Looks like they're gone now. This photo is from 9/23:
Here's what they looked like before:
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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.
Thanks HS. There are a couple of interesting technical bits which are worth citing from your source.hairy_scotsman wrote:Circuit pavement complete:
http://circuitoftheamericas.com/article ... th-success
I did not know who is Tilke's expert for asphalt. It is good to know they optimize the expertise in this crucial field.Oscar Rodriguez from Rodriguez Engineering, one of the subcontractors working on the project, explained how the surface at COTA is not an average one. “The overall design of the asphalt mix for the track is crucial to the performance of the car,” said Rodriguez. ”We work with Tilke and asphalt expert, Dr. Reynard Hart, to produce a mix that is up to their specifications”.
Dr. Hart who works closely with Tilke as a consultant, has paved most of the F1 circuits around the world and his knowledge and expertise was crucial to the overall success of this project. The last minutes of the paving process were crucial and Hart was actively involved with Austin Commercial technicians to make sure the surface was even and the joints of pavement on top of Turn 1 were up to the highest standard.....
The paving process at COTA took a little over 4 months. Each layer was specifically designed to meet FIA standards and to support local weather conditions. The first layer, or “base course,” is meant to support the vertical forces of the cars. The second layer, or “binder course,” is designed to support the horizontal forces of the cars during acceleration and breaking. The final layer, or “wearing course,” is meant to provide grip at high speeds.
I can say that by observing past results at high speed, high downforce tracks, and the fact that McLaren's really got their car together at them. I do think Ferrari will be close to them though.strad wrote:How can you say that? It is obviously a Ferrari track.
Sorry, I completely missed that there was meant to be a joke in there. What was meant to be funny about it?strad wrote:Oh I forgot,,,No Humor Zone
Is it? Tradition on this site is that we only start that conversation when the preceding race is finished.aero expert 807 wrote:Time to start making race predictions!
I got the humor above, but I agree with this. Ferrari seems to do best on more balanced tracks. Will they win here? Who knows, but I think it's a safe bet they'll fare well.aero expert 807 wrote:Maybe my eyes are deceiving me,but this looks like a Ferrari track.
