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Circuit of the Americas

Coordinates: 30°7′58″N 97°38′28″W / 30.13278°N 97.64111°W / 30.13278; -97.64111
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Circuit of the Americas
Austin Formula One circuit
LocationTravis County, near
Austin, Texas
Time zoneUTC-6 (standard) /-5 (DST)
Coordinates30°7′58″N 97°38′28″W / 30.13278°N 97.64111°W / 30.13278; -97.64111
Broke groundJanuary 2, 2011
ArchitectHermann Tilke
Major eventsFIA Formula One
United States Grand Prix (from 2012)
FIM MotoGP
Texas Grand Prix (from 2013)
V8 Supercars (from 2013)
Websitehttp://circuitoftheamericas.com
Length3.4 miles (5.5 km)
Turns20

The Circuit of the Americas is a 3.4-mile (5.5 km) motor racing circuit in Travis County, Texas, near Austin, currently under construction and due for completion in 2012. It is due to hold the Formula One United States Grand Prix on November 18, 2012, the penultimate round of the 2012 season.[1] Plans have been unveiled for a race of the MotoGP World Championship from 2013, called Texas motorcycle Grand Prix.[2] V8 Supercars has also announced plans to hold a race on the track in 2013.[3]

The circuit and Grand Prix were first proposed in the middle of 2010. The circuit will be the first in the United States to be purpose-built for Formula One. It is designed by German architect and circuit designer Hermann Tilke, who has also designed the Sepang, Shanghai, Yas Marina, Istanbul, Bahrain, Yeongam, and Buddh circuits, as well as the reprofiling of the Hockenheimring and Fuji Speedway.

The circuit

Construction

The first building under construction at the Circuit of the Americas.

In a news conference on July 27, 2010, Tavo Hellmund announced plans to build the track on about 890 acres (3.6 km2) of undeveloped land in southeastern Travis County. The majority of the site was previously planned for a residential subdivision called "Wandering Creek".[4] In the same news conference, Hellmund also revealed that Texas billionaire Red McCombs was the project's largest investor. McCombs wished to call the site "Speed City",[5] but the owners originally anticipated selling the naming rights to various parts of the facility for $7 million.[6] On April 12, 2011, the track's name was announced as "Circuit of the Americas" at a press conference.[2]

The circuit homologation design was submitted to the FIA in Geneva for approval on December 17, 2010. HKS, Inc. and Tilke Engineers & Architects designed the track and Austin Commercial, a subsidiary of Austin Industries, was the general contractor. Construction began on December 31, 2010,[7] and is due to be complete by June 2012.[8] Following a stop-work order in December 2011, the completion date was revised to August.[9] The first tasks were building the silt fences, taking core samples, and shredding existing vegetation.[10]

On January 21, 2011, a $900,000 check was posted with Travis County that permitted grading to begin. The money was to be used to restore the land if FEMA declined to allow the project to move forward because part of the site lies in a floodplain.[11] FEMA issued a letter on June 28, 2011, stating the project meets its floodplain management criteria.

In January 2012, Travis County announced that Elroy Road — one of the two primary public access roads to the circuit — would receive an upgrade to handle the volume of incoming traffic, but not before the running of the 2012 race.[12] At the time of the announcement, the unstable clay soils under the road surface had caused Elroy Road to gradually buckle and shift, necessitating the upgrade.

Configuration

In an episode of Speed TV's Wind Tunnel program broadcast on August 22, 2010, Tavo Hellmund revealed that the circuit would be 3.4 miles (5.5 km) long and would be made up of more than twenty turns with an elevation change of 133 feet (41 m). The final plan of the circuit was released on September 1, 2010, showing a design inspired by the European tradition of sculpting the circuit to the contours of the land. The final design was released on September 1, 2010, and draws from several European Formula One circuits, including a recreation of Silverstone's Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel sequence, Hockenheim's arena bends, and a replica of Istanbul's Turn Eight.[13] The spectator capacity of the course is estimated to be one hundred thousand with the use of permanent and temporary seating facilities.[14] One of the unique features of the circuit is a deliberate widening of the circuit in the corners, to encourage drivers to follow multiple racing lines.[15] A similar feature was used at the Buddh International Circuit in India, where the circuit widens on the approach to certain corners.

The circuit will be one of only a handful on the 2012 calendar to be run in a counter-clockwise direction, the others being Marina Bay, the Korean International Circuit, Yas Marina, and Interlagos. Because of this, the circuit contains more left-hand turns than right-hand ones, and so will put greater physical demands on the drivers, particularly on their necks.

From the start line, the cars will climb to the first corner — the highest point of the circuit — with the apex of the corner positioned on the crest of the hill. They will descend back down the hill to navigate a series of fast sweepers modeled on Silverstone's Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel complex, taking them to Turn 11 and the far end of the circuit. The cars will then follow a 0.62-mile (1.00 km) straight back towards the pit and paddock area before entering the final sector of the lap and weaving through a series of corners modeled on Hockenheim's stadium section. This will be followed by a downhill, multi-apex corner with limited run-off before the final two corners of the circuit, a pair of left-hand bends that return the cars to the main straight.

City endorsement and lawsuit

In order for the race to take place, the Austin city council was asked to be the sponsoring municipality for the event. Through being a sponsor, the city could apply for money from a state fund, the Major Events Trust Fund (METF), designed to attract major sporting events to Texas that would be used to pay the Formula 1 race sanctioning fee.[16] This matter was complicated by opponents of the project who filed a lawsuit against state comptroller Susan Combs, claiming that she had promised the funding to the circuit without having been legally authorized to do so,[17] though authorities have responded stating that all necessary guidelines had been followed. On July 1, 2011, a state district court judge declined to enter a temporary restraining order against Combs preventing payments from the METF. The attorney for the project's opponents has stated that he is unsure if they will continue pursuing the lawsuit.[18]

In June 2011, the Austin city council endorsed the United States Grand Prix by a vote of 5–2.[19] As a part of the endorsement, the sport will pay $15,000 in carbon offsets and $5 million to establish an on-site research project into environmentally-friendly technologies.

Breach of contract and reinstatement

In November 2011, Bernie Ecclestone expressed what he called "minor" doubt over the future of the United States Grand Prix in Austin after "disagreements inside the [management] company".[20] These issues were later confirmed when construction of the circuit came to a halt because of a dispute between the circuit owners, promoter Full Throttle Productions, and Formula One Management.[21] Promoter Tavo Hellmund admitted that his company had been in breach of its contract with Formula One Management since May 2011. The situation further escalated when state comptroller Susan Combs described the planned Grand Prix of America as a threat to the race in Texas, and said that the first $25 million payment from the state sports fund would only be made available after the first Grand Prix at the circuit, despite having previously promised to make the funds available in time for the inaugural event.[22] Bernie Ecclestone later issued an ultimatum to the owners and organizers: find a solution before the December 7 meeting of the FIA World Motorsport Council or else risk being removed from the 2012 calendar. Eccelstone emphasized that if the Circuit of the Americas were removed from the calendar, it would not be added again at a later date.

On December 7, 2011, the World Motorsport Council released the final calendar for the 2012 season, with the Circuit of the Americas retaining its November 18 date. Further details revealed that the race investors, McCombs and Epstein, had reached a new arrangement with Ecclestone.[23] There are no reports supporting Tavo Hellmund's continued involvement under the new contract. Work on the track was scheduled to resume immediately. As a part of the arrangement, organizers paid the sanctioning fee for the 2012 race one year in advance as a show of good faith.[24]

References

  1. ^ Doolittle, Dave (August 31, 2011). "Inaugural Austin F1 race date confirmed as Nov. 18, 2012". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on August 31, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b "Texas lands MotoGP from 2013". motogp.com. Dorna Sports. April 12, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  3. ^ "Official: V8 Supercars Coming to Austin in 2013". autoblog.com. AOL Autos. June 30, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
  4. ^ Novak, Shonda (July 27, 2010). "Future F1 site revealed". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on January 30, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  5. ^ Maher, John (July 27, 2010). "Red McCombs named investor in Austin Formula One project". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on January 30, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  6. ^ Dexheimer, Eric (August 23, 2010). "How much would Austin F1 track be worth in naming rights?". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on January 30, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  7. ^ Noble, Jonathan (December 31, 2010). "Construction begins at new US GP venue". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved January 1, 2011.
  8. ^ Hinkle, Josh (July 19, 2010). "Formula 1 groundbreaking date released". KXAN. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  9. ^ http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97091
  10. ^ "Work starts on Austin track". SuperSport.com. December 31, 2010. Archived from the original on January 30, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  11. ^ Dexheimer, Eric (January 24, 2011). "F1 to start moving dirt soon". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on January 30, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  12. ^ Wear, Ben (January 9, 2012). "Elroy Road to be widened, but not before first F1 race". Austin-American Statesman. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  13. ^ "Austin circuit layout revealed". formula1.com. Formula One Administration. September 1, 2010. Retrieved September 1, 2010.
  14. ^ Halbuer, Andreas (July 27, 2010). "F1 course designer Tilke ready to start work on Austin track". Austin American Statesman. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  15. ^ Sutton, Mark (June 20, 2011). "F1 Texan style". ESPN F1. ESPN Emea Ltd. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
  16. ^ Toohey, Marty (June 23, 2011). "Austin council delays vote on whether to endorse F1". Statesman.com. American Statesman. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
  17. ^ Saward, Joe (June 23, 2011). "A lawsuit in America… how predictable". Joe Saward blogs about the world of F1. Joe Saward. Retrieved June 23, 2011.
  18. ^ Dexheimer, Eric (July 1, 2011). "Judge Rules against Formula One subsidy opponents". Austin-American Statesman. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
  19. ^ http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/racing/entries/2011/06/29/city_council_endorses_f1_agree.html
  20. ^ Noble, Jonathan (November 1, 2011). "Formula 1 chiefs to discuss 2012 calendar amid concerns over some races". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  21. ^ http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/11/15/circuit-americas-halts-construction-contract-dispute/
  22. ^ http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/11/texas-finance-chief-confirms-new-jersey-race-threatens-austin-event/
  23. ^ http://www.theaustingrandprix.com/news/tag/bobby-epstein#.T0KyJvVEWg4
  24. ^ "Formula One to return to U.S. at U.S. Grand Prix in Texas" USA Today. Retrieved Dec. 10, 2011.
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