Michelin Teams Planning Indy Race

Michelin's Formula One teams are trying to put together plans for a non-championship race to take place at Indianapolis at the end of the year, as Autosport-Atlas exclusively revealed earlier this week

Following the mass withdrawal from last month's United States Grand Prix, the seven teams are working out whether it will be possible for a race to be staged one week after the season ends in October as a way of making things up to the American fans.

Although the plans are at a very early stage, it is believed the event will be funded by the Michelin teams and tyre supplier Michelin. It is believed that the three Bridgestone teams will also be invited to take place, although there is no guarantee that they will accept.

When asked about the plans at Magny-Cours, team boss Frank Williams said: "There is a will to run a non-championship race after China."

The season ends in China on 16 October.

The teams believe it will be fairly easy to ship their cars straight from China to the United States before they head home. The race would also likely involve no sanctioning fee for the Indianapolis circuit and would also be free of charge for spectators.

Should the plans be successful then they would likely go some way to limiting the chances of the FIA handed down a harsh penalty when the teams are sentenced over the Indianapolis tyre fiasco in September.

FIA president Max Mosley said on Wednesday that if the team's ensured that fans were suitably compensated for the Indianapolis events then the governing body would be likely to be lenient in its sentencing.