US GP in Austin Discussion and Speculation...

You don't know that.

....and you don't know that..

....and you DON'T know that!

It would be pure folly to pay the fee for 2012, unless you can MAKE 2012 happen.
It would be egg all over your face, and expensive I am sure with performance penalties.

You have spouted nothing but pure conjecture this whole thread.
Now, based upon that, if they fail.....you can crow of your wisdom.

If there is a race, profitable or no, (and we may never know being privately held) then everything you have opined for the past year is the BS.

An economic boon to the State of Texas and the local community, certainly.

 

I guess it's a matter of "if you have to ask...."

And I don't really mean to be insulting to all of those posing the question....

"Do they have all of the money?"

But really, they signed a construction contract to BUILD


THE


WHOLE



TRACK


Restrooms, hot dog stands, Bernie's secret Massage Parlor....all of it!!

 

No, WCH you have some very valid points.

As even the Ferrari/F1 enthusiasts HOPING this event happens show, in this thread, the Tavio/Epstein battle to have the biggest p**** on the scene has worn itself thin (to me).
Besides as SRT MIke is constantly reminding us, Bernie is the only one that is guaranteed to enjoy himself (making the 'sure money')....

No amount of "feel good" media events will makes us forget the 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' inception of an event that was supposed to bring "world class to Austin's door".

See ya'll at the Italian place, South Congress at Live Oak!

 

The contract that you infered required a LOC for the full amount? Either they have access to enough capital to get that kind of credit, or they successfully negotiated with Bernie a better contract (called the Bernie bluff)

Going to guess that the nonpayment of the contract was as much as Tavo failing to negotiate revised terms with Bernie (why he's gone now?), and not lack of funds.

There probably is some funding issues (project went from being called a $400MM facility, to a $300MM facility), but I don't see COTA spending 100MM ++ without having the resources to finish out the project, and hoping to attract investors along the way. That would just be plain stupid.

 

I bet they don't do this race in 2012. Maybe by 2013 ?

 

The Fee they PAID is the 2012 Fee...from what I have read.

Really I don't see an issue construction schedule wise....I have jammed up a Football/Basketball Stadium Sports Complex in 8 months EASY (once it was structurally complete)!

Well, maybe not easy, but it happened!!!

We fired up the arena speakers to some Stevie Ray...it was emotional to hear him, to me....after tapping the top of his casket that day, before burying him.

 

How long did it take them to make the Indy track F1 ready?

 

IIRC, the MODIFICATIONS was about 18 months, the infrastructure was already there, of course.

That may not be accurate, there was an article in Autoweek at the time...

 

For everybody but Michelin?????

Sorry.....

 

And end up with a race in 2012.

When you going to start the NJ GP canceled thread?

 

Now "be nice"....EVERYONE 'knows" there's HUGE pent up demand to buy F1 tickets in the USA...more than enough fans to go around ...

Why the year after Michelin's problems at Indy....well............well.........

Maybe not.

 

Simon^2 concerns have been well stated IMO...I'll buy him a round at the Broken Spoke!

Come on, let's go......

 

+1 although frustrating at times, he won my respect the day he watched an online feed of a city council meeting

I just think COTA has it easy compared to the guys in Jersey. All they had to do is find a ton of money, NJ has to convience people to run noisy cars in the front yard for a week out of the year.

Two races are better than one though, and I hope they both make it.

 

we're gonna do what they say can't be done..........

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6hGdPkn8Ow[/ame]

 

Well with all the underfunded projects the state has including several massive water projects and alot of cities very short of money this would not be a good way to spend anymore tax payer money. You have alot of Texas cities making this list.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2011/10/31/america-s-30-brokest-cities-photos.html

 

Ah!, I can see it now, Jean Todt and Bernie Ecclestone dressed up as Big Enos and little Enos Burdette!:

Bandit: "Oh I love your suits. It must have been a b*tch to get a 68 Extra Fat and a 12 Dwarf!"

 

Tex, you're spouted nothing but BS on this whole thread. My conjecture turned out to be right, at least on the things we've discovered to be true thus far. Your BS turned out to be... just BS. Like "they don't need a substation, they can just string some HV lines", and "they can just roll in some temp stands". You have no clue what you're talking about and haven't from day one.

"It would be folly to spend $25MM unless you know it's gonna happen". The same can be said of ANY project in the world that had significant money spent on it and didn't happen. If things were the way they are in your understanding, then all of this latest stuff would never have happened. Except it did. So clearly things ain't the way you think they are.

 

...or something else changed. Maybe Red put up the land as collateral to the bank to issue the LOC? We'll never know the details. But, COTA said all along they were willing to pay the first year fee and Bernie said all along that wasn't good enough. Bernie has said he stuck to his guns all along, and it appears COTA were the ones who blinked. We don't know what Bernie wanted, but we know it was more than one year of fees, and it appears he got it.

It was stated many times over by Tavo and Bernie and others that they failed to meet numerous deliverables related to money and other stuff.

Happens all the time in business. One thing is clear - there is a -$25MM entry in the balance sheet right now, if and only if Bernie accepted one year of payment and some non-cash guarantees on the rest. Sexton said 2013 would be better because it would them finish, and Tavo said 2012 wasn't gonna happen... it wasn't about environmental issues.... the only kind of green that was holding things up was the kind with dead Presidents printed on it

 

LOL. Bubba is the kng of hyperbole. Are you new here?

 

In my view, Bernie had them by the balls.

They spent a ton already. It was either lose all that was spent, or gamble "just a little more" and keep the project alive.

Ever seen the owner of a failing business continue to pour money into it believing things will turn around in the future?

I remain skeptical about the whole affair. I would love to see them pull of a world class F1 facility in Austin. I have absolutely zero doubt that even if there is, by some miracle, an F1 race in Austin in 2012... there won't be one in 2021, or 2020, or 2019, or.... well, you get the idea

 

It wasn't hyperbole... Tex did not and does not have an appreciation for the sheer scope of this project. It's not some asphalt and a few concession stands. The proposal is for a world class F1 facility.

Will that exist in Texas in time for a Nov'12 race? Possibly, but it's a long shot. Will it be cobbled together with trailers, generators and truck-based grandstands? Absolutely not.

 

Hyperbole.

Dude, you've made some convincing arguments that have made me think twice about subjects related to the "art of the deal".

When it comes to making wild assed guesses about construction in texas, I'm gonna defer to Big Tex, poetic license and all.

Im pretty sure he's been around a few major construction sites, more than you and I.

And my seats at the final Indy race were absolutely on a temporary grandstand and the closest facilities was a porta potty.

 

Red already got a 3,4 MMish mortage on the land, and also used it to secure Epstein's $250MM funding. Can check the deed records in a few days to see if they've changed it any......

I'm guessing this is why Tavo is out. He promised COTA the moon, and he didn't deliver?? Just a guess.

Bernie hardly has them by the balls. At most, they're holding each other's balls.

Sure they spent a lot of money, and would really like an F1 Race, but Bernie really needs an F1 race in USA too. How many businesses would turn down someone willing to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a facility to help grow their brand here, and for that right pay them $25MM a year to do this?? Not many. Bernie knows this. Asking to secure credit for the full value of the race is a nice idea, but it just would never work in America. Asking for it is a negotiating tactic.