Mexican motorsports is going through the sweetest moment in its history in this 2022. In addition to the consecration of Sergio Pérez as a candidate for everything in the Formula 1 World Championship, on the other side of the pond Duck O’Ward remains one of the leading drivers in the IndyCar Series, and Daniel Suarez has recently made history by notching his first NASCAR Cup Series victory. It has been 15 years since neither of the two competitions has visited Mexican territory, but that could change very soon thanks to the initiative of the Fundidora Parklocated in the city of Monterrey from which both O’Ward and Suárez come from.
The Fideicomiso Fundidora organization, which has managed the operations of the park since its creation in 2001, has announced that this Sunday the reconstruction works on its 3,386 meter runwaywhich has been unused for racing since 2006. The tender was held last May and is expected to last three months until next October, with a estimated budget of 24 million pesos (1.1 million euros).
the mexican newspaper Millennium, located in the city of Monterrey itself, assures based on a source from the state administration that the objective of these works is to initiate conversations with the American competitions to host events within two years. “Everything indicates that the intention is to leave the track in these conditions and that it could be possible at some point to return the races to Fundidora», according to the quoted statements of the source. “There is interest from NASCAR to come to Monterrey, but it is still unofficial and it would be for 2023 or 2024, it will have the conditions to hold car races again. NASCAR and IndyCar are being explored».
The works will consist of lifting and resurfacing of up to 50,000 square meters of surface, which include the so-called Boulevard Acero Pista and the areas surrounding the layout. Although it has not commented on the possible intentions of hosting an event, its executive president Bernardo Bichara Assad has confirmed in Milenio that the entire track will be lifted and paved again, without resurfacing or pothole flattening on an existing surface, either in whole or in part. At the moment, it has not transpired if these works will imply any change in the design of the circuit.
As its name reveals, Fundidora Park was once the location of a major steel foundry company until its bankruptcy in 1986. After its expropriation, the area was rehabilitated as a public park for citizen use and for the organization of events until its inauguration in 2001, but preserving the structures of the abandoned metallurgy. A race track was designed on its roads, which in 2001 it went on to house the CART/Champ Car cars at the Monterrey Grand Prix. That event opened the 2001 and 2002 seasons in March before being moved in 2004 to the month of May, where it remained until its final edition in 2006, sentenced by declining public interest.
The test had the support of the important local companies Telmex and Tecate, until they opted for the parallel event that the Hermanos Rodríguez Autodrome had been hosting since 2002. In those years, the successes of Adrian Fernandezaccompanied by compatriots such as Michel Jourdain Jr, Mario Domínguez and others, promoted these races as the main motoring events in the country, although there was never a local victory. The gradual disappearance of Mexicans from the grid, the rise in popularity of stock cars, between its national division and NASCAR’s second category races between 2005 and 2008, and the reunification of IndyCar and Champ Car at the beginning of 2008, meant the lace
For years, the Hermanos Rodríguez or the Puebla oval have been postulated as potentially interested in rescuing one of these events. Nothing progressed beyond mere rumour, though IndyCar came to carry out a preliminary technical inspection in Puebla. Now, the potential return of Parque Fundidora to competition with two local drivers in vogue could bring this possibility closer than ever. IndyCar itself has stated several times that its entire international focus for the future lies in the North American countries of Canada and Mexico, so the provision would be there. Will it end up happening?
Font: Millennium
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Photos: CART Archive