Formula One returns to the US

This is one of those either/or things..............

--On the one hand, I agree with Speshal............I'll believe it when I see it. :o
--On the other hand, if they do get it built, if they're smart, they'll get Texas Motor Speedway's boss, Eddie Gossage to promote the Formula 1 race. As successful as he is in promoting both NASCAR and IndyCar Series events at his track, if F1 does indeed return, I'm pretty confident he'll make it work........ :whistle: :givemestrength: :givemestrength: :o :o :o
 
Well I'm looking forward to it.

A new circuit is always interesting and hopefully they will be able to take advantage of the local terrain to create some interesting elevation changes.

Going back to the US can only be good for the teams and sport so it's a win-win situation, depending on which GP gets dropped to fit it in to the calendar.
 
Brogan said:
A new circuit is always interesting and hopefully they will be able to take advantage of the local terrain to create some interesting elevation changes.

Don't the FIA have an actual restriction on elevation changes these days? I don't think it's one of those things we as fans hate, I think it's a genuine rule.

I'm looking forward to seeing F1 in the USA, but I won't believe it until we see F1 cars actually racing there.
 
I have to admit that this announcement caught me unawares. I didn't know that Texas was even remotely interested in F1, and I live in the U.S.! I would have preferred a return to its rightful venue: Watkins Glen-a lot of history in that track. Not to mention several other great tracks already in existence (Road America, Road Altlanta, Laguna Seca etc).

I am afraid that this will be a Tilke (or Tilke-like) track that is as boring as a politician's speech. Obviously I hope I am wrong about this.
 
More on the new circuit:

Veteran circuit designer Hermann Tilke will be responsible for the Austin F1 track, promoter Tavo Hellmund has confirmed to this writer. Hellmund also says the project is also much further along than has been assumed, and the track has already been drawn.

“This has been long in the works,” he told this blog. “Everything is in place.”

Although the former racer told local media yesterday that three possible venues were still under consideration, that suggestion was apparently a smokescreen.

While several alternatives were under consideration, one site was settled on some time ago, and the land – over 800 acres – has already been purchased. Not only that but initial permissions for amenities such as water and waste, which are usually time consuming affairs, have already been granted.

Although Hellmund has yet to divulge details of what he calls a “killer location”, he confirmed that the site is to the east of the city, a few miles from the airport. It is said to be in hilly countryside that has provided Tilke with a good starting point for a design. [...continued]

It is said to be in hilly countryside
:thumbsup: :cheer:
 
As soon as I got to the second line of your post, I lost all faith in this being an interesting circuit. What you can rest assured off, is that the paddock will be a great place for the good and the beautiful to mingle and do business while ignoring the 24 racing cars going round the track.

God, I'm getting cynical about this sport!
 
I am getting cynical too.

Given that it is, once again, Tilke designing the track, I fully expect that, if the circuit is built in hilly country, the first thing that will be done is the complete leveling of the hills. This would permit the building of a flat, featureless track. The kind that Tilke and, apparently, Bernie love so much.
 
I think people unfairly criticise Tilke too much.

The FIA have strict rules on the size of run-off areas, etc.

In an interview last year, Tilke made it clear that any design he submits is vetted and amended by Bernie and only once Bernie is happy with it does it get approved.

Tilke can only work with the area he's given and within the constraints listed above.
It doesn't matter who would be designing the new circuits, we'd still get the same end result.

If anything the blame should be on Bernie who refuses to put new circuit designs out to tender and who meddles in something he should have no involvement with.
 
I too believe Tilke is scapegoat for many who think the racing is not exciting enough.

As you have noted Brogan, his hands are tied on several aspects of the circuit before even laying pen to paper, and even more so when you're forced to lay out a track around the streets of Singapore or an industrial harbor in Valencia.

I think Sepang, Shanghai, and Istanbul have provided plenty of action over their relatively short lifespans. Bahrain has been roundly criticized, and the addition of that mickey mouse section didn't add anything to the circuit whatsoever, but there are undoubtedly some good overtaking spots in Bahrain. And the jury must still be out on Abu Dhabi, as there's only been one race there, however, the end of the GP battle between Webber and Button was excellent, and hopefully an omen of things to come.

I have high hopes for this Austin circuit.
 
Shanghai was even worse as Tilke was forced to make it look like the Chinese character shang (?) the first character in the name of the city Shanghai, meaning "above" or "ascend" and also incorporate the snail section as it resembles a lucky character in Chinese.
Similarly with Bahrain, the extended section was the idea of the circuit owner.

You only have to watch other series' to see that overtaking is possible on the new tracks Tilke has "designed".
Again the problem is down to F1 rather than just the circuits.

Put it this way, whatever Tilke comes up with in Austin, it has to be better than an oval, doesn't it? ;)
 
Brogan said:
Shanghai was even worse as Tilke was forced to make it look like the Chinese character shang (?) the first character in the name of the city Shanghai, meaning "above" or "ascend" and also incorporate the snail section as it resembles a lucky character in Chinese.
Similarly with Bahrain, the extended section was the idea of the circuit owner.

You only have to watch other series' to see that overtaking is possible on the new tracks Tilke has "designed".
Again the problem is down to F1 rather than just the circuits.

Put it this way, whatever Tilke comes up with in Austin, it has to be better than an oval, doesn't it? ;)

Coincidentally, it's the Indy 500 this weekend. I believe they overtake on these ovals ( ) so I wouldn't knock them, out of hand.

I'll continue to bang this drum until someone listens :p but gradient is highly conducive to the close racing required for overtaking, as is banking on curves. Flat or off camber corners will only serve to 'push' a car out wider, due to the centrifugal forces, in an understeering manner. A banked corner will help to 'hold' the car, in effect increasing the possibility of multiple racing lines and velocities around a bend (think Peraltada, Tarzan, Druids, Tosa, etc)

To return to the topic, I'm in 'wait and see' mode about this - I'd love a purpose built US track to have the hallmarks of Laguna Seca, Road America or 'The Glen', but I'm fearful that it will be a Tilke-by-numbers job (whilst also acknowledging that his designs are restricted by the FIA requirements, though he does have a 'format' that he sticks to, rather than perhaps following the lay of the land)
 
Sigh.

Bernie has already started with the threats if the GP doesn't go ahead.

It has also been suggested that 2012 is an overly optimistic race debut date, but Briton Ecclestone insists it will take place then.

"That's what the contract says," he said. "It might turn out to be expensive for Tavo. We've got some penalty clauses, although I wouldn't want to use them."

http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/21905.html
 
Every effort must be made to prevent F1 from even speculating using Laguna Seca! It is abslutely fabulous as it is and must never be changed or interfered with in any way, by those F1 numbnuts. >:(
 
siffert_fan said:
I have to admit that this announcement caught me unawares. I didn't know that Texas was even remotely interested in F1, and I live in the U.S.! I would have preferred a return to its rightful venue: Watkins Glen-a lot of history in that track. Not to mention several other great tracks already in existence (Road America, Road Altlanta, Laguna Seca etc).

I am afraid that this will be a Tilke (or Tilke-like) track that is as boring as a politician's speech. Obviously I hope I am wrong about this.

Texas has a good amount of motorsports fans and they are passionate about racing. Texas Motor Speedway, for instance, gets plenty of fans for both NASCAR dates & its' IndyCar Series dates gets about 80-100k each year). When ChampCar ran on the street circuit at Houston around Reliant Park in '06-'07, they drew around 120k+ for the weekend(although considering the geniuses running ChampCar in the years before mergification, I'd take a bucket of salt w/those figures).

As for the other tracks listed................
~~Watkins Glen: Ain't gonna' happen so long as the France Family and International Speedway Corporation owns WGI. You think the Trolls(Bernie E and Jean Todt) and Sado-Max are cretins at times........if either Big Bill France(France, Sr.) or Bill Jr. were alive, they'd make the other three look like a bunch of Keystone Cops. :o
~~Road Atlanta: Interesting idea, but Don Panoz is too much of a :censored: cheapskate to upgrade the track. Enough said. :o :o :o
~~Road America: this was mentioned in another thread, but not enough lodging and permanent facilities to justify F1 traveling to Kettle Moraine

Now Laguna Seca I could see; the track's already been upgraded to meet MotoGP standards(and both MotoGP and Formula 1 race on a couple of the same tracks[Silverstone, Cataluyna], so this track could make sense. Unfortunately, there's noise restriction ordinances throughout the Monterey Peninsula area and 'Seca only runs a few races each year(currently ALMS, MotoGP and the Monterey Historics hold events there).
 
Speshal said:
Good news....but....... I'll believe it when I see it.

Ditto

If it comes off hope this texan Track can hold a candle to the Tracks already mentioned in this tread. Its a shame how F1 usually balls things up in the US. It would be good for F1, for the US, and for everybody else watching to have a great track run at an American Circuit with a huge fanbase that would only proberly needed to be 1/5th of what NASCAR gets to be successful.

It would make a lot of money for F1, be great to see more then 'one man and his dog' at the track, unlike some like Turkey for instance, and would be a great event to go to for us foreigners who like/can afford to travel.

COME ON BERNIE! Don't screw this up!

(hang on he's already trying to :( )
 
According to this report, Bernie is already looking at a 2nd location.

Just over a month after it was announced that there will be a United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas in 2012, Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that a second race may take place in the country and his circuit designer Hermann Tilke is currently there investigating it. "Tilke is in New Jersey now looking into it," he said over lunch last week.
[...]
Tilke is now believed to be looking for a location in New Jersey which would not face this opposition but would still enjoy the same view of the New York skyline in the background. It could be a reserve option if the Grand Prix in Austin falls through.
http://en.espnf1.com/usracing/motorsport/story/22224.html

So either way it looks like there will be a race back in the US sooner or later, which is great for all concerned.
 
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