The organiser of the Detroit Grand Prix is considering a move back onto the downtown streets of the city, an area where the event’s glory days boasted a round of the Formula 1 World Championship.
Formula 1 (pictured below) raced on a Detroit street course around a group of skyscrapers known as the Renaissance Centre from 1982-1988 before IndyCar took over from 1989-1991.
In 1992 the event moved to a temporary circuit on Belle Isle which would later become permanent. Since then it only had hiatuses from 2002-2006 and 2009-2011 but has run every year since then in the current IndyCar Series, aside from last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For 2022 the event moves to a single-header for the first time since 2012, but the organising team has made clear its intentions to investigate a return to downtown Detroit in a move that would “represent a connection to the rich heritage of the Grand Prix” in a statement issued on Wednesday.
It has been 30 years since the last #DetroitGP on the streets of downtown Detroit. The race returns to Belle Isle June 3-5, 2022 while event organizers have begun exploring a possible return to a #Detroit street circuit beginning in 2023. pic.twitter.com/uui4G8DmVG
— Detroit Grand Prix (@detroitgp) September 29, 2021
The event is looking to make the move for the 2023 season, so next year’s IndyCar race will remain on the Belle Isle track.
IndyCar added a new street course to its 2021 calendar, in downtown Nashville, which was a huge success for the event and for IndyCar in Tennessee.
