Takin’ it to the streets: Check out the new, downtown Detroit Grand Prix track

Posted by Talbot Payne on June 11, 2022

Detroit — Downtown is gonna’ be fast ‘n’ furious next June.

The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear passed the baton from Belle Isle to Detroit’s streets Monday as the race returns to its Motor City roots next June 2-4 for the first time since 1991. Chevrolet President Mark Reuss, GP Chairman Bud Denker and Penske superstar driver Will Power — who won the last race on Belle Isle Sunday — held a news conference at the new finish line on Franklin Street just east of the Renaissance Center and gave the media its first tour of the new track, where speeds will hit 180 mph.

“I’m definitely going to miss the island,” said Power, flanked by his Penske teammate Josef Newgarden, who finished fourth on Sunday. “But it’s going to be great racing around the Renaissance Center and half of the track is going to be free to fans. This is my first glimpse of the track, and it’s got a lot of character.”

The 10-turn circuit’s biggest character is a 7/10s-of-a-mile long main straight (similar to the epic, main straightaway at Road America Raceway in Wisconsin) down Jefferson Avenue running east-to-west from Rivard Street to a 180-degree Turn One at Griswold. The swarm of 700-horsepower IndyCars will take the green flag on Jefferson, howl past the RenCen and The Fist monument, before climbing on the brakes into Griswold’s (legal, but just for the race) left-hand turn for the track’s best passing opportunity.

This is a map of the 2023 Detroit Grand Prix track.

“The track is very three-dimensional,” Power said, describing the surprising amount of elevation change that takes racers off Jefferson after the Griswold hairpin for a plunge down Bates. After hanging a 90-degree left at Atwater (ignore the stop sign), the course climbs to Turns 5-6 — a tricky, blind, left-right sequence past Renaissance Drive West and the Detroit Marriott.

Then it’s back down the Atwater ramp, heading east along the Detroit riverfront with the RenCen’s Wintergarden as backdrop.

IndyCars will enter Jefferson Avenue via Rivard Street and then hit 180 mph as they rocket past the RenCen headed west.

“I can’t wait to see car racing through the city again, including right past the GM headquarters,” said GM’s Reuss, who remembers attending the first Formula One race through the city streets in 1982 when he was a senior in high school. “We are returning the Detroit Grand Prix to its roots.”

Ripping past the RenCen’s southeast tower — GM’s HQ — race cars will then hang a quick left onto St. Antoine before immediately jogging right onto Franklin Street’s wide lanes, which will be flanked by IndyCar’s only dual pit lanes.

Racers will flash across the finish stripe, drafting one another with another excellent passing opportunity ahead at the corner of Franklin and Rivard. It will likely be a very busy intersection as cars will be merging back onto the track there from the twin pit lanes.

Then the field will climb up Rivard — across Woodbridge — to the final, off-camber, Turn 10 lefthander back onto East Jefferson Avenue. Getting the power down onto Jefferson will be key to a good run down to Turn One.

2022 Detroit GP winner Will Power negotiates the new, downtown course in a 682-horse Corvette Z06. This is the Atwater Street section of the course along the waterfront.

At 1.7 miles total, the new track is shorter than the original, 2.5-mile Formula One circuit (and the 2.35-mile Belle Isle track). That will mean quicker laps. Cadillac racing driver Renger Van Der Zande, who won the IMSA Weathertech sportscar race Saturday, told Autoweek he expects laps in the 1.10-minute range. The shorter length also promises better access to downtown, which has been reborn since the ’90s with restaurants, hotels and shops that offer attractions to fans beyond the competition on track.

“It’s a whole different city now,” said Reuss, who was flanked by a trio of mid-engine Corvettes, including the 670-horsepower Z06 Detroit GP pace car. “We are seeing the rebirth of Detroit. We’ve put in a lot of money here . . .  and into Factory Zero, and we’re going to grow the city.” GM’s president added that the Detroit Grand Prix investment would further boost a downtown that is now home to the Detroit Pistons, Red Wings, Tigers and Lions, as well as the headquarters to diverse companies like Quicken Loans and Shinola.

Detroit Grand Prix President Michael Montri and Chairman Bud Denker make their way down Jefferson Avenue with a caravan of two other Corvettes along the new route for the upcoming 2023 race. The event is transitioning from its home since 1992 on Belle Isle Park back to the streets of downtown Detroit.

Organizers say that the wide sightline opportunities of the pit-lane, Atwater waterfront, and River East parking area should be ideal for corporate suites — while the wide Jefferson straightaway and grandstands will enable half of the race’s footprint to be open free to the public. Fans will also have open access to activation areas including Spirit Plaza, Hart Plaza and the Riverwalk, which will have feature music, food and games.

“We had an amazing year on Belle Isle with the biggest crowds we’ve seen in 13 years,” said GP Chairman Denker, who then looked ahead to 2023. “There are 12 cities in the world that have downtown racing. We are one of them now.”

 Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.

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