USGP 2012, Austin, TX

[wisp]

[quote="WorkingOnIt"]
[quote="John Williams"]
[quote="John Williams"]
It's even rumoured that a round of the Australian V8 Supercar Series could be heading there....
[/quote]

Confirmed today. A five year deal starting 2013. Format looks to be a 3 day race weekend with qualifying and a couple of 36 lap (124 mile) races.

[/quote]

And all the people who complained that Texans like NASCAR, not open wheel racing, have something to look forward to.

[/quote]

The Australian V8 Supercar Series are not open wheelers. They are tin tops just like NASCAR, but they don't race oval circuits.

[WorkingOnIt]

Last week also saw political/legal victories for the promoters.

When the F1 contract was first announced, it was reported that an important factor was state of Texas support in the form of a $25M per year disbursement from a state major events fund (ie. Bernie could count on being paid).  The fund is supposed to be self sustaining - paid for out of increased tax revenue produced by the event.  For various reasons, some sincere, some due to political grandstanding, the state involvement has been controversial.

The grandstanding reached an extreme when a state legislator managed to to link impending teacher layoffs with the F1 payment. Ridiculously unrelated events, but that didn't stop national outlets like Bloomberg and Business Week from running with the story.Texas Taxpayers Finance Formula One Auto Races as Schools Dismiss Teachers

The last two hurdles to receiving the state payment were a requirement of city endorsement and a lawsuit filed to block the state disbursement. The first was completed last week and the second dealt a serious setback.
Austin City Council votes 5-2 to endorse Formula One race
Judge denies F1 opponents' bid to halt state subsidy
The plaintiffs could decide to continue pursuing the lawsuit, but the restraining order that was denied was crucial to their strategy.

The promoters had previously agreed to eliminate any financial risk to Austin due to its endorsement, but sweetened the deal shortly before the city council vote with some "landmark" environmental guarantees:
City: F1 agrees to landmark environmental deal

One effect of promoting the "Strongest Environmental Sustainability Standards for Any Event in Austin History" and "the greenest motor sports facility in the world" is additional pressure to move the date to a cooler time of year - away from state Ozone Action Days.
http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/blog/big-picture/2011/06/austin-formula-one-is-a-go-but-will.html
" per the agreement U.S. Grand Prix President Steve Sexton told council members that his team will do what they can to move the race to a cooler day."

[Driver]

The possibility of a November date sounds much better.

[WorkingOnIt]

F1 comes to Austin


http://www.statesman.com/news/local/red-bull-race-car-roars-through-town-for-1768417.html
Some video here:
http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories/280053/formula-one-car-peels-out-on-congress-avenue

[WorkingOnIt]

Holy sh*t - F1 rally racer!

Red Bull F1 Showrun - Austin 2011

[WorkingOnIt]

Red Bull Racing and the Circuit of the Americas have released an edited video with the footage shot last month.

Have to agree with the comment - only 360p????

Red Bull Racing Shows Texas Some Real Horsepower

[capblaster]

Am I missing something, or is the US race the only one not showing on the F1 website to purchase tickets for the 2012 season? If there is a link to purchase US tickets, please post the link.
Thanks

[WorkingOnIt]

[quote="capblaster"]
Am I missing something, or is the US race the only one not showing on the F1 website to purchase tickets for the 2012 season? If there is a link to purchase US tickets, please post the link.
Thanks
[/quote]

I can see it.  If you do any navigation, it defaults to 2011.  Maybe that is the confusion?

[wisp]

[quote="WorkingOnIt"]
Red Bull Racing and the Circuit of the Americas have released an edited video with the footage shot last month.

[/quote]

Cool but that had to be bone jarring to say the least.

I wonder who many times they washed the car while filming that. 

When you look at the track construction status the "We're ready" comment seems quite optimistic.

[FlyingTrotter]

This doesn't sound very positive - no contract signed - mmmmmm - Bernie creating leverage or wider issues ??

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/15750083.stm

[WorkingOnIt]

Sounds like the Austin principals can't get their act together.
Tavo Helmund has the F1 connections, Bobby Epstein and Red McCombs have the money, and they can't work out their partnership.

And Bernie has the New York area race he really wanted so he's not sweating it.

http://austin.culturemap.com/newsdetail/11-17-11-23-29-why-formula-1-failed-tavo-hellmund-bernie-ecclestone-and-the-clash-of-super-rich-egos/

http://austin.culturemap.com/newsdetail/11-17-11-19-29-tavo-hellmund-quotes-from-his-press-conference/

[CalScot]

I guess Bernie got his check and it's all hunky dory now!

It's to be announced shortly. You heard it here first