What Other Tracks Could USGP Be Held At?

Laguna Seca would be my pick, but I don't think they have enough stands, or financial fortitude to pull it off. Atlanta may be a good choice, but what about Vegas or Watkins Glenn? IMHO I think they should travel it around. Maybe hit 5 of the top tracks and switch it up year to year, as to throw something different to F1 every year. We travel the Olympics around why not the other Worldly Sport??

 

Not Laguna Seca. Not enough stands, but more importantly the safety us not up to F1 standards. Very little run off room especially at the end of straights for the requirements of an F1 car. Watkins Glen, Mid Ohio, etc, are all the same. Very few stands and it would require millions to get up to F1 standards.

The easiest way is to use city streets instead of building a $100+ million new track or spending too much to renovate one basically ruining the history of the old track. Other than that, Daytona is probably the closest to being converted to F1 standards without much change. Rolex 24 hours format, but it's essentially another Indy with banked high speed portion with a flat in-field. At least Daytona isn't THAT boring as Indy and it's an hour drive to Orlando to the southwest and less than an hour south to NASA.

 

Road America. Purely for the circuit - would likely have to build out the accommodations a bit to suit F1, though.

 

Night race on a street circuit in either Las Vegas or Miami.

 

Laguna Seca will be a bad choice, IMO. not just F1 standards, but, they track on whole is just too narrow. it'll be another Monaco or another Hungaroring.

 

racing around Vegas in the night would be cool tho...

 

Simple, there are no courses in the USA that meet FIA requirements. NOne of the venues mentioned so far work for various reasons.

 

I hate to admit it, but thanks to NASCAR, Sears Points has nearly adequate fan provisions. The track would be quite interesting too. Also, closer to "civilization" than Laguna Seca

 

+1. Just building garages that meet F1 specs would be a major investment for any track, and nobody in the US could start today and have a compliant course by next year, so if there is a 2008 USGP it will be in Indy.

 

Sears Point would be a great place for a race.......but some parts of that track can be very unforgiving. I think the facility is up to the task of handling the fans, but the track itself is probably not up to FIA standards.....

here's a layout of that track........I'd prefer to see F1 race the AMA/IRL course configuration....
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

looks more like Sepang combined with Suzuka.

 

it's a very nice track, used to be my home track when I lived in cali........has a great layout, lots of crazy elevation changes, but some parts have absolutely no run-off.......



somebody mentioned a street course........but where?....what city would be up to it??? any ideas??? and what would it take to make it happen?.... can I simply write my governor a letter telling him to "please, please, please get a budget to build a crazy F1 racetrack in a city somewhere in NJ!! how bout Atlantic City??"...

 

Unfortunately, I agree with this assessment. F1 circuits have come a long way since the GP was held at Watkins Glen. Also, how could any promoter economically justify the sanctioning fee? A night race on the streets of Las Vegas with the casinos' financial backing might work.

On the other hand, let's not forget European TV. A night race in Las Vegas would mean the race would be aired live at perhaps 3:00 am - 5:00 am in Europe. That probably kills that idea, too.

 

Street courses are events and the viewing sucks. Watch cars fly by through chain link from one spot.

There's over 100K people at Indy. It just dosn't look like it in a place that seats 400K. Turn the Mickey Mouse into some sweepers Indy would be fine. I don't understand the grips of Indy that some have. Do some want to go to the Opera in thier downtime or what? I ate at the Oceanaire and Todt and Bernie were there. I ate at the Conrad and talked to LH and his dad. I ate shrimp cocktails with Varsha at St. Elmos. Had too many drinks watching LeMans at the Omni bar with Hobbs and Varsha. Then there is the history of Indy and 20K RPM cars through the stadium. What's not to like?

There is no place that can accomadate the crowds or traffic with adequate hotel space nearby without building a temp street course, which would suck big time. Do you want to go to a real race, or an event.

 

Barber Motorsports Park should be able to meet F1 standards with few modifications. It is a wonderful track and plenty of hotels are already nearby to accommodate the several hundred thousand NASCAR fans that go to Talladega each year... www.barbermotorsports.com

 

Indy is the best of the current options but the question was, if not Indy, where?

 

Keep infrastructure in mind- you'd not only need a decent track up to FIA safety standards, but hotels, restaurants, highways, a big airport, etc. Hell, Indy's barely adequate in that regard. There aren't many American fans who'd drive hours to some remote location to watch F1, and the teams need to transport a huge amount of equipment too.

 

Yet another reason Bernie needs to consider Barber...it is near Birmingham which has been accommodating several hundred thousand NASCAR fans at Talladega for decades...it is right off the interstate with hundreds of restaurants and hotels with an International Airport only a few miles away...

 

Were you actually there?
I'd say they have all that covered.

And if that is not enough the new airport Midfield terminal and another downtown 1400 hotel rooms will be done soon.

 

Yes, but it's been a few years. With all due respect, to someone raised on the East Coast, Indy is a bit marginal- no offense.

 

I most definitely agree with Ron. I've been to quite a few of the circuits mentioned and NO WAY would they fit Bernie's parameters for an F1 race.

Perhaps this is the last year for F1 in the US.

Carol

 

..a brand new one......

 

Las Vegas recently hosted a Champ car race on a road course on the streets in the Freemont street area north of the strip. By most accounts it was very successful,drawing many positive comments from drivers and fans. Being a street course has its drawbacks,but it seems to have more runoff area than Monaco or Montreal. Plus for the entertainment factor Las Vegas is a slice of raisin cinnamon swirl compared the white bread of Indy.

 

if they want this race to be a success across the board (race, sponsors, advertisers, media attention, ect.) the race needs to be held in a city that is a top media market. that probably means that the race would be held on the streets instead of a track, but the exposure will be much greater then at indy.
New York: or NJ, I am not sure of any tracks in the area, might have to be a street race, though it might cause a traffic nightmare

L.A.: california speedway, maybe long beach

Chicago: not sure if they can do it at the speedway, maybe a street race, I know they use to do one.

Washington D.C: a street race would be bad ass around the national mall, though might pose a security risk

Dallas: TMS, street race (I know they use to have one) I did hear there is a formula 1 spec track that some billionair built not to far from dallas. though it might be to far outside the city.

I think a street race in a large media market city is th best way to go