Maybe I missed it, but noone mentioned that the F1 race is already on the schedule for next year (2012). So, either Bernie and his band of merry men know something nobody else does, or Austin's playing games. The politics and B.S. just never stop when F1 is involved. I guess Indy had good reasons to send F1 packing. It does seem odd for Austin to resist F1 anyway. Seems to me having an F1 race in town will bring in a ton of cash and make Austin a destination to be reckoned with.
slantvaliant wrote:alfadriver wrote: Texas is *supposed* to be fiscally conservative, at least to what the news reports the leaders there say. So maybe Austin is going that way?Austin? Conservative? The words just don't go together ...
So Austin is opposite of the rest of the state, yes? The state that came up with this whole funding idea? So isn't it natural they will try to find ways to not use it?
Sure seems as if they are flexing their individual muscles to fight back against the rest of the state.
Whatever reason. They'll make it up.
ncjay wrote: Maybe I missed it, but noone mentioned that the F1 race is already on the schedule for next year (2012).
According to one of the speakers, it is on the schedule for June of next year, although the guys in the F1 headquarters have said that it may be moved to the fall. It is generally agreed upon that a race in mid-June in Austin is a bad idea because of the heat. Well, if the race was moved to the fall, then it would be ineligible for the trust fund, because the fun requires the event to occur within a year.
Seems like more political posturing given the state's budget deficit. Maybe I was the only one paying attention, but the $25,000,000 fee was common knowledge when the track was first proposed.
Cut to a year later and every elected official is pleading ignorance. This has to go through, if only for the sake of having MotoGP 30 minutes away!
You weren't, and you're exactly right.
Jalopnik (yeah, I know..not what it used to be) has an aerial photo of construction.
http://jalopnik.com/5798465/aerial-photo-of-usf1-grand-prix-track-construction
Dirt's been moved..gonna be a great smoking hole in the ground if it's stopped. Discussion on the various Corner Worker sites I frequent is mostly about the timing on the schedule. June 17? Average temps seem to be 100deg F. Current 10 day forecast: http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/Austin+TX+USTX0057
I think construction will continue. I'm pretty sure they have the $$$ backing to go on. The thing to remember that it's not a "one race" track like many built in the past few years. The COTA is planning on concerts, meetings, other races, a motorsports park/country club thing, etc.
The $25 million is to ensure they can fund an F1 race.
I think it'll be built, the question will be when the first F1 race (if there is one) will be there.
-Rob
rob_lewis wrote: I think construction will continue. I'm pretty sure they have the $$$ backing to go on. The thing to remember that it's not a "one race" track like many built in the past few years. The COTA is planning on concerts, meetings, other races, a motorsports park/country club thing, etc.
Y'know..that actually sounds like how SCRAMP runs Laguna Seca.
The issue isn't whether there will be a track or not, it's just about how many perks he'll get. We'll have F1 in Austin one day.
Most of the naysayers are people who wanted the track someplace else like Watkins Glen or Indy.
carguy123 wrote: Most of the naysayers are people who wanted the track someplace else like Watkins Glen or Indy.
Seems like the predominant naysayers are local NIMBY-types who don't live anywhere near the track, are striking a pose for some kind of publicity for their agenda, or Texas residents who cannot/will not understand how the state budgets and project-funding works.
F1 "fans" who whine about a USGP in Texas are those who live close to Indy or WG and won't take the time or spend the money to go to Austin. They are not the fans the COTA wants to attract.
In reply to oldsaw:
I can't help but wonder how many of them actually spend the cash to to to Montreal, tho..
friedgreencorrado wrote: In reply to oldsaw: I can't help but wonder how many of them actually spend the cash to to to Montreal, tho..
They can still go to Canada but should also quit whining that Texas is too far away.
I can say there isn't much appetite for a return of F1 here in Indy. After the first couple of years, the F1 race was just barely financially feasable. The reason F1 left was that Bernie raised the sanctioning fee to the point where it became an absolute loser for the Speedway. The last several years of the race, paid attendance leveled out @ about 100,000. The same or little less than both the Brickyard 400 and Red Bull Moto GP
I am VERY happy to say I was wrong. The Austin City Council passed the F1 initiative.
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/racing/entries/2011/06/29/city_council_endorses_f1_agree.html?cxntcid=breaking_news
Woo Hoo!!!
-Rob
oldsaw wrote:friedgreencorrado wrote: In reply to oldsaw: I can't help but wonder how many of them actually spend the cash to to to Montreal, tho..They can still go to Canada but should also quit whining that Texas is too far away.
That's kind of what I meant to imply. Is the cost of flying to Austin & finding accommodations there that much more than what they'd spend to go to Montreal? Yeah, for folks close enough to drive, it'd be cheaper..but I think they're just a small part of the people in this country who like F1.
i hope its not a bad deal for the tax payers. but F1 on US soil ^_^
Not a bad deal. The money is coming from a fund that is for promotional things just as this and if I read the article right even with the 25Mill Austin expects to clear an additional $4Mil in sales tax, etc.
The Texas trust fund is designed to recoup it's investment by getting payback with tax revenues from the very events that receive the money.
All indications are the COTA has quite a bit of interest from sanctioning bodies and is slotted to host MotoGP's starting in 2013. Even the Aussie V8's have expressed a desire to visit Texas:
http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/move-over-nascar-here-come-the-aussie-v8s-20110628-1gotz.html
if the V8 Supercars do go there, will the Holden teams put Chevy Caprice decals on their cars for the race?
Watch this video for some sort of idea of all the things they are planning there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TQGC5XCUHg
From the update I got from them yesterday...
The Austin, Texas City Council voted last Wednesday to officially endorse Formula 1 coming to Austin: an important step in bringing the United States Grand Prix™ to life. We’d like to thank you all for your overwhelming support.
I like that it's also set up to be an expansive outdoor music venue. That'll make a few detractors happy that it got passed.
You'll need to log in to post.
