According to Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star, there won't be a replacement for IndyCar's now-cancelled date at Brasília. The March 29 race at St. Petersburg will now be the first IndyCar race for 2015. Simply put, nothing could work on this short of a notice.
Circuit of the Americas was in the running for a make-up season opener, especially because it was hosting frequent IndyCar support series Pirelli World Challenge on the weekend of March 8. NOLA Motorsports Park, which has an IndyCar race weekend scheduled for April 10-12, was also a possible option for a "preview" race there on March 8. This will be the first year IndyCar goes to NOLA.
With only thirty-two days to go before March 8, however, nothing made sense. "This is our season opener, and you want to do it right," explained IndyCar spokesman Mike Kitchel to the Indianapolis Star.
This leaves IndyCar with only sixteen races on its schedule.
What could happen in the meantime? Since the first race is now scheduled to use the new aero kits, IndyCar may add another test date for the teams.
According to another article in the Indianapolis Star, public prosecutors claimed that hosting the costly race in Brasília would be "not in the best interest of society." The cash-strapped locale couldn't afford it, and prosecutors claimed that any attempts to go on with it were a "clear inversion in the priorities for public spending."
"While all efforts are underway to organize an event not essential to the society of the federal district, public employees are not getting paid," wrote prosecutors in their recommendation to cancel the race, as quoted in the Indianapolis Star.
Currently, Brasília owes many public employees back-pay, as it has been unable to pay them for a while. Fortunately for IndyCar, they were paid in advance. A $27 million fine for breach of contract will be assessed to promoters Band TV, a Brazilian network that was in charge of promoting the race. Fans will be reimbursed for any tickets that were already purchased.
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