samagon Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 more information from a few days ago.http://www.insideline.com/car-news/work-slowdown-spurs-rumors-about-austin-f1-track.htmlI hope it's just an article to sow some doubt, but that things are actually going forward smoothly, who knows I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 more information from a few days ago.http://www.insidelin...n-f1-track.htmlI hope it's just an article to sow some doubt, but that things are actually going forward smoothly, who knows I guess.It wouldn't be the first time that F1 left someone up a creek, but I'm hopeful the race goes as planned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I'm hopeful as well, there's a lot of good race series that are already committed, and if it happens more will surely join. It looks like a very exciting track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 on again, off again, and it's back on again.http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/austin/f1-in-austin-remains-on-calendardamn soap opera, hope it stays on again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 news from the last F1 race is that track is being laid currently and they anticipate tickets to start selling later this month.also, they are adding ALMS serieshttp://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2012/06/01/f1-austin-facility-adds-race-to-its.htmlthe track is also going to 'debut' in the F1 2012 game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Formula 1 race is this weekend, so it looks like the stars aligned. Personally, I opted out of the opening race, there will be lots of traffic issues that have to be worked out, as well as other logistical issues that I'm not really wanting to be a part of. Next year though, I will be there, and no doubt that I will be there for other races that they have. I've watched some of the laps they did after finishing the track, this is going to be a great track for racing! edit: here's the track layout: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luciaphile Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Formula 1 race is this weekend, so it looks like the stars aligned.Personally, I opted out of the opening race, there will be lots of traffic issues that have to be worked out, as well as other logistical issues that I'm not really wanting to be a part of.Next year though, I will be there, and no doubt that I will be there for other races that they have.samagon, you should have bought a ticket! I'm prepared to lay odds this is a really special, one-time event, made possible by an unusual synergy of impressionable bubbas, male and female (notable Susan Combs), and smooth Scandinavian guys.No worries as to logistics -- a shakedown was conducted a couple weeks ago, Austin-style: a foot race. Even though the city declined to build a new customs facility as the race planners wished, all other bugs have been worked out, despite the ongoing litigation, and it is certain to be a success. At least, with civic pride at stake (Mexico City! London! Melbourne! Austin??) haters and non-haters alike now find ourselves in the position of hoping so, though it's not clear we will know whether it was or it wasn't, there being only a few dozen locals who understand the sport of Formula One."Did the hookers come?" will probably be all we have to go by.The newspaper helpfully ran a series of F1 tutorials last year. I'm a leg up having watched "Le Mans" on the late show one time. That's F1 ... I'm pretty sure.There was very little dialogue in that movie. It was hard to stay awake during the frequent record club commercials. And I remember thinking Steve McQueen with sideburns was not as "cute" as he was in "The Great Escape." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swtsig Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 it's gonna be a straightup PAR-TAY in atx this weekend... formula 1 brings in a very, very jetset crowd. kinda wish i was going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luciaphile Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 I'll hand it to them, the achievement of the track in less than a year is amazing. and this weekend: Mario Andretti is here. Cheap Trick! Aerosmith! (?) Helicopters everywhere. A table at La Zona Rosa, which usually hosts events like People's Community Clinic fundraisers, is $50,000. The cars look like the very coolest ones from your 40-year-old Hot Wheels set, but each one has a hundred laptops monitoring it. There's a button on the steering wheel the drivers can press on the straightaway, which makes them fly...I still think the operative image of the track, though, will be: sitting idle, empty, giving rise to conversations like "The Future of the Astrodome," all that pavement needlessly radiating heat.In not-unconnected news, now that Susan Combs has fallen off the GOP statewide-office ladder (and haven't they all been so patient!) I see that Hispanic George P. Bush is considering a run for comptroller, AG, or land commissioner. He has the skill set for all three, apparently! (I'm sure he does, actually.) He may well make a comforting transitional figure, the last Republican. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 The track will get use through the year when not being used for F1, there's already races set up for motoGP, V8 Supercars, and they'll have more major events lined up as well, but in addition to that, they will have track days and other special events at the course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Racetrack economics are a dodgy thing, most certianly when F1 is involved. The boss of F1 has a bit of a scorched earth reputation for taking every penny of value produced by his enterprise and not letting anyone else get much benefit. Hopefully CotA will stay afloat, it looks top notch in the pictures I've seen.The problem is, however, that the only racing in the US popular enought to make money is NASCAR, and they are not coming to a track like this, so you have the international circus in F1 and MotoGP coming through for two weekends a year with a lot of other small time users that barely pay the operating costs for the time they are there. Maybe IndyCar, should it survive, will bring a race, though that would compete against what they are bringing to Houston.American LeMans and others will probably get in if they can afford to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I'm no follower of IndyCar, so I had no idea they were coming back to Houston, but I'll be there for sure!It's unfortunate that NASCAR has such a stranglehold on US racing fans, I hope that is changing with F1 coming back to the states, I read an article that quoted Ecclestone that he wanted more races in USA, of course, with Ecclestone, we'll see, but the number I've seen is he wants 3 total. I could see them dropping one of the two races in Spain, as controversial as the race has become in Bahrain I could see them dropping that one as well to make room for more US circuits. One east coast, one west coast to compliment Texas. The race this last weekend was a terrific success, and while the track has many years to establish itself, it is the best track Tilke has ever designed, and in time it could be one of the more iconic and memorable tracks. Turn 1 looks menacing, but turn 19 is the real technical booger of a corner.Anyway, yeah, it will take a lot to keep this thing afloat, but they've done a lot of the right things, and the first race was really memorable (in a memorable season). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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