IndyCar in talks for 2015 return to Brazil

Indianapolis: IndyCar officials are in talks with Brazilian event organizers about returning the open-wheel racing series to the South American nation next year, a top IndyCar executive said Friday.

Mark Miles, the chief executive of IndyCar parent Hulman and Company and a former ATP Tour chief executive, said IndyCar is in talks with organizers in Brazilia on a 2015 race. "Brazil has a real history in IndyCar racing and we would like to re-establish a championship race there as early as 2015," Milea said. "We are engaged in on-going discussions toward this goal and hope suitable arrangements can be finalized soon. There is still a lot of work to be done, but we are encouraged." IndyCar staged a street race at Sao Paulo from 2010-2013. Rival series ChampCar staged oval races in Rio de Janeiro from 1996-2000. Emerson Fittipaldi, Gil de Ferran and Cristiano da Matta were Brazilian drivers who won ChampCar season titles while Brazil`s Tony Kanaan -- the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion -- won the 2004 IndyCar season crown. Brazil`s Helio Castroneves won the Indianapolis 500 three times while Fittipaldi won it twice and de Ferran took the checkered flag in 2003 at the famed 2.5-mile (4km) oval.