COTA Austin - construction and infrastructure

[outer_bongolia]

I also read that they bought another piece of property next to the track's. They are already expanding the area.

[A_M]

My track attempt for a anti clockwise track

The actual site is smaller than your circuit layout.

I traced out the track site onto google maps (as per this PDF from the official website). It may not be 100% accurate but should be pretty darn close. Knock yourselves out!

Track site traced on Google Maps.

I also read that they bought another piece of property next to the track's. They are already expanding the area.

Got any links/more info on this? Does the map/shape above need to be updated?

[donskar]

McComb, a (the?) major investor, is your basic ultra-rich sportsman. He has owned a couple pro basketball teams. Much of his wealth comes from several auto dealerships in the San Antonio/Austin region. He is a major player in the Toyota dealership world.

[WhiteBlue]

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted August 04, 2010 Balen (BEL)
The Austin F1 track will cost $180m to build, according to documents given to the Statesman newspaper.

The paper requested information on the project and despite them being marked ‘confidential,’ they were released by City Hall.

Aside from quoting the cost of building the track, the documents contend that the project will require 1500 construction workers, and that 1200 people will be employed over the Grand Prix weekend. There will also be 40 full time employees at the venue.

The documents also suggest that the race will have a $300m impact on the Austin area.

Other activities expected to keep the track busy for up to 250 days a year include testing, alternative fuel research (as previously outlined here), driving schools, police training, music concerts and “high-end auctions.” There is also mention of NASCAR and drag racing events.

So the early reports about $180 mil cost were actually accurate.

[WhiteBlue]

Christian Sylt takes a look into the figures for the Austin race.

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_ ... t_id=41723

The more interesting figures to emerge from this article is the actual average race fee figure which he puts at $31.2m. This is a bit higher than the figures that were circulating previously. He also says the rate of increase is 10%. That is much higher than the 7% increase we have seen applied to other races. He says that the first fee for 2012 will be $25m and the last fee for 2021 will be $58m. These are exactly the values that you arrive at by increasing $25m by 10% annually.

The $25m is exactly the subsidy that the state of Texas is prepared to chip in for promoting the race. The economic impact from the race is officially estimated a $300m. If you apply the Austin local sales tax rate of 8.25% to the impact figure you arrive at $24.75m which is rounded to $25mil for publicity purposes.

Contrary to other publications Sylt says that the $25mil subsidy will remain available year after year and it sounds plausible. If the state wants to promote an event that is contracted at 10 years it should be prepared to chip in all his profits to secure the contract.

What we see in this case is another form of finance for Hellmund by Bernie Ecclestone. Bernie would usually ask for $31.2m to start with and demand an increase of 7%. This would also lead to a final race fee of $58m in 2021. Because Hellmund is at his highest risk in his first year he has probably agreed to artificially reduce the first year fee and take a higher annual increase from 7% to 10%. This way he can run the event without losses in the first year and use any income from the race to cover cost and some small capital return for the investors. I would not be surprised if the return rate for the investors is also planned to increase by a fixed percentage and is starting at a very low level. Hellmund obviously plans to attract a range of other paying events which will keep the track busy for 250 day per year. It will take some time to attract all that business but as the sales grow he should be able to generate higher margins and cover the increasing returns for the investors and Ecclestone.

It all looks like a quite clever scheme which may work if the race attracts the average spectator rate of 160.000 over the race weekend and they spend an average of $1,875. This figure relies heavily on rich people flying in for the race using rental cars and hotels and other entertainment including heavy spendings at the local bars and shops. It certainly isn't a scheme for families using an available camp ground with cheap rates. To sustain the economy in these figures the race track must produce excellent racing on a consistent basis. I hope that Hellmund is clever enough to define a course that will allow for such races to happen.

[Bane]

As an American I can't wait to get another race, I hope it works out because I have yet to make a race. I will admit I was really hoping for the race near New York, just because there is a large enough European population to help back it up. The one thing I am affraid off is that there are not enough casual fans in that area to support F1. We will see.

[WhiteBlue]

Tilke pushing ahead with Austin F1 track

Officials of Hermann Tilke's German company are beginning to arrive in Austin to begin work at the site of the 2012 United States Grand Prix. The Formula One circuit design company Tilke GmbH already has geologists testing he 900-acre plot of land and is about to open a local office for 20 staff, according to a report in the local American-Statesman.

"There is land, there is money, there is a Formula One contract. We are now ready to enter the final stage of the ambitious project," said Tilke's US executive Christian Epp. He said the actual track layout is essentially complete, but that questions about the auxiliary buildings are still being answered. "We have to figure how many buildings and access roads are needed, how in detail to manage the water supply, drainage and power," said Epp. "It's like planning and building a complete new city." He said a Tilke delegation will be in Austin next week to continue working on the reportedly $200 million plans, with actual construction to begin in December.

"The engineers and the contractors tell me it can be built by summer 2012," said the race organisers' lawyer Richard Suttle Jr.

I hope they release the track design soon. I'm not so interested in the buildings, which generally seem to be very important for Bernie. But if the track is not first class the whole venture is build on sand.

[andrew]

The quality of the track is not a major factor for success. It's location that is key. Tracks like Bahrain, Singapore, Valencia are terrible but are successful. The badge of F1 is enough to lure those with disposable income and the ones who go to be watched and not watch the race.

[donskar]

WB wrote:

"Hellmund obviously plans to attract a range of other paying events which will keep the track busy for 250 day per year."

250 days per year? Seems very optimistic. I do hope you/Hellmund are right

[WhiteBlue]

We view the circuit as a year-round activity and that is what we are hoping to capture. We would like other top level series to come too.I think there will be a big financial return but that will come because of the ancillary programmes that will be put in place and not the race itself.

They talked specifically about ALMS, MotoGP and NASCAR. Kevin Schwantz being involved is a hint that they are serious about it. But I agree that it will take a massive effort to get it to the level you see at Silverstone and Nürburgring. They do anything from driving school over big Rock music events to automotive development and endurance racing.

[jon-mullen]

big Rock music events

Big Rock events shouldn't be a problem for Austin, they already do the large multimedia festival South by Southwest.

automotive development

GM has plants in Arlington, TX (3.5 hrs), Oklahoma City, OK (6.5 hrs) and Shreveport, LA (6 hrs); Toyota one in Arlington, TX (3.5 hrs) and one coming soon in Blue Springs, MS (12 hrs). Then there's a few in Alabama (13+ hours) but I imagine they'd be a lot closer to Road Atlanta.

NASCAR

Maybe it can replace Texas Motor Speedway on the calendar, that race is booooring and there are plenty of better speedways.

[donskar]

jon-mullen wrote:

GM has plants in Arlington, TX (3.5 hrs), Oklahoma City, OK (6.5 hrs) and Shreveport, LA (6 hrs); Toyota one in Arlington, TX (3.5 hrs) and one coming soon in Blue Springs, MS (12 hrs). Then there's a few in Alabama (13+ hours) but I imagine they'd be a lot closer to Road Atlanta.

You forget the big one: Toyota builds all its Tundras and Tacomas (pickup trucks) in San Antonio, Texas -- only about 90 minutes away from Austin. There has already been a little wishful thinking about "The US Grand Prix Sponsored by Toyota Tundra." Texas is truck country, and Red McComb made part of his fortune through his San Antonio Toyota dealership.

[Dukeage]

I'll check in my copy if the (leaked) old Concorde Agreement, but I don't think car manufacturers are allowed to sponsor races.

EDIT : Not in my copy of the 1997 CA, I think I actually remember seeing in the WRC rules. It may well be the case in F1, but I don't know.

[jon-mullen]

Oh good catch, donskar. Are you at liberty to say if they currently test at a road course?

[FW17]

More details of the track is going to be given out next week.

There are some sketchy info going around that the track is twisty 3.2 miles long, Twenty turns, some high speed, some low speed technical and a 140 feet of elevation change.

The grandstand is going to be low-slung sitting on the highest point on the track.