Formula 1 Grand Prix! Austin, Texas! For Real?
Today my personal e-mail Inbox blew up! I received ALL sorts of Internet chatter & some interesting links about Formula 1 & Bernie Ecclestone, setting up for Formula 1 to race in the Austin, Texas environs. The exact location is still not known, but many rumors are already afoot. The contract is slated to run from 2012 to 2021.
A few years back, there was word of a Formula 1 style track facility to be built somewhere west of Austin, to be called the Bergrennenring. I recall reading something about that, but it seemed to have died in the vine. The last post to their blog was in February, 2008.
This time round there is some major name dropping going on:
- Bernie Ecclestone, the “grand poobah” of F1 himself is quoted
- Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas, puts his promotional 2 cents in
- Lee Leffingwell, the Mayor of Austin is rightly impressed
“This is a case of the right timing in the right place,” said Austin-based Tavo Hellmund, the managing partner of race promoter Full Throttle Productions, a special event and sports production company that was formed in 2005.
Hellmund said the Austin track and grandstand would be built “within 10 miles” of the Austin airport. The track will be at least 3 miles long. He declined to release further details, including the size of the grandstand and total cost.
Based on all the Internet chatter, this is something so very many in the regional motorsports community are looking forward to. Here’s the major article links I have found. Go ahead, read them at your leisure:
- the Formula 1 official site – Formula One returns to the United States
- the New York Times – Formula One’s U.S. Return to Be in Austin
- the Guardian – Texas to stage United States Grand Prix from 2012
- on AutoWeek.com – Formula One heads to Austin, Texas, in 2012
- onn Jalopnik – BREAKING: Formula 1 Coming To Austin
- on Sports Illustrated – F1 revives US Grand Prix in 2012 in Austin, Texas
- & the local paper,
Austin American-Statesman - Mayor: Formula One is coming to Austin
Thanks to Monica, SPOKES member, here’s the one quote that sums all this up best!
Something being announced in Formula 1 doesn’t mean it’ll actually happen.
Racing Ready thought that IndyCar was the only professional series of world class open wheel racing, to be available nearby. The next one is the Firestone 550K, at the Texas Motor Speedway. This race takes place on June 5th, 2010.
Well, now we’ve a sense of world class racing hope! This will make South/Central Texas more of an authentic motorsports activity hub. We’ll see what develops…
Dan
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