USGP is back in Austin, TX (merged)

While I think Austin is a great town, and hope that this does come true... I think its a bluff by Bernie... like giving Donnington a contract, but knowing that Silverstone will come back to the table... I will be super suprised if ANY USGP happens in 2 years time... but I truly hope so. When dealing with the poison dwarf, you have to be super careful.

 

So the track hasnt been designed, which means that no shovel has turned dirt yet... and they want to start racing in 1.5 years on the yet to be designed track?

no friggin way.... NEVER going to happen in that time frame.

not being a downer or a nay sayer... just looking at the reality of it all.

The environmental clearances alone will take years.... and it they had been working on that already it word would have gotten out.

no way, no how.... not in 1.5 years.

 

This wasn't supposed to be announced yet. They were caught with their pants down.

Seriously, the one person who could rightfully claim this (of course, only if it materializes) as his idea is state Senator and former Austin Mayor Kirk Watson. It was he who included F1 in the Texas Major Events Trust Fund.

 

Agreed, there aren't any - Yet - The new circuits were built and funded pretty much by Govt's with no real thought about turning a profit - They just want to wave their big ol' dicks around eek

However, just because it hasn't been done doesn't necessarily mean another "model" couldn't make it work - A "sexy" high-tech industrial/R&D complex, with an airport (!), could possibly subsidize a race. Add in lots a track rentals, maybe MotoGP, ALMS etc and maybe (just maybe!) it could work.

Cheers,
Ian

 

700 acres is not big - only 1.09 square miles. If you are into agriculture, 700 acres of cotton or hay isn't very much.

This new Hyatt resort is out in the general area where locations have been suggested -
http://lostpines.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp - for the budget minded at $818 per night per room if you want to go there next month! It's on 405 acres. Sea World in SAT is on 250 ac.......

Carol

 

Ian get a hold of yourself
Hosting a GP is a HUGE expense with a very small profit stream. Unless Bernie is willing to give up TV rights (Japan and Monaco are the only two races that produce their own broadcasts and no one knows how the profits are structured) it is a guaranteed money loser. The fact that ancillary uses could potentially subsidize it is dubious as well.

 

Track has been designed and all permits which can be a lengthy process have been acquired. However the design has not yet been released to the public.

Mike,
Austin Texas.
1978 Maserati Merak.

 

Maybe this sucker is a little further along than we know - I lifted the following from the parallel thread that's running in the Texas section (my emphasis added):

From: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20100526/F1/100529817

Cheers,
Ian

 

From press conference in Turkey (Autosport.com):

DRIVERS: Rubens BARRICHELLO (Williams), Karun CHANDHOK (HRT), Michael SCHUMACHER (Mercedes), Jarno TRULLI (Lotus), Mark WEBBER (Red Bull)

Q. (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) To all of you: Bernie Ecclestone has announced that there will be a US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. I'm looking at your T-shirts and caps and I see names like Mercedes Benz, Red Bull, AT&T. How important is it for your teams' sponsors to have a race in the US?

MW: It's a huge market, we know that. A lot of people live in North America and they're very passionate about their sport. There's naturally a lot of people involved in our business that do business in North America. If it's of benefit for all of us to go there and hold a Grand Prix under their noses and for them to embrace Formula One racing as best they can – because obviously it's a different kind of sport for them, let's say – so we've seen in the past that it has worked OK at Indy, and it can be exciting in Texas, so let's see how it goes. For Red Bull, we sell a lot of cans over there and it will be good if we can sell some more.

MS: Certainly, it's one of the beautiful places around the world to go to and enjoy some good times, lots of great opportunities. For me, naturally, I love to go and race there as it allows me to spend some days before the race to hang out there and enjoy it. But more important for most of the manufacturers that are involved in Formula One, America is a very important market. If you think of how many countries like Brazil, Argentina, all those countries in South America, how many we had of those guys at Indy, then we should have even more, because logistically it's easier to go to Texas than all the way up to Indy. Hopefully, that's the case because one of the points that we have been missing is the sort of excitement that Formula One can create and can give to the fans that are in America. Yeah, it has not fully arrived, but quite honestly you cannot expect those things to happen overnight. You have to give it continuation, and this continuation hasn't happened for a long enough time, plus maybe we haven't yet got a known or successful American driver in our group that would be quite helpful for this. But certainly from our point of view we are very happy to go there.

KC: It's more of the same, really. I think America is a more developed market than say India. It's a similar thing, they are huge markets with untapped potential as far as Formula One and its partners are concerned. I think that to have a dedicated venue is a new thing. I guess Watkins Glen, so Bernie was saying, was the last time we had one. Maybe that's what it needs, a dedicated Formula One site. I'm very excited to go there. My mum's from San Antonio and my grandparents still live in Texas, so I'd love to go there and have a race.

RB: On a personal side I love America as a whole. I've also spent a lot of time there with the family, so it's really good to be going to that side. From the manufacturers' point of view, it's just a great opportunity that's back again and we should never have stopped racing there. Even though the fans don't know Formula One, they are aware and they obviously know more of NASCAR and Indycar but it's a great opportunity for us to show our show and get together.

JT: I like going to the US, I think it's a good market and I also think that the Formula One circus is a worldwide business, so why not? We would be more than welcome to go there.

 

so this statement is incorrect?

 

Mike, what possessed you to buy two 1978 Maserati Meraks. Or does your twin brother, also named Mike, own the other one?

 

That's funny Don't know how I ended up with two - one is enough. Actually they are great cars for the money. Can get a really nice one for around $20,000. Just watch for rust and get the later De Tomaso era which does not have the funky Citroen stuff.

Mike,
Austin Texas.
With Only One Merak.

 

Ok I think the situation is that the general configuration has been decided upon (with Tilke) and now Tilke engineering has to design the architectural aspects of the circuit ie buildings, stands etc.

Tilke first became involved with the project some 2 years ago however I am not sure how long ago the 800 acres was purchased. Obviously Tilke could not come up with anything until that part of the equation was in place. Remember that there were a number of land tracts that were being looked at so it was not as if they did not know what they might end up with.

Mike,
Austin Texas,
With Only One Merak.

 

Steady on dude! - David asked you a valid question about F1 tracks and profit which you chose to ignore. He went on to make what I consider a very valid point about costs and the difficulty of doing this, even in good 'ol Texas, particularly in the timeframes touted. Now, if you could explain how the good people of Texas will handle it, and make a profit, great!

Name calling just isn't necessary - We've all got points of view which can be shared without that.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Not in Texas.

 

My best friend is very adverse to Texas but loves Austin. I have not had the chance to visit but hope this happens so that I can. Go USGP 2012!

 

I'm still not sure exactly why they chose Austin TX but I'm just glad F1 will be coming back to the U.S.

 

You CAME BY and didn't call??????

DON'T ever let THAT happen again!!!!

Enough of this talk about Shiner, I'm buying a VIP booth for Saint Arnolds!!!!!!

Bring that Abita along too, tho.......Jesse Dayton loves Abita!!!

 

I'll follow on my ST3 with a couple of high dollar strippers........

 

I would definitely go by what Autosport says than other sources. They are the most reliable/non-garbage of the motorsport sites.

Carol

 

It's the airport that makes the whole thing viable really, year round use of the primary complex, with a test/development facilty the rest of the year when the Circus is not in town.

What many don't realize is the airport sitaution there in Austin has always been terrible, the planes coming into the old Muni grazed the tops of houses and crossed I35 at 600 feet.
It really was a disaster waiting to happen, that thankfully never did.....

Then when the government closed Bergstrom AFB, it remodeled a military facility into the current Public airport. It's still too close to residential and the Del Valle community has been very vocal on all the test running and maintenance on the turbines night and day.

SO, to the current administation, that includes City, County and the State Legislature, this really is a 'two birds with one stone" deal....

Let's get the party started!!

 

Oh, we know you're a think skinned bugger!

But, it's threads that degenerate into flame fests that *kill* most boards, and this was getting close - Thanks for taking the high road

Yes indeed on both points. Seems we have some land, possibly with permits for water and crappers, $200 MM coming from "unknown sources" & $25M per year from the wonderful state of Texas. Then we have the Texas "make it happen!" mentality.....

For the locals; What's the tree hugger movement down there like? - That's probably the biggest problem Laguna has to doing any upgrades - *Years* in "studies" before a spade can be used

Cheers,
Ian

 

More likely AMD, or maybe someone green like VESTAS.......

They were at the last Kelly Willis/Ray Wylie Hubbard show, handing out lil' wind turbines......I have one on my desk....

"buy, buy, buy"......

 

You are correct...he said he is not an ignorant schoolboy, so I apologize for my misstatement. Thanks for the catch!

Well, like I said I'm a private pilot and would LOVE to fly in on a race weekend. It just seems like a lot to fit in within a (relatively) small amount of land. The noise alone would require a ton of logistical planning.

All that being said, I will be beating down the door to that party!! I sincerely hope that this comes to fruition and have already talked to many friends who would be going down with me if/when the time comes.

Based on you post, are you suggesting that this could be a project that would bring a new "major" airport to Austin?

 

Yep, reading the fine print of one of the announcements, water and sewer are a done deal.....

I use the Express Window down at Permits, myself.....hell, we built the building they are in!!