F1 to Austin, TX

[gcarter]

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/25052010/58/texas-agrees-deal-host-f1.html (http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/25052010/58/texas-agrees-deal-host-f1.html)

Texas agrees deal to host F1

Reuters - Tue, 25 May 21:05:00 2010


Formula One will return to the United States in 2012 with a 10-year deal for a race in the Texas state capital Austin, commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone has announced.
http://d.yimg.com/i//ng/sp/eurosport/20100525/25/7ff5a8e6844d71099a2fc980b72867a0.jpg "For the first time in the history of Formula One in the United States, a world-class facility will be purpose-built to host the event," the Briton told the F1 website.





Austin, the 15th largest city in the United States, will host the race until 2021.
"We are extremely honoured and proud to reach an agreement with the F1 commercial rights holder," said Tavo Hellmund, the managing partner of Austin-based race promoters Full Throttle Productions, LP.
"We have been diligently working together for several years to bring this great event to Austin, the state of Texas and back to the United States."
The United States last hosted an F1 race at Indianapolis in 2007, a grand prix won by McLaren (http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/formula-1/mclaren.html)'s Lewis Hamilton (http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/formula-1/lewis-hamilton.html).
Since that deal ended, Ecclestone has been seeking an alternative venue with teams, car manufacturers and sponsors all keen to return to one of their biggest markets.
Recent speculation had focused mainly on venues near New York, a possible return to Las Vegas, or circuits in California and Florida.
Williams (http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/formula-1/williams.html) F1 chief executive Adam Parr welcomed the announcement.
"Well done, Bernie," he told Reuters. "He promised he'd find a great race for us in the States and this is excellent news.
"We are a global sport and not having a race in America has been a big hole in the calendar," added Parr, whose team's title sponsor is US telecommunications giant AT&T.
"Our partners and prospective partners will be thrilled. It's a giant step forwards."
Numerous other US circuits have hosted races over the years, including the Texas city of Dallas in 1984 which held it on a temporary street course.
Watkins Glen in New York state was the last purpose-built permanent road course to host the race in 1980. The race at Indianapolis used a part of the famed oval, with a section cutting across the infield.
"This is a case of the right timing in the right place," said Hellmund.
"Austin features that rare combination of ideal geographic location and beauty. Its fine dining, world-renowned hospitality and excellent transportation infrastructure make Austin ideally suited to host and manage an event of this magnitude.
"Few cities if any in America could rival the connectivity of all the key elements needed for hosting a Formula One event as well as Austin."
Reuters

[zelatore]

I saw this yesterday. I'm cautiously optimistic.

I've only been to Austin once (to buy an Alfa Romeo of all things!). Seems like a nice town. Michele's brother lived there for a number of years, and she used to enjoy visiting often. The area at least has some nice hills so hopefully they'll build a good track. I suggest they start by traveling east a bit and visiting Barber for some inspiration.

That said, even though Austin is a bit of a Renaissance town it's still fairly small. Notice that in the press release any time they talk about international flights or hotel rooms they say something like 'within 180 miles'. Why so far? So they can include the big cities' airports and infrastructure.

The big problem I see is they haven't even broken ground yet and they're supposed to host a race in 2012? That's an ambitious schedule! I hope they can do it, but I won't be surprised if things fall through.

I also hope they don't schedule them for mid-summer!

So, if they design a real track (instead of one of these 'roval' things like Indy), get it built in time, and get a decent date, it could be a winner.

And no matter what, it's got to be better than the option Bernie was pushing for - he wanted New York! Actually, that would be New Jersey, so you could see the NYC skyline in the background. Gee Bernie, could you pick a less car-friendly city in the states than NYC???

[Craig S]

The 'Guzzi riders sent it to me. I thought it was hard to believe, myself.

[gcarter]

But Don is right, the geology is very interesting. A really beautiful facility could be built there.
Also, there's a bunch of computer money in the area, so it shouldn't be too difficult to fund.
It's almost as liberal as the Bay Area....:boggled:

[gcarter]

Here's Kyle, TX, the supposed location;
A bit south of Austin and north of San Antonio

http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=56416&stc=1&d=1274979849

And a bit more info;

http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/related_content.html?topic=Full%20Throttle%20Produ ctions

http://www.fullthrottleproductionslp.com/

[ACE51]

too good to be true? I hope not! :crossfing:

[zelatore]

But Don is right, the geology is very interesting. A really beautiful facility could be built there.
Also, there's a bunch of computer money in the area, so it shouldn't be too difficult to fund.
It's almost as liberal as the Bay Area....:boggled:

Computer money? There ain't no computer money no mo!
But yeah, they do have a strong tech sector there. I really don't know how they city is doing vs the bay area or the rest of the country.

Liberal huh? Yeah, I guess. Liberal, but with guns. I could get behind that:kingme:

[zelatore]

I see they are supposed to have retained Tilke to do the track design. That's both good and bad.

Tilke has done a lot of recent tracks, so he obviously has the chops to pull it off. But his tracks never seem to have the 'passion' of the old tracks. They tend to be very point-and-shoot circuits instead of flowing, open tracks. Supposedly, that's what the teams want these days, but ask any driver what his favorite track is and he's unlikely to name a Tilke venue. Spa, yes. Monza, yes. Silverstone even. But the Tilke stuff is just missing some of the verve of a good old-fashioned road course.

But hey, it's early days. And since there's no way Road America is going to host F1, I'll give these guys my support. :wink:

[gcarter]

Here's anopther image, just south of Kyle and half way to San marcos.
There're two tracks in the picture, an oval at the top and a road course at the bottom.

http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=56417&stc=1&d=1274982058

[McGary911]

Never been to Austin. Great for an F1 race to be coming to the US. There are plenty of good tracks that already exist in the states. Why book it where there's no track yet? Mid-Ohio is a world class track. Hosts the SCCA runoffs every year. Used to have an indy car race. I've driven the thing. It's a great facility.

Not sure Mansfield Ohio would do to well with the F1 crowd though, lol.

Hope it works out. Love to have F1 in the states again. :kingme:

[gcarter]

John, I'm not sure, but doesn't it cost about $20M to get F1 to consider a venue/per year?
That probably would have a pretty big impact as to who would end up w/the race.

[zelatore]

John, I'm not sure, but doesn't it cost about $20M to get F1 to consider a venus/per year?
That probably would have a pretty big impact as to who would end up w/the race.

I'm not sure what the cost is, but it's pretty steep. $20M sounds about right.

In addition, Mid-Ohio would need millions in upgrades to host F1. It wouldn't meet FIA safety standards - just imagine the lack of run-off on the last corner coming onto the front straight as an example. Get that a little wrong and you're eating concrete at a pretty good clip.

In addition, the pits are nowhere close to F1's standards, so there goes another few million in renovations.

Then there's the distance from a major city for ammenities and international flights to consider as well.

I've driven Mid-Ohio and like it, but the chances of it hosting F1 are about 0. The same goes for my favorite track, Road America in WI. Great track (and the best brats anywhere!) but it would need too many upgrades and is too fat away from a major city. But wouldn't it be cool to see modern F1 cars on that track?

Road Atlanta would be a possibility. I haven't driven it since they added the chicane to the back straight to kill the speed through the last corner. But even though it's close to Atlanta it would still need a lot of work on the facility.

The article said they were considering a CA venue. Not sure what that would have been. Sears Point has the location, but not the infrastructure. And although it's now my 'home' track I don't know that it would be a good circuit for F1.

Laguna Seca would never fly for all the above reasons plus the local rules that limit the size and number of events. Plus they have a really strict noise limit.

I've never been to Willow Springs, so I don't know what sort of work it might require.

Other than that, all we've got is some oval in SoCal. I only see it when the bikes run there, and it pretty much sucks as all 'rovals' do.

Like I said at the begining, Austin might not be my favorite place, but more power to them!