Circuit of The Americas today announced that it has been declared ready to host the 2012 F1 United States GP by Charlie Whiting, who directs racing, safety and technical matters for the FIA. Whiting visited the Central Texas racing circuit as part of a scheduled pre-race inspection and approved the circuit for “Grade 1” status, hence appropriate to host an F1 race.
The land outside the circuit slopes upward from the track between 9 & 10. From 10 til at least 1/2 of the way to 11, it's downhill as you move away from the track. It's not deceptive. Look at 10 itself. It's off-camber and slopes very much to the outside.Pup wrote:The ground actually slopes down to the track there - the photo is deceptive due to the shape of the quick-grass, which tapers to a sharp point right at T10, the height of the hill at 11, and that fact that the Austin horizon doesn't actually tilt up to the right.
Not there. I've walked the area 100 times. It descends from the track as you go away. Look at the bulldozer. It's much lower than the track. Look at the water below the track at the left edge of the bottom pic.Pup wrote:Look at pics taken from the track - it goes up.
In the video you can't see the 50 yards or so behind the guardrail that descends before starting to rise again well back from the track toward the edge of COTA's property.Pup wrote:Look at budaman's driving tour, at 1:25 he's headed into 10 and you can see the GA area rise up to the left and then on the right after he makes the turn. The grandstands won't start until after he's past the gantry. Plenty of good viewing area.
What you don't seem to get is that I've been down into that lower ground. It's not about how it looks to me in photos. I've seen it with my own eyes. I saw it today. Vance saw it and commented on it. My wife saw it. You're the only one I've come across who thinks it looks different from what I'm describing. It's not that big of a deal except in the way you'll dispute practically everything I post here when you clearly haven't ever set foot near the property.Pup wrote:It's an odd thing to argue about, since you can see it quite clearly in the video from track level.
The fact that the horizon is off in pretty much every photo you've shown should be enough to tell you that your perception is off while standing on that hill. It's no big deal, humans suck at that - it's why we get fooled in funhouses into thinking water runs uphill and stuff. You're taking those photos while standing on a hill that slopes down, but your brain wants it to be level. So everything you see from that viewpoint seems to slope the other way. That's why the horizon is tilted; it's why the tractor is not (it's really angled slightly downhill); and it's why you perceive the GA area as sloping away from the track when it really slopes towards it.
