Austin, TX - Home of the USA's Newest Race Track
10-17-2011, 07:18 PM
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Austin, TX - Home of the USA's Newest Race Track First Look: Circuit of the Americas
By Mike Magrath | October 17, 2011
It may not look like much now, but this mound of dirt is the future site of the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The Circuit of the Americas will host Formula 1, Moto GP, and the V8 Supercar Series from Australia. We got a quick look at the facility last week during a non-F1-related press event.
Circuit of The Americas is located on a 1,000 acre site in southeast Austin, about two miles from Austin Bergstrom International Airport. That two miles takes half an hour and is pure Texas: longhorns, ranches, tiny houses on huge plots of land, massive drought.
The track is 3.4 miles long and can accommodate vehicles running at a top speed of 200 mph. The maximum elevation is 133 feet. The facility will be able to accommodate about 120,000 fans. But right now, there's only wide open land around the course. Land and rattlesnakes.
Here is an artist's rendering what the course will look like when completed. The as-yet unnamed hairpin curve (top right of photo) will be the signature turn of the course. We're naming it the "longhorn lasso," for now. There's still quite a bit of work to be done, but the track representatives say that the course will be ready in time to kick off the 2012 Formula 1 season on November 18, 2012.
We didn't get a chance to drive on the track (we tried), but a Redbull F1 car already has. Take a look at the vide of the Red Bull car kicking up a lot of dust and taking the first-ever lap around the track.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WRpB1utQXQ
By Mike Magrath | October 17, 2011
It may not look like much now, but this mound of dirt is the future site of the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The Circuit of the Americas will host Formula 1, Moto GP, and the V8 Supercar Series from Australia. We got a quick look at the facility last week during a non-F1-related press event.
Circuit of The Americas is located on a 1,000 acre site in southeast Austin, about two miles from Austin Bergstrom International Airport. That two miles takes half an hour and is pure Texas: longhorns, ranches, tiny houses on huge plots of land, massive drought.
The track is 3.4 miles long and can accommodate vehicles running at a top speed of 200 mph. The maximum elevation is 133 feet. The facility will be able to accommodate about 120,000 fans. But right now, there's only wide open land around the course. Land and rattlesnakes.
Here is an artist's rendering what the course will look like when completed. The as-yet unnamed hairpin curve (top right of photo) will be the signature turn of the course. We're naming it the "longhorn lasso," for now. There's still quite a bit of work to be done, but the track representatives say that the course will be ready in time to kick off the 2012 Formula 1 season on November 18, 2012.
We didn't get a chance to drive on the track (we tried), but a Redbull F1 car already has. Take a look at the vide of the Red Bull car kicking up a lot of dust and taking the first-ever lap around the track.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WRpB1utQXQ
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10-22-2011, 11:21 PM
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My company is doing all the owner QA testing out there. Below is a copy paste of a post I made elsewhere that has some additional pictures you wont see anywhere else. Theyre a couple months old now but cool none the less.
Ended up making it out to the F1 track today and took a few pictures. Its hard to explain some of the pictures and the orientation of them in text but Ill try. I got a picture of the overall plan of the track so some of the pictures may make a bit more sense after seeing it.
View from our job trailer
Heading out the main rodadof the job
Excavation for the actual track path
Looking back to the NEish corner of the project
You can see downtown Austin in the faint distance to the west, in person its actually much clearer but my camera makes it look foggy(cell phone 8mp camera)
Where the crane is at is where the north tunnel will be
Plan of the track,t he following pictures are taken from the far SE corner of the project on the map where the hairpin turn is
Looking out to the middle
Looking to left or south
Far NE corner of project
Coming down the main hill looking down at the paddock area(the big lighter colored area)
The shear amount of dirt being moved out there is astronomical. The track is on average 30' wide, and the select fill(imported material) is 20' thick. I forget how long exactly the track is but its well over a mile. As you can see they have a LONG way to go but its slowly taking shape. Lunch time is funny, all of the equipment onsite(~100 pieces+/-) have to come up to the front to eat so it looks like a bunch of ants coming to food but theyre all 631 scrapers(250,000# machinery) and D9s and soon some D10 dozers.
There will be some big hills at certain parts of the track that will be "lawn seating" where you can hang out on a blanket and watch the race. Who knows how much those will cost but thats probably all my poor *** can ever hope to afford. The grandstands are relatively small for the track IMO but the architectural renderings of the site look very nice. It will definitely be bringing a decent chunk fo change to Austin.
Ended up making it out to the F1 track today and took a few pictures. Its hard to explain some of the pictures and the orientation of them in text but Ill try. I got a picture of the overall plan of the track so some of the pictures may make a bit more sense after seeing it.
View from our job trailer
Heading out the main rodadof the job
Excavation for the actual track path
Looking back to the NEish corner of the project
You can see downtown Austin in the faint distance to the west, in person its actually much clearer but my camera makes it look foggy(cell phone 8mp camera)
Where the crane is at is where the north tunnel will be
Plan of the track,t he following pictures are taken from the far SE corner of the project on the map where the hairpin turn is
Looking out to the middle
Looking to left or south
Far NE corner of project
Coming down the main hill looking down at the paddock area(the big lighter colored area)
The shear amount of dirt being moved out there is astronomical. The track is on average 30' wide, and the select fill(imported material) is 20' thick. I forget how long exactly the track is but its well over a mile. As you can see they have a LONG way to go but its slowly taking shape. Lunch time is funny, all of the equipment onsite(~100 pieces+/-) have to come up to the front to eat so it looks like a bunch of ants coming to food but theyre all 631 scrapers(250,000# machinery) and D9s and soon some D10 dozers.
There will be some big hills at certain parts of the track that will be "lawn seating" where you can hang out on a blanket and watch the race. Who knows how much those will cost but thats probably all my poor *** can ever hope to afford. The grandstands are relatively small for the track IMO but the architectural renderings of the site look very nice. It will definitely be bringing a decent chunk fo change to Austin.
10-05-2012, 03:13 AM
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Any update on this track guys?
Not sure if you guys are aware of the change going to happen for the Aussie Supercars in 2013 in the new car of the future being formed.
Different chassis design, open to other manufacturers, Nissan Aust will supply engines & support to the Kelly Bros who will run 4 cars.
Betty Klimenko 'Erebus Motorsport' has gone against Mercedes wishes in funding a partnership with Stone Bros racing to the tune of $12.5 mil who race Fords & will now change to Mercedes running 3 cars.
Mercedes do not want to be associated with blue collar cars such as the Ford/Holden being that Mercedes are considered 'prestige' Hopefully this will change in the future as more makes enter this category.
Erebus Motorsport has been dominant in the Australian GT category with Mercedes-AMG’s SLS AMG GT3 racecar.
Her wealth & persistence payed off in getting Mercedes to supply her with the 5 ltr AMG race engines, & assuming the car panels to fit the controlled chassis used by all cars, same suspension, g/box, diff etc etc.
All cars to be a 5 ltr n/a controlled HP (650fwhp) approx. Manufacturers without a V8 can use either the Ford or Chev currently used.
This Australian race category will only get better in the following years as hopefully manufacturers will get behind it with their support, ie: BMW, Audi, Chrysler, Toyota, etc join.
Not sure if you guys are aware of the change going to happen for the Aussie Supercars in 2013 in the new car of the future being formed.
Different chassis design, open to other manufacturers, Nissan Aust will supply engines & support to the Kelly Bros who will run 4 cars.
Betty Klimenko 'Erebus Motorsport' has gone against Mercedes wishes in funding a partnership with Stone Bros racing to the tune of $12.5 mil who race Fords & will now change to Mercedes running 3 cars.
Mercedes do not want to be associated with blue collar cars such as the Ford/Holden being that Mercedes are considered 'prestige' Hopefully this will change in the future as more makes enter this category.
Erebus Motorsport has been dominant in the Australian GT category with Mercedes-AMG’s SLS AMG GT3 racecar.
Her wealth & persistence payed off in getting Mercedes to supply her with the 5 ltr AMG race engines, & assuming the car panels to fit the controlled chassis used by all cars, same suspension, g/box, diff etc etc.
All cars to be a 5 ltr n/a controlled HP (650fwhp) approx. Manufacturers without a V8 can use either the Ford or Chev currently used.
This Australian race category will only get better in the following years as hopefully manufacturers will get behind it with their support, ie: BMW, Audi, Chrysler, Toyota, etc join.
Last edited by ls1 1990 VN; 10-09-2012 at 11:53 AM.
10-05-2012, 01:44 PM
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Any update on this track guys?
Not sure if you guys are aware of the change going to happen for the Aussie Supercars in 2013 in the new car of the future being formed.
Different chassis design, open to other manufacturers, Nissan Aust will supply engines & support to the Kelly Bros who will run 4 cars.
Betty Klimenko 'Erebus Motorsport' has gone against Mercedes wishes in funding a partnership with Stone Bros racing the the tune of $12.5 mil who race Fords & will now change to Mercedes running 3 cars.
Mercedes do not want to be associated with blue collar cars such as the Ford/Holden being that Mercedes are considered 'prestige' Hopefully this will change in the future as more makes enter this category.
Erebus Motorsport has been dominant in the Australian GT category with Mercedes-AMG’s SLS AMG GT3 racecar.
Her wealth & persistence payed off in getting Mercedes to supply her with the 5 ltr AMG race engines, & assuming the car panels to fit the controlled chassis used by all cars, same suspension, g/box, diff etc etc.
All cars to be a 5 ltr n/a controlled HP (650fwhp) approx. Manufacturers without a V8 can use either the Ford or Chev currently used.
This Australian race category will only get better in the following years as hopefully manufacturers will get behind it with their support, ie: BMW, Audi, Chrysler, Toyota, etc join.
Not sure if you guys are aware of the change going to happen for the Aussie Supercars in 2013 in the new car of the future being formed.
Different chassis design, open to other manufacturers, Nissan Aust will supply engines & support to the Kelly Bros who will run 4 cars.
Betty Klimenko 'Erebus Motorsport' has gone against Mercedes wishes in funding a partnership with Stone Bros racing the the tune of $12.5 mil who race Fords & will now change to Mercedes running 3 cars.
Mercedes do not want to be associated with blue collar cars such as the Ford/Holden being that Mercedes are considered 'prestige' Hopefully this will change in the future as more makes enter this category.
Erebus Motorsport has been dominant in the Australian GT category with Mercedes-AMG’s SLS AMG GT3 racecar.
Her wealth & persistence payed off in getting Mercedes to supply her with the 5 ltr AMG race engines, & assuming the car panels to fit the controlled chassis used by all cars, same suspension, g/box, diff etc etc.
All cars to be a 5 ltr n/a controlled HP (650fwhp) approx. Manufacturers without a V8 can use either the Ford or Chev currently used.
This Australian race category will only get better in the following years as hopefully manufacturers will get behind it with their support, ie: BMW, Audi, Chrysler, Toyota, etc join.
