Indy Racing League CEO Tony George has warned that, despite the generally positive atmosphere surrounding last week's amalgamation of the Indycar and Champ Car series, things will take some time to work out the way most want.
Following on from his quote that it could take until this year's Indianapolis 500 for things to start running smoothly, George admitted to SPEED TV's
Wind Tunnel show that there would be areas of the unified series that would take longer to work out, such as this year's clash of dates between Long Beach and Motegi.
"What we've been working on the past couple of weeks just gets us to the starting line, I think," he said, "The real work starts here and now. There are a host of questions that need to be answered. There is a lot of information that needs to be disseminated from the League, and the League management, to the teams. We need to start having some conversations with the promoters... all the things that have been talked about in the press."
George was quick to pay tribute to his opposite numbers in the Champ Car World Series, principally Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerry Forsythe, for agreeing to the 'merger'
"It's well known how passionate they are about open-wheel racing and how committed they are to Champ Car, but I think their decision over the last few weeks and months is a reflection of their commitment to the fans," he stressed, "Rumours of unification talks have come up every few months every year but, this time, I think they were genuinely thinking about what the long-term benefit to open-wheel racing would be by trying to get this together.
"They've been great to work with. This is tough, but good things come about when people take the time to think about the big picture. We're excited to be able to work with them and bring about this unification."
