Not a Good day for race fans

Mister_D

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Game over for the U.S. Grand Prix and the Circuit of the Americas

austin-track-crashed.jpg


Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011, will go down as the day when the racing died in Austin, Texas. The 2012 Formula One United States Grand Prix and the track that would host it, the Circuit of the Americas, were dealt a one-two punch that seems unsurvivable--though neither the race nor the track has formally been pronounced dead.

Of course, neither has Texas Gov. Rick Perry's presidential campaign, but we all know how that's going.

The two punches that apparently finished off the race and the track, which have been ailing for six months, began when Texas comptroller Susan Combs, by far the biggest fan motorsports had in the state government, backed away on Tuesday from a gutsy incentive she helped engineer.

Using a special state trust fund which, more than 200 times, has provided money to encourage big annual public events to come to Texas, Combs was going to advance race organizers $25 million a year, to be repaid by the projected additional tax money generated from the event, mostly from tourists.

This $25 million, to be paid up to one year in advance of the U.S. GP, would have roughly covered the annual sanctioning fee to F1 honcho Bernie Ecclestone. This is a lot of money--probably double or triple a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series sanctioning fee--but it is also a comparative bargain, given what some race organizers in other countries must pay Ecclestone. This contract was assigned to Full Throttle Productions, headed by Tavo Hellmund, whose personal family relationship dating back 40 years with Ecclestone was an enormous factor in getting the deal. It was not assigned to the other two founding partners of the Circuit of the Americas, colorful businessman Red McCombs and Bobby Epstein, the low-key founder of a money-management firm.

So here comes Punch One: Comptroller Combs, clearly weary of the infighting inside the track organization, announced on Tuesday that she would not advance the $25 million to the organizers, which--had all gone well--could have been paid as early as Saturday. The debut F1 race was scheduled for Nov. 18, 2012, and the guidelines, particular to this one race event, said the money could be advanced as early as 364 days before the event takes place.

That option is gone. Now, the state would offer up the money after the race, assuming certain criteria were met. To get the race now, promoters would have to advance that $25 million out of pocket, assuming such a semisweetheart deal is even on the table. By all indications, it is not.

Which leads up to Punch Two: Financier and main money man Epstein--billionaire investor McCombs is reportedly in for less than 10 percent of the budgeted $300 million or so--would like to have Hellmund's 10-year F1 contract assigned to the Circuit of the Americas and not to Hellmund's Full Throttle Productions. Ecclestone has apparently offered Epstein a new contract, but not at the friends-and-family rate Hellmund received. For whatever reason, according to multiple sources, Epstein doesn't like the contract Ecclestone provided.

So later Tuesday afternoon, Circuit of the Americas, which apparently no longer includes cofounder Hellmund, issued a statement saying, "Organizers of Circuit of the Americas, a premier motorsports racing and entertainment venue being developed in Austin, Texas, are suspending further construction of the project until a contract assuring the Formula One United States Grand Prix will be held at Circuit of the Americas in 2012 is complete. The race contract between Formula One and Circuit of the Americas has not been conveyed to Circuit of the Americas per a previously agreed-upon timetable."

What "previously agreed timetable" is that? No one is talking. Presumably Hellmund expected to get paid for landing a 10-year F1 contract, a 10-year MotoGP contract, bringing Australian V8 Supercars to the United States, locating a site for the track, arranging for Hermann Tilke--the top F1 track designer in the world--to create it, and getting the State of Texas to advance the money for the sanctioning fee. Presumably he has not been paid what he expects. But again, no one is talking aside from prepared statements.

This is Hellmund's: "After years of effort in getting F1 to Austin, Full Throttle Productions and city, county and state officials have done all we could. It is the responsibility of Circuit of the Americas to bring it across the finish line."

In the past few months, there has been evidence that Epstein, who is used to running his own show, wants to run this one, too, which is sort of like George Steinbrenner insisting that he should coach his New York Yankees, except that Steinbrenner actually had some experience in baseball. Epstein may be guilty of thinking he can bluff or shame Ecclestone into awarding Austin a new sweetheart deal, but the F1 king has countries, tracks and promoters standing by, begging for a race. He does not need Austin, especially since he has the New Jersey race on tap beginning in 2013.

Thus, barring something that would qualify as a motorsports miracle, there will be no F1 race in Austin, which--according to Epstein's statement--means there will be no Circuit of the Americas, either.

So what will happen to this big, $40 million (that's dollars spent until now and a long way from what is needed for completion) mudhole near Austin? Perhaps the world's nicest RallyCross track? Presumably it could be completed as a less-ambitious, less expensive paved track, attracting lesser racing series, but only NASCAR Sprint Cup would essentially guarantee a profitable product, and Sprint Cup isn't coming to Austin.

Look at reality, and it has to be considered cautionary that IndyCar's recent, very successful Baltimore Grand Prix, which attracted a huge crowd for the street race, was unprofitable to the point where a second Baltimore race is not assured.

The only thing that seems certain in Austin is that it's just about time for lawyers to get involved. It's hard to imagine the plethora of lawsuits that could result from the Circuit of the Americas-Full Throttle conflict: the contractors, the designers, the suppliers? Oh, well.

Six months ago it seemed as if there was a gorgeous site just waiting to be one of the world's most interesting racetracks--a 10-year contract with the world's top auto and motorcycle series, adequate financing, happy politicians willing to help out, area businesses excited about the international crowd the races would draw, and subsequently all the building permits in place.

Now, nothing.
 
F1 in the USA? LOLOLL
Please, everybody knew if was obvious it would never work out.

And also in Texas? Are you serious or just dumb?
Capital of the hillbilies racing their F150s and thinking they are nascars on dirt roads...

Leave F1 to countries that know what real racing is, and the USA is not part of that...
 
F1 in the USA? LOLOLL
Please, everybody knew if was obvious it would never work out.

And also in Texas? Are you serious or just dumb?
Capital of the hillbilies racing their F150s and thinking they are nascars on dirt roads...

Leave F1 to countries that know what real racing is, and the USA is not part of that...

totally true. usa is not a reference at all.
 
Je dirais plus fuck Bernie. Sweet deal for his friends and fuck everybody else...

it's true. but they don't realize that the two 10 year deals, plus other events will more than make up the investment... they need to stop being so greedy and spend the money
 
Montreal va jamais perdre son grand prix.. et celui de NY, ont verra bien... vous aller voir que la F1 va pas attirer tant de monde que prévue, et bye bye F1 a NY.

Montreal, c'est internationale, ya du monde de partout sur la planète pour venir voir celui de Mtl, Celui de NY risque t'attirer des gens aussi worldwide, mais jpense pas que sa va attirer le public principale ( les locaux )
 
F1 in the USA? LOLOLL
Please, everybody knew if was obvious it would never work out.

And also in Texas? Are you serious or just dumb?
Capital of the hillbilies racing their F150s and thinking they are nascars on dirt roads...

Leave F1 to countries that know what real racing is, and the USA is not part of that...

Yeah, like Abu Dhabi, right? Thy are sooo advanced. :rolleyes: If it wasn't for oil, they'd still be racing camels and stoning women. (oh wait they still do that)
 
Montréal a déjà perdu son grand prix, el gros.

Il la pas perdu, ya été remplacé a cause de le manque de fonds que notre beau gvnt voulais pas investir... la trac avais besoin d’être retaper, des nouvelles règles de sécurité, nouveau vibreurs etc... pis les responsable du site voulais que sa soit la F1 qui paye pour une grosse partie de sa, mais dans lfond, pourquoi que la F1 payerais quand ya d'autre series qui vonten profiter?
Fq ya fallu que le gvnt plie l’année d’après.
 
Yeah, like Abu Dhabi, right? Thy are sooo advanced. :rolleyes: If it wasn't for oil, they'd still be racing camels and stoning women. (oh wait they still do that)

You do realise F1 is all about cash right?
and Dubai is the worlds highest attraction right now for all the rich elite on this sad planet.

And yes the USA is not an elite attraction point for anyone.

If I was a rich motherfuck and I lived in some exotic place, and I had a chance to go to see an F1 race... would I rather go to NY, Texaaaasss or Dubaii? Where do you think I would go.?
 
Il la pas perdu, ya été remplacé a cause de le manque de fonds que notre beau gvnt voulais pas investir... la trac avais besoin d’être retaper, des nouvelles règles de sécurité, nouveau vibreurs etc... pis les responsable du site voulais que sa soit la F1 qui paye pour une grosse partie de sa, mais dans lfond, pourquoi que la F1 payerais quand ya d'autre series qui vonten profiter?
Fq ya fallu que le gvnt plie l’année d’après.

Je sais tout ça, donc on l'a perdu une fois et on pourrait le perdre encore vu que notre gouvernement est pauvre.
 
You do realise F1 is all about cash right?
and Dubai is the worlds highest attraction right now for all the rich elite on the sad planet.

Money? But you just said it was all about "real racing" and pick up trucks weren't real racing.
 
Money? But you just said it was all about "real racing" and pick up trucks weren't real racing.

Exactement, si NY est plus payant pour Bernie que Montréal, ca sera pas long que Montréal va être rayé. Et ca risque fort d'arrivé...

NY s'est pas assez International...LOL. Justement, les locaux y sont pas tous prêt a faire le voyage NY-Montréal. Tout comme les locaux de Montréal feront probablement pas le trajet jusqu'à NY. Seul les vrais amateurs vont se déplacer. De plus, le bassin de population de NY et New Jersey est beaucoup plus élevé que celui de Montréal.

En plus, ca tout prit pour le ravoir ce fameux Grand Prix, Bernie y veut du $$, le reste y s'en calisse.

Trouve de meilleur argument Hellyhans, pcq t cassé sur tous les points...
 
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