US GP Site Announcement

Flood1 said:
I recieved an invitation a little while ago to attend the press conference that will announce the exact site location for the 2012 US GP in Austin, Texas. It looks as if things are moving forward. here is the exact email sent to me by Full Throttle productions:

http://www.formula1journal.com/2010/07/ ... lood1.html
My thanks to Flood1. This is a subject I am particularly interested in and I echo Brogan's comment that I hope you will keep this forum informed on all developments.

Thankyou.
 
Hey Flood, yeah I heard the same thing and saw the same lay out from here. So it looks more than mere speculation. Curvy!!

Heres an embedded image for those of you too lazy to clickity click :)

austin.png


Edit: Your name reminds me of scary beasties in Halo :o
 
Well, I'm from New Orleans, USA. Many people believe it's a joke name, but it is my real last name. Flood, I wonder what it was before my Scots-Irish ancestors anglasized it? But no, my wife's name is not Katrina!
 
If they build that, with that big curvy, sweepy bend on the left I will be extremely impressed. That will make turn 8 at Turkey look like a corner on a kart track.
 
FB said:
If they build that, with that big curvy, sweepy bend on the left I will be extremely impressed. That will make turn 8 at Turkey look like a corner on a kart track.
It's only got 3 apexes though, not 4 :D

I'm interested to see how the elevation changes are factored in.

This could be a very interesting circuit.
 
I will be in Austin on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday next week. I'm going to the site with a guy I know who is pretty handy with surveying equipment. If there are no "no trespassing" signs posted, we will climb the fence. I am told there is a 100 foot tall ridge that undulates on the north side of the property.

I worked in Austin in 1994 for a year or so on the AMD computer chip facility doing Electrical/Instrumentation design/construction. I also have a lunch date with a reporter from the local newspaper and a couple of other people. They probably won't tell me a freaking thing, but I will party on 6th Steet anyway.

My latest thoughts on the press conference are here:

http://www.formula1journal.com
 
Interesting Flood, no great surprise really to see H. Tilke approached again as the circuit designer. With the deadline for 2012 the organisers would need to ensure there will be no delay in getting the plans approved, and he is well known to be Bernies choice designer for any track these days. I can't help but think that the sponsors mentioning of his "green" credentials is more a way to get acceptance of the fans in using Hermann for the circuit design, rather than any expectation of a particularly 'green' design.

After reading a lot of the info, I am convinced that Austin is serious in its bid, mainly because of the likening of the event to hosting the Superbowl. I have no doubt that once a year this will bring money into the local area, although for the track to be considered a success, they would need to branch out form just formula 1, and probably an IndyCar race. This track will need to be used more than once or twice a year, or I can see F1 in the USA faltering once again. I hope this is not the case, but surly to entertain the American population and really bring them into the fold what is needed is an American team, or at least an American driver?
 
There is some very interesting information in here.
I feel that the key to the whole success of this venture, and that it will succeed is in the approach of Hellmund and McCoombs.
Instead of just concentrating on racing, and F1 they have elected to have a wide diversity of facilities on the site.
The university links are very interesting if you consider McCoombs links with the University of Texas
"On May 11, 2000, businessman Red McCombs announced a $50 million donation to UT Austin. In his honor, the College of Business Administration and the Graduate School of Business were merged under the newly created Red McCombs School of Business"
This and other interests makes the whole project a realistic investment opportunity and I fully expect to see such other facilities as hotels, conference centres included in the planning.

It's also very interesting to note that Kevin Shwantz is also involved.
Since his retirement from racing, he has developed young riders training school.He is very involved with the Honda AMA series, and still active in the Moto GP world.
So that brings up all sorts of possibilties.
 
This is going to make me sound like a real hick but I didn't realise Austin is the capital of Texas.
 
I hope you guys are not getting tired of this, but Tim has written a blog about the experience of attending the press conference announcing the US GP site location. It is our first experience being invited to an event like this, so it is special to all of us who have been working on the blog. It must be similar to the attention that Clip the Apex has enjoyed once the f1 world recognized the value of your statistics.

http://www.formula1journal.com
 
Flood1 said:
I hope you guys are not getting tired of this, but Tim has written a blog about the experience of attending the press conference announcing the US GP site location. It is our first experience being invited to an event like this, so it is special to all of us who have been working on the blog. It must be similar to the attention that Clip the Apex has enjoyed once the f1 world recognized the value of your statistics.

http://www.formula1journal.com

Thanks for that, Flood1. What a good read! :)
It's good to hear about the launch from people that were there. Nice one.
 
I'm in Austin today and going out to look at the site tomorrow. Tim has also directed me to some new info, no big secrets but something that has been local only so I'll share that with you later after we have had a chance to talk.
 
FB said:
This is going to make me sound like a real hick but I didn't realise Austin is the capital of Texas.
Yeah, named after Stephen F. Austin. It was a question on Universally Challenged last night (which I got right.. :thankyou: )
 
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