Ladies & gentlemen, I can assure you that I will be diligently stalking the proposed location to spy on any activity. I will report back here. First recon mission tomorrow .
TexasMike, Make sure you have camera in hand. I am going to try and do the same in the next few days. I will share intel. Mike, Austin Texas, 1978 Merak SS.
It's okay, I bought it from a DOCTOR that was moving back up north!! It came with a matching recliner!
Very interesting first few minutes on F1 Debrief. Matchett says "this is the real deal", not another Donnington. Interview with Tavo said this has been going on for some time - heavily over 2.5 years - and they are "READY TO GO"! He said FOM wouldn't have made the announcement if everything wasn't in place. Formal launch in the near future. Biggest criteria is the drivers drive thru the gate and say today I have to put my big pants on. More like traditional European tracks....lots of elevation changes, multiple corners from one location. Carol
I used to go to Houston on business and thought that was what Texas was like. Needless to say, i didn't feel a need to vacation in Texas. Then, last year, I went to Austin on a personal trip. Wow, what a difference between Austin and what I had thought all that time Texas was supposed to be like! The food was really good, the nightlife was pretty cool, music was fun and there were HILLS and greenery! After that first experience, I decided to give Texas a second chance and have been back to Austin twice for fun and even did a drive from Dallas to Austin and through CC, Houston and on through the rest of the Gulf Coast down to FL. I have to say I had the total wrong impressn about Texas and now I'm a convert. Dallas was nice, CC and SPI are beautiful and Austin is a lot of fun (but I remain in my steadfast belief that Houston is still the armpit of the world). If this F1 thing does become reality, I will be a regular at the event. I'll even be able to drive the Ferrari there while making a panhandle and New Orleans vacation out of it! I really like the idea and hope it works out. From an economic standpoint, it should make sense for the evil leprechaun when you consider 22 million residents between Dallas Austin and Houston plus the Mexicans who would drive in for the event, Mexico having lots of F1 fans.
Its beginning to look like its more likely to happen than not but there are still some details to be worked out that could scupper things. Besides, with Bernie nothing is certain until it has already happened Fingers crossed.
Why did F1 debrief make you feel better about things? They talked about Donnington, and USF1, and then went on to say that Bernie wouldn't have made an announcement if there was a chance it wasnt going to happen. I didn't follow that logic. Then when they asked Helmut directly if there was land purhcased or permits pulled, he dodged the question. He said we're well underway and rest assured this is going to happen! I live in Dallas. I'd love to see this happen. to me, there isn't enough info out there to get my hopes up about yet though.
Sorry if I gave the wrong impression. It wasn't Debrief that gave me hope in that I haven't seen it. Instead its what I've been reading and hearing. Other than Donnington (which had an obvious subtext) none of any of the recent proposals have had anything like the apparent substance of Austin. There are still major hurdles and Bernie is not to be believed, but this seems to be looking more and more legit. The optimist in me says we have to get a USGP sooner or later
So where is the proposed location? Are they throwing down a track in your parking lot across the street from Dobie ?
Someone mentioned the Harris Hill area. Lots of elevation change and kind of out in the boonies so I dont see a big Anti/Green/trouble maker resistance. Austin is a great town. "Keep Austin Weird" is a motto here in Texas.
As I understand it, the 800+ acre track facility will be somewhere off of toll road 130 near HWY 71. The proposed location for the airport (2000 acres) is supposed to be near the corner of FM 1704 & FM 969. I assume that the 2 different facilities will be real close to each other, if not actually connected. Since the toll road doesn't appear to have an access road or any ramps along side there, I assume the construction entrance will be somewhere on FM 969 / Webberville Rd, east of 130. Of course I could be wrong about it all.
Doesn't seem like the worst location in the world to try and squeeze a racetrack into. The airport I'm a bit more skeptical about. Without construction started within a couple weeks the 2 year time frame sounds a bit tight.
I've been doing my part to Keep Austin Weird for the past five years, not too weird tho, some of the uber liberals scare me.
If as it now appears, Austin has been in the works for up to two years you have to wonder what Bernie's comments about NYC, NJ etc in recent months were all about.
So Bernie just basically said on the Speed Turkish GP coverage that Austin is his bi**h. "They will do what we want"
So there was talk about the 800+ acres earlier & some said that it's not really very big. I just spend a few minutes measuring a few other tracks around the world. Just the ones I could find real quick on google maps... The acreage is a rough estimate for the actual track layout, not necessarily for any adjoining parking lots, amusement parks or any of that other stuff. Monza's track appears to be situated on about 377 acres Abu Dhabi's track appears to be situated on about 613 acres China's track appears to be situated on about 625 acres Bahrain's track appears to be situated on about 622 acres So, 800+ acres sounds pretty good to me for the actual track facility. Oh yeah, another interesting thing I found out was that the Chinese track was built in just 18 months. But I do realize that the working conditions & laws might be a little different here.
Yes, I heard that little quote, too. Interesting question/dilemma at this point is what happens -if- another locale becomes willing to "do what we want." ??
And just how many of these Euro radio guys have ever been to Austin, much less know where it is on a map? Any of 'em wondering why it isn't being built nearer to the State Capitol, Dallas?? (Actually, Southfork for a lot of 'em). With TV, it doesn't really matter much where the track's located. Filling the bleachers and 'country label' can be a different matter, tho(sometimes). Bernie could put the USGP in the middle of Kansas and it wouldn't make a hell of a lot of difference. Bet he'd fill up a lot of seats, too.
