US GP in Austin Discussion and Speculation...

http://stream.speedtv.com/breaking-news

for those interested in watching

 

COTA - Circuit of the Americas

 

If I were from South America, Central America or Canada, I don't think I'd be to thrilled with "Circuit of the -AMERICAS-".

U.S. has a tendency to think since it's the big dawg, it's the only thing that matters. Guess all of the previous GP action down south doesn't matter(?). Neither does the sizable(and much larger than in the U.S.) fan base, particularly in Brazil.

 

Renderings/pics look impressive

 

'Live' feed sucks; I have the fastest available consumer web speed(107MB) connection in the U.S. and it drops the connection every five minutes or so.

Otoh, maybe this is cuz zillions are watching?? <hope> <hope>

 

Wow! This a really big deal. Trauma center for the area, too? These guys think big and good.

 

HOK specializes in healthcare.....an Infield 'First Care' Trauma Center, like Indianapolis...with helicpoters waiting.

Had the feed but lost it.....catch it later!

 

I love bein' a Texan!!

 

Five years into this, it'll be interesting to see if F1 has a real U.S. presence. Never had a big time facility with mgmt who was really aligned w/F1 and real development. Indy woulda, coulda, shoulda, but wasn't. Tony turned out to be a real zero, whereas these guys on the live feed seem pretty with it.

 

Jackets!!
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Jackets! Yes, it's only 90 degrees out, but here's a jacket! =D

 

Well, I must say I'm -very- impressed. I wasn't alone in thinking this would never get off the ground, much less amount to what these guys have presented. I especially like that they appear to going 'green' and trying to integrate the entire facility with Austin and the surrounding area.

 

Please....I have several from the Texaco Grand Prix....

Of course they have jackets....LOL!

 

We are green until the well blows out, then we are more of a slimey brown color......you'd better watch 'Giant' again.....

Liz finally caught up with her old flame Jimmy.....

 

Well they definitely have the PR and advertising down.

 

Hey, you gotta stay comfortable in those ice-cold luxury suites somehow.

 

From the report:
"The facility will cost about $220 million.

It's still unknown where all that money's coming from."

 

they actually said it was going to cost over $400 million during the broadcast on speed's website.

 

100,000 people each day? Maybe year one.........which year will that be though?

 

2012 for f1, 2013 for motogp

 

On the Fox video it was funny to watch the reporter stumble over the word Moto GP. Probably the first time he saw it. I'm sure he was thinking there is an "r" missing.

 

They should have had Kevin Schwantz read that part........

 

Can someone sum up what was said? I know that's asking a bit If I say please?

 

the highlights:

everything is on track for 2012
moto GP is coming in 2013
they're building a place for concerts (with camping)
cost of over $400 million
going to utilize facilities for foot and bike races (if you live in austin, you know how frustrating it is to go downtown during the summers, every other weekend, it seems to be closed in parts)

basically, they're developing a multi-purpose facility that goes beyond just f1.

all, in all a good sign

 

I got most, but not all of the feed, as Speed's "live" broadcast kept crapping out. Says sumpin' for Speed's computer systems, I suppose.

The gist that I got is that the F1 track/facility, while stupendous, is going to be a subset of a multi-purpose, year 'round facility that will present -many- different uses for the area. LOTS of biz functions, entertainment venue type stuff to sell the joint year around. One guy actually said they'll probably be limited to 3-4 international race functions per year, as they wanna fill up the calendar with other stuff.

Not much in the way of specifics, other than F1 and the two wheel bike races at this point. I don't follow MotoGP at all, but someone trotted out the leading U.S. racer to make a point about other types of racing for this facility. Whomever the kid is, he could sure use some 'public appearance' training, and some decent clothes for a public TV showing. I wouldn't wanna be one of his sponsors, with that look.

What impressed me was the multi-use capability. For example, instead of a medical room with a 'slab' for injured racers, they're gonna build a first class, top notch trauma center for the entire region to use. Pretty nifty stuff.

This multi-use approach would allow for the $economics$ to make it all work.

Very impressive. I'd guess Speed will have LOTS of TV coverage on this tonight.