The History of the USGP

[Flood1]

Paul has written an article that summarizes the history of the USGP. It has always been a hit or miss affair since it ended its 20 year history at Watkins Glen, 1960 to 1980, but it may have new traction with the announcement concerning a permanent circuit at Austin. I certainly hope so.

http://www.formula1journal.com/2010/08/ ... gh.html#tp

 

[sportsman]

Good article.
It faithfully recalls all of the the previous US F1 GP's and also reveals the reasons for the failure of F1 in the US.

Austin however is built on a very different business model.
Why Austin is almost certain to succeed is for very different reasons which caused other attempts to fail.
If you look at the very careful planning and which has gone into this it is apparent that this is the culmination of at least three years very careful planning.
The very location of Austin is not by chance.
Austin is only 250 kilometres from the Mexican border.Mexico has a huge F1 fan base and this location would be readily accessible to them.
I together with John Flood have studied very carefully the the history of the land acqusition and the future development of not only the actual F1 GP but the entire development of the whole project.
That shows that the feasibilty of the US F1GP has a very realistic chance of succeeding as Austin has none of characteristics that caused other venues to fail.

 

[Grizzly]

I'm too young to remember many of the USGPs, but they fascinate me, the different places, the city circuits especially. I imagine the Detroit and Las Vegas GPs with F1 cars rattling the windows to have been fantastic places to watch. I'm excited to see F1 return and with a purpose made circuit to boot, here's to many years of F1 in the US and if Bernie's words can be taken with anything more than a pinch of salt, we may even have two to enjoy at some time in the future again.

I agree with the notion Austin could bring in many South American fans as well, which will only serve to bolster the event even further. Exciting times!

 

[siffert_fan]

Watkins Glen remains one of my favorite circuits. It was tragic that it disappeared from the F1 calendar. The same is true for the Long Beach Formula 1 races. They were spectacular, with a setting and ambiance rather akin to Monaco.

It is clear that most, if not all, of the circuits disappeared from the schedule because they were unable to make any money (usually due to the exhorbitant fees charged by the Short One). With Ecclestone's never-satisfied greed, no circuit can ever feel safe.


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[teabagyokel]

It seems to me that the United States GP has often been perceived to have suffered due to a lack of interest. The 200,000 attendance at Indianapolis in 2000 suggests that there is an audience. Remember a minority of 300 million people can be quite a good number.

I would say that damn bad luck has often been the problem of the USGP. Of all the places for Michelingate to happen, it had to happen in America.

When I researched this article a story that interested me was that Indy500 winner Rodger Ward entered the F1 race at Sebring in his Indy500 car. Ward boasted that his Kurtis Kraft Offenhauser would have an advantage in the turns of Sebring, and told John Cooper he was going to blow the European cars out of the water.

He qualified last, 43 seconds off Stirling Moss on pole for Cooper!

 

[MCLS]

And recently apart from Scott Speed (who was rubbish anyway) there hasnt been any American drivers racing in F1 recently.

 

[MCLS]

Look at Spain for instance, it was really Alonsos fan-base that got the 2nd Spanish Grand prix in Valencia.

 

[Flood1]

As an American I feel like I can say the following and not be considered a critic: The US of A, because of our size and geographical seperation from Europe, has always been a bit chauvinistic regarding sports. We tend to only look inward at Nascar, American football, major leaguebaseball, and professional basketball. The sports stars were all from North America.

That is slowly changing. The NBA has basketball players from all over the world. Indy Car is very international and America is becoming even more culturally diverse. A permanent US circuit, a team associated with US technologies, and US drivers associated with F1 are all elements needed to make a permanent place for F1 in America.

Many of us felt that Montoya was an American as he was a very familiar face. He is South American and that has always been America to me.