friday.”
Even the recent wet weather hasn’t put a damper on preparations. Although, officials are hoping for friendlier weather come race weekend.
“It hasn’t delayed anything yet. We certainly hope there is no rain,” admits Janacek.
“We have some contingency plans coming in, rolling the ground so it’s packed down hard… the track itself doesn’t get affected. It just gets wet.”
Over the next two days, the race site will see more and more action, as cars and teams and vendors start to arrive.
Even Edmonton Transit is getting set up to provide special service to and from the track during race weekend.
“We’re running pretty much the same service as last year,” explains Marc LeFurgey, General Supervisor with Special Services ETS.
“Last year we went to a single park and ride service at Calder lot, and we did a direct shuttle from city hall, and a loop around the site, and of course, those services are all free!”
The Park and Ride Service runs from Calder City Lot (124 St & 124 Ave) to the race site. The Shuttle Bus Service runs continuously from City Hall (1 Sir Winston Churchill Square) to the race site. Shuttles will pick up and drop off passengers. The Loop route service runs around the City Centre Airport continuously during the event (Kingsway/121 St/Yellowhead Trail/107 St/106 St/Princess Elizabeth Ave) starting at 6:45 am.
“The buses take you directly to gate A and gate C with no stops,” adds LeFurgey.
“The Indy itself has a significant amount of parking on the race site, on the city centre airport, there’s a fee to park, but you can park right there… but those who don’t want to spend that little bit extra on parking, or are quite happy with Edmonton transit, have the option of getting their own parking downtown… catching a free shuttle bus from city hall.”
Prior to Indy weekend, there are a lot of activities taking place throughout the city. Festivities kick off with the Kingsway Ultimate Indy Experience on Tuesday, followed by the Edmonton Indy driver meet and greet at City Hall on Wednesday.
The 2012 Edmonton Indy Transporter Convoy will wind through downtown at 11:15am on Wednesday, and the CanTorque Open House takes place Thursday from 1-5PM.
For a full list of Race Week events, visit Race Week Edmonton’s online schedule.
Organizers are working hard to bring this world-class event to Alberta’s Capital city.
“Right now, you don’t get much sleep, that’s for sure,” says Janacek.
However, it’s priceless, says Janacek, to bring to Edmonton an event we can be proud of.
“It is, not only for what it brings into the city, but the exposure the city gets. If you were to buy it, you’d be spending so much money.”
“You can’t buy that kind of exposure.”
© Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2012.