Miami Grand Prix Update: More "Local Opposition"

The F50 I drove at Elkhart was that of Doc Murphy; Doctor Tom Murphy owner of lake Forest sports cars the Chicago ferrari dealer, he had a Prost 1990 F1 car, 246 Daytona spyder...I drove with him during lunch break with a hundred cars on track so not a proper session but still unforgettable.

I hope Miami gets a safe weather time slot, anybody recall Ralph Sanchez's first Miami IMSA GP with a major storm during the race?...semi tropical monsoon means red flag, event cancelled, enough said.

I will be there.

Regarding Vegas no thank you in a million years...I visited in 92 and 94, went to the Ceasar's Palace resort...the only trace of F1 from the early 80's was two framed posters on the walls of the...hotel toilets...Enough said.

F1 is a European thing with history, tradition, dignity. Vegas is...an international toilet, total vulgarity, totally unsuitable.

 

Impressive. I got a chance to drive my 308 on the F1 circuit at Indy and at Road America. [/QUOTE]

I too drove my 308 on the track at Indy
Major fantasy bucket list item
As for security concerns; they should follow what they did at the aforementioned ALMS in DC, run shuttles from outlying locations
About the track, beats a blank

 

You realize Spa was "built" in the fifties by selecting existing country roads and grew from there? Very different approach than how are things done today.

Liege is about the closest town to Spa and I stayed there. Very few hotels and thus pricing through the roof. Traffic to and from Spa is a nightmare. They do a nice job by switching directions of the roads but still you can easily get trapped in the parking lot. I did it once for a Friday practice day and escaped with minor traffic problems. Wouldn't want to do the same thing for race day.

Imola is easy: Bologna is nearby and you can reach the track by train, then it is a 20 minute walk through the lovely town of Imola. Ideal situation for the spectators. Similar to Monza, Barcelona, Turkey and Budapest. No hassle approaches there either and plenty of hotel infrastructure nearby. So it can be done, a track doesn't necessarily have to be smack in the city but it does need a major city nearby with a good connection, ideally train.

Sadly all the great tracks of the US lie in the middle of nowhere.

 

Ha! I built the same F1 car in 1/12 scale and took it for a photo op to Lake Forest where it posed next to the real thing. Even got the tiny wing of my model signed by Le Professeur.

Maybe we meet at the track for a beer?

Uh, oh. As a European and life long F1 fan I wouldn't use such big words as dignity. Many F1 fans are anything but, especially folks from Europe.

As for Vegas, you might want to double check: They have cleaned up a lot of their sleezy image and provide first class entertainment venues, hotels and restaurants. Again I'm saying this as a snobby European who has been to some nice and elegant places.

 

We were probably in the same line of cars at the FCA event. I remember I had a modern Ferrari in front of me (360 IIRC) and the guy was super slow through the turns. Of course he dropped me like a stone once we were on the long s/f straight but by about turn 2 I had caught up again and was hard on his tail. Then it suddenly dawned on me why he was so slow: He had no idea about the ideal line and/or didn't know the track at all. I had played it a million times on Playstation and knew the ideal line and braking zones etc.

Oh and btw: that was supposed to be a 50 mph slow procession, that lasted about 1 lap...

 

As a blatant attempt to steal the thread..
I was the second car though the gate
The trick was to allow the pace car to pull away followed by the first car and build a nice gap then
I got it up to 100 on the straight
Now back to Miami
I'm concerned about the community protests
This thing could still **** the bed

 

Parade laps. lol

 

computer rendition

FIRST LOOK: New Miami Street Circuit! | Miami Grand Prix

 

Thanks for doing such a good job and give us all a chance of a lifetime ride. The accordion effect also helped, I was more towards the tail end of the group.

Absolutely. Don't count your VIP passes before they're printed.

That's also why I want to jump on the grenade of a premier event. Granted that's not a wise thing normally but there is a good chance this event will get cancelled after one round once people see the traffic chaos it might bring.

 

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/is-miami-the-breakthrough-deal-that-f1-needs-in-the-usa/6450318/

Is Miami the breakthrough deal that F1 needs in the USA?
By: Jonathan Noble
Apr 25, 2021, 3:27 AM
The United States’ record as the country that has held grands prix at more venues than anywhere else says everything about Formula 1’s difficulties in getting a foothold there.
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Some tracks among the list of 10, like Sebring, Watkins Glen and Long Beach, were rather successful in their era - but fell away from use as the sport expanded and moved on.

Others like Las Vegas, Detroit, Dallas, Phoenix and Indianapolis had their moments, but ultimately failed to deliver the huge impact in the country that F1 hoped they would.

With Austin's Circuit of the Americas already on the calendar, F1 is trying again to make a further breakthrough in the Land of the Free. Thus, it has embarked upon a 10-year journey to host a second race, the Miami Grand Prix, from 2022.

The decision to hold the race has been heralded by F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali as an important moment for the championship as it bids to build a brighter future.

"We are proud, and this is not me, we are proud as F1 because we are looking ahead,” he said at the announcement of the new race at Imola last weekend.

“We are putting the foundations for an incredible future of F1. And this is a milestone that we all wanted.

"Just last night, when we shared the information with all the teams, everyone was really: 'Wow, that's the right way to go, this is really where we should be'. So this is really the direction we're going to take for a great future for F1."

But despite the optimism, some remain cynical about whether or not the current Miami project will really deliver as much of an impact as the original plan several years ago for a race near the city’s port.

Back then, F1 was going to blast over one of Miami’s main bridges, and have a spectacular backdrop to the race that would have confirmed the venue as one of a ‘destination’ events.

Now, running around a car park (albeit a large one) outside a stadium, there are fears it may not deliver quite the same ‘wow’ factor.

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Domenicali himself brushes aside such concerns. He is adamant that the Miami stadium plan does not mean that F1 has fallen short in its ambitions to make Miami a major event.

“It's great, it's not a compromise,” he said. “As always, when you look for a different solution, you need to consider all the elements that make everyone happy.

“There were lots of discussion for a different layout. I'm sure that the track you are going see around the Miami Hard Rock Stadium and Miami Gardens will be fantastic. We have built up something that will be spectacular.”

Race promoter Tom Garfinkel, CEO of the Miami Dolphins, believes the new solution is actually an improvement over the original downtown plan.

For while running a track around a car park may spark bad memories of F1’s Las Vegas event, he thinks it is actually a positive: because it has given the track designers a clean sheet of paper

“I think it's going to be a lot better in certain respects,” he said.

“When we originally looked at the city design, you have a lot of constraints around the racetrack and the first priority was creating a great racing circuit for the drivers for fans, with multiple passing opportunities.

“When we looked at the Hard Rock site, we had basically a blank sheet of paper to work with designers and to work with F1. Obviously the FIA put together a racetrack that is dynamic in a lot of ways, hopefully.

“Plus, to be able to put on great experiences that are uniquely reflective of the diversity of Miami and everything we do, we have existing infrastructure there, and things in place. We think we're in a better position to be able to do that.”

Garfinkel thinks the stadium environment will allow the race promoters a better opportunity to give fans the experience they want: plus guarantee spectacular views of the circuit.

“If you look at what we did with the Miami Open Tennis Tournament, for example, what we're going to be able to do is completely transform [the area] into a campus with landscaping and all kinds of different opportunities and food and beverage areas,” he explained.

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“We want to create an environment where people are blown away when they get there. And I think again, starting with a sort of a blank sheet of paper, we’ve been able to design a circuit with the designers and F1 and the FIA that has a lot of passing opportunities.

“There's going to be vistas from the stadium which sits at the centre of the circuit. You could walk around the top deck of the stadium and see every turn in the racetrack. I think that's a pretty unique opportunity.

“It's going to be beautiful and I don't really see any limitations. In fact I just see opportunities.”

The Hard Rock plan ticking the boxes for F1 and fans at the track is just one part of the equation, though, for the key for the sport is in using the grands prix to ensure the whole of the United States finally becomes enthralled by the championship.

F1’s plan to make sure that the country’s two grands prix in Miami and Austin are kept separate on the calendar is a means to try to spread out the spikes of interest, plus ensure each event can maximise its promotion.

And, while Austin has given F1 the most permanent home it has had in the USA for years, F1 is still seeking the next step: something extra special that will grab the interest of the public and general media to help increase the sport’s reach.

The USA audience is still relatively small – around 1 million viewers on TV from an overall population of 328 million.

There is huge untapped potential but, if there ever was an opportunity to capitalise and make inroads, it is now.

One factor that cannot be underestimated in trying to predict F1’s latest push in to the United States is the fact that its profile is much different now to what it was even five years ago.

 

But not by the local bad guys.............

 

Tickets went on sale this morning

 

Ooops
Got wrong info
Austin tickets went on sale not Miami
Sorry boys, that's what happens when you answer the phone while you're sleeping

 

Some great restaurants though. And the Neon Graveyard is pretty neat. Oh and there's a speakeasy/distillery making moonshine in the basement of the mob museum.

 

We've got asphalt!!!!

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Looking promising!

 

The difficulty is bearing the costs to bring the "circus" to USA being placed entirely on the event holder (and event holder benefactors).

 

Since the commercial rights to F1 are now owned by a US company I think there is some room for negotiation: Liberty wants to expand the F1 foot print in the US and I'm sure they'll do anything they can to accommodate the hosts.

Still hoping they get back into negotiations with Penske for F1's return to Indy.

 

While I’d love Sebring…it’s my home track for my driving events, Sebring track in its current state would rip a F1 car apart. Now oh how I’d love to see F1 race Sebring though on the bumpy surface….it would give the car engineers and drivers a fit.
As far as infrastructure, we’ll there is the track hotel and a couple hotels in town which would work for the teams and that is it. The fans would need to stay more than an hour away or camp at the track like all us IMSA 12hr race fans do.

 

Sebring F1 is an impossibility

 

Aaaahhhh.....for the days that it wasn't......

This billiard table Tilke crap is for the birds.......

 

It looks like it is on for May 2022! https://jalopnik.com/f1s-first-miami-grand-prix-planned-for-may-2022-1847457355

 

Update

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Will Don Johnson be the Grand Marshal?

 

That would be a nice throw back to Miami Vice Days