Circuit of the Americas Formula 1 Race Track

[Armybrat]

<Bill>wonder if that frightened off all the jackrabbits and fire ants?</Aleshire>

[Mopacs]

Any validity to this?

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte..._f1_track.html

Has work stopped on F1 track?

By Eric Dexheimer | Monday, August 22, 2011, 03:36 PM

We here at the American-Statesman have received several anonymous phone calls in recent days from people who asserted that work had ceased at Circuit of the Americas, the new purpose-built Formula One track being constructed southeast of Austin.

One of the callers even said that the project’s general contractor, Austin Commercial, had called a meeting of subcontractors last week and instructed them to go home for a couple of weeks; there was no money to pay them.

Could it really be true that a project being backed by San Antonio billionaire Red McCombs, millionaire (at least) Austin investor Bobby Epstein and state taxpayers, in the form of a $25 million annual public economic development subsidy from the comptroller’s office, is broke?...

[BevoLJ]

I very seriously doubt any of what is in that article. The writer even says that the state is paying for the track, so clearly he knows next to zero on anything that has to do with CotA and is not a very reliable source of info. To me it just looks like someone who wants it to be a failure of a project so he is trying to dream up reasons (or Hope) that it could be a failure for whatever reasons he may have to not want it to succeed.

[LoneStarMike]

F1: Austin GP Plans Still On Track Spokesman Says
While there might not be much work going on now in Austin, construction is expected to resume sooner rather than later...

Jared Turner
formula-one.speedtv.com
August 23, 2011

[Circuit of the Americas spokesman Jeff Hahn] said that any appearance of non-activity at the 900-acre site can be attributed to the phasing nature of construction work. Hahn added that, due to dry weather, early work has moved quicker than planned.

The circuit spokesman told the newspaper that because the construction phases also include a timetable for payments to be released, it’s probable that contractors now must wait a few days for the next installment.

“We’re matching the (bank) draw schedule to the construction schedule,” the American Statesman quotes him as saying.

I was just thinking the same thing the other day - that the only good thing about the drought was that the project was probably running ahead of schedule.

I don't know much about the construction/financing process, but his explanation seems plausible to me. What do the rest of you think?

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by LoneStarMike

F1: Austin GP Plans Still On Track Spokesman Says
While there might not be much work going on now in Austin, construction is expected to resume sooner rather than later...

Jared Turner
formula-one.speedtv.com
August 23, 2011



I was just thinking the same thing the other day - that the only good thing about the drought was that the project was probably running ahead of schedule.

I don't know much about the construction/financing process, but his explanation seems plausible to me. What do the rest of you think?

That explanation works for me. It seems like there was a similar situation earlier in the year when there was a few days pause between different "phases" of the project.

[Mopacs]

Another update (same info):

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl...-still-on.html

Edit: this story provides a link to the same article posted above

[hookem]

Didn't the W have a loan timing/terms issue sometime during it's construction?

I get the feeling that although the people involved probably have the money to do whatever, they are trying to leverage everything they can so their exposure is minimal if possible. That means doing the whole financing dance. I'm also pretty sure they are getting a big influx of cash from Red Bull to sponsor the USGP... might be a $40M contract right there. I don't see any other reason to explain the massive "promo video" that only the Red Bull team is involved in.

Also, if things weren't on track (pardon the pun), would you see Red McCombs this past weekend hanging out with the Red Bull filming crew? Seems like an odd thing to do if there were any problems.

http://sports.yahoo.com/top/photo?sl...etty-121497255

[priller]

I braved the heat and went to see the F1 car on display at the Bullock museum this weekend. Took some pics.








I was surprised at how really tiny the car is. The driver's seat doesn't look big enough for anyone over 100 lbs to squeeze in there.








I was really hoping there would be some F1 "pit girls", but the Red Bull girls will have to do.

[Mikey711MN]

Originally Posted by LoneStarMike

I was just thinking the same thing the other day - that the only good thing about the drought was that the project was probably running ahead of schedule.

I don't know much about the construction/financing process, but his explanation seems plausible to me. What do the rest of you think?

Very. Such mega-projects will have a maximum payment curve tied to the project's early completion dates, i.e. early value.

Per the image below...



...imagine a similar dashed line to the late value (LV) but above the planned value (PV), which functions as the amount of work performed when complete on its earliest dates.

The combination of relatively tight access to credit (even for these financiers) with the glut of construction labor looking to earn revenue as quickly as possible, such a max-pay curve is probably formally included in the construction contract.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1...ted-with-video

Tom Cruise Tests Red Bull F1 Car In California - Updated With Video

BY FB_1169095409
2,360 views August 26, 2011

ORIGINAL: Red Bull Racing has been showing its wares to the American public in advance of next year's United States Grand Prix late-season stop in Austin, Texas.

With David Coulthard at the wheel, RBR has brought a show car to Austin for the former Formula 1 star to strut his stuff on a ranch owned by track backer Red McCombs, at unfinished and unpaved Circuit of the Americas and in front of the Texas State Capitol Building, in an attempt to drum up interest in the race.

Yet an unheralded stunt - having actor Tom Cruise turn laps in the same Red Bull Racing Formula 1 show car - is likely to give the new race more publicity than anything Coulthard has done.

[Jdawgboy]

Vertical construction will begin in the next 2 weeks or so.

[LoneStarMike]

Originally Posted by priller

I braved the heat and went to see the F1 car on display at the Bullock museum this weekend. Took some pics.

Love the Cow-maro, priller. I guess my cow would feature a city bus. I'd call it Capital Mooo-tro

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte...confirmed.html

New date for F1 confirmed?

By Eric Dexheimer | Monday, August 29, 2011, 09:06 AM

Here’s a huge clue that the inaugural date for Formula One racing in Austin will be moved from June to later in the year: Local promoters for the race have officially — though temporarily — withdrawn their application to tap $25 million from an economic development fund administered by the state comptroller’s office.

A spokeswoman for Comptroller Susan Combs said the Circuit of the America’s Local Organizing Committee officially requested that its application for trust fund money be withdrawn last week. But she added, “We anticipate that they will send a new request at some point.”

CofA spokesman Jeff Hahn confirmed that: “The application will be resubmitted once the World Motor Sport Council ratifies the 2012 schedule.”

[BevoLJ]

CNN just did a piece on F1 and how it improves air travel.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TECH/inn...3A+Business%29

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte...confirmed.html

I would take this article with a grain of salt, the Austin American Statesman seems to pander to the anti-F1 crowd in Austin or at least some of its journalists ( i.e. Eric Dexheimer). This track is a head of schedule and everything is going smoothly.

[hookem]

New promotional video from COTA (some good Austin shots near the beginning): http://www.grid1.tv/videos/featured/...f-the-americas

[migol24]

European drivers look so much cooler than those Nascar drivers. I dig it.

[BevoLJ]

Hah, ya they do. The F1 drivers just look so much sexier. Or at least the guys. I'm not sure where that hot young lady drove. Danica Patrick her name is? Is she Nascar? Maybe someone could get her in a F1 car?

[electricron]

Originally Posted by BevoLJ

I'm not sure where that hot young lady drove. Danica Patrick her name is? Is she Nascar? Maybe someone could get her in a F1 car?

Danica Patrick will be racing full time in Nascar next year. Nascar has three top series, the Sprint Cup with 865 hp engines (top drivers and teams), the Nationwide Series with 650–700 hp engines, and the Camping World Truck Series also with 650–700 hp engines. All the engines are 358 in³ (5.8 L) V8s. The hp differences for the engines can be attributed to the size of the carburetors, with Nationwide and Truck series having 390ft³ per minute, and Cup series having 750–830ft³ per minute. Chevy, Ford, Dodge, and Toyota brands are ran. Since the chassis and engines are very similar in size by series regulations, the difference between winning and losing is mainly based upon the team's and driver's skills. Danica will be racing in the Nationwide Series full time, and part time in the Sprint Cup, next year.

Danica has been racing in the American based Indy Racing League (IRL) - Izod Indy Cars the last few years. This is a specification car series, everyone is running a Dallara chassis with 650 hp 3.5 L (213.6 in³) Honda V8 engines. The difference between winning and losing is based upon the team's and driver's skills. Indy Car also has two junior series, the Firestone Indy Lights running Dallara chassis with a 420 hp 3.5 L Infiniti V8 engine, and the F2000 running Star Mazda cars with 250 horsepower Mazda 'Renesis' rotary engines.

Formula 1 is an European based racing league. Every team runs different chassis and engine combinations. This year there were 12 teams. There are rules all the cars and engines must meet, but there's plenty of room for teams to develop both to make faster cars. The difference between winning and losing is mainly based upon the car's capabilities (who designs it). The last American to race in Formula 1 was Scott Speed from 2006 to 2007, who drove for Scuderia Toro Rosso, a satellite team owned by Red Bull. The last podium by an American driver was Michael Andretti at the 1993 San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, Italy at Il Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. The last American World Driver's Champion was Mario Andretti in 1978, who drove for Lotus. Other than the elder Andretti, the only other American World Driver's Champion was Phil Hill who took the title in 1961 in a Ferrari.
So, in the last 50 years, only two American drivers have won a F1 World Championship. Neither won in an American car. And that's why fewer Americans follow F1 closely than Indy Car or Nascar.

[BevoLJ]

Could she race in F1 though? If driver skill isn't as important in F1 then it might not be that hard for her to transition. Seems like if a team put her in the seat of a rock'n car she could be a huge hit in the US. That would be good for F1 in the US and for whoever is backing the team that grabs her up. I don't know anything about racing (clearly) but I do seem to keep hearing these F1 drivers and people from the F1 teams in interviews saying that what the US needs (almost as much as a race like Austin) the US needs a driver they can get behind. To cheer for like how people from Dallas cheer for the cowboys. They seem to suggest that national pride in F1 is mostly based of pride for the drivers. Like they say that having those Mexican drivers should help Austin's race a ton. But if there was a US driver, and a sexy babe non-the-less, in the driver seat, then that could draw lots of fans and make some serious money. For the team, their sponsors and F1.