- Circuit of the Americas is the name for the new racetrack being built in Austin, Texas.
- The track is scheduled to be the site next year of a revived United State Grand Prix Formula 1 race.
- Organizers also announced a full slate of international MotoGP motorcycle races.
AUSTIN, Texas — Already boasting an overload of hype and a nearly equal quantity of skepticism, the under-construction racetrack that promises to bring Formula 1 back to the United States next year now has a name: Circuit of the Americas.
"We are building a destination for entertainment and business, not simply a racetrack, and this brand reflects that entire idea," project frontman Tavo Hellmund said Wednesday. Hellmund is managing partner of Full Throttle Productions, which has a contract for the F1 race.
The track also has a contract for the top three classes of the international MotoGP motorcycle championships, a pact to begin in 2013, it was announced Tuesday. Both contracts are for 10 years.
A 3.4-mile circuit designed by German engineer Hermann Tilke will be the centerpiece of COTA, but the facility will be much more than "merely" a world-class motorsport venue. It will feature multipurpose buildings to be used for education and cultural activities, business and commerce events, conferences, corporate dinners and other galas.
It will also include a medical trauma center that will operate full-time to serve the community, not merely during racing events.
Entrepreneur extraordinaire Red McCombs of Austin, a partner in the venture, remarked on the international flavor of the name.
"One of the most inviting aspects of the name is the word 'Americas,'" McCombs said. "It reflects Austin's ideal location at the crossroads of North America from north to south, east to west. Also, it speaks to our state as a center of commerce and cultural exchange in this hemisphere."
News of the proposed track came as a bombshell announcement in May 2010, with confirmation of the deal from none other than F1 commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone. Hellmund's group forged ahead with its plans, defying doubters who said there was no way the facility could be completed in time to host a race next year.
Construction began in December at a site in Travis County southwest of the Texas capital city, near the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Inside Line says: The prediction here is that the skeptics had better get ready to eat their doubting words. — David Green, Correspondent
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julianb says:
05:25 PM, 04/14/2011
Who cares, F1 ain't what it used to be... Ferrari makes a 4-door, 4-wheel drive vehicles...lol. And am I the only one who believes some drivers are penalized unfairly, while others easily get off the hook? And what about when teams pit one driver against the other, rather than encouraging pure competition.
And I almost forgot about the controversial governing body leaders in the FIA. Google some of them present and especially the past.