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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.
Bernie made them change it. http://blog.caranddriver.com/four-of-th ... rand-prix/swarren7 wrote:I was at the race this weekend at turn 4 and what a race it was. Does anybody know why COTA painted over the white stars they had in the original paint job on the track? I think the stars made the paint job on the track look better then what they ended up with. Just curious.
It still looks like ---, though.Pup wrote:Also, I must reluctantly admit that the poor quality of the stonework on the retaining wall behind the paddock parking did not figure as much in the success of the event as I'd thought it might.
Bernie didn't want pixie dust.Nando wrote:
I´m glad they toned it down. Bit too much with the stars.
And it'd be called a "hobby farm" on the Canadian prairies.strad wrote:Bah...500 acres is a small farm by Texas ranch standards...
No problem Mantikos! This is a question we've had as well, but as far as we know these are temporary bleachers that will be taken down, leaving only the Main GS. Turn 15 was planned as a permanent GS, so maybe it will be built, too. Construction supervisors have told us the construction will continue for another year.tok-tokkie wrote:Hairy Scotsman (or others):
A picture of yours from the race thread.
Are these stands:
1. Temporary for the F1 race.
2. Temporary - to be replaced with concrete stands when money is available.
3. Permanent. Low cost seating for all events.
4. Something else
I am particularly interested as there is a plan to stage F1 races locally (Cape Town) but in a Singapore type track in the City on upgraded public roads. I am collecting information about the costs invloved.
Many thanks for your continuing posts about this track as it has evolved - very informative, revealing and interesting.
LOL.Pup wrote:Let's rather be thankful that Hairy was wrong, about everything. All the post-Tavo concern-trolling about the construction, the funding, the ticket sales, the traffic, the organization, the management, and even Tavo himself -- all wrong.
I'd rather thank the construction crews and the guys at CotA and all the other people in Austin who made it happen. It's a wonderful facility and it was an incredibly successful race on all sorts of levels. =D>
Agree with most of this...except the elevation is not man-made, and it's a Tilke track only in as much as his firm provided the detailed plans of Hellmund & Schwantz's layout, and lots of them through many revisions. Tilke didn't do the work, either. Christian Epp oversaw the work of the engineers/architects in Austin who put in thousands of hours on the project. They did a fantastic job.tok-tokkie wrote:That review says it well. A really GREAT track. A fast sweeping sector like Silverstone where the chasing driver could catch up. A really fast section like Monza where overtaking could take place & forced the team to gear the car for high speed. A really tight sector where mechanical grip paid off - where Vettel could regain what he had lost. Lovely changes of elevation had to be artificially created & it is a great feature of the track.
Superb track compared to the recent Tilke tracks where the three sections are mixed up into a jumble so nothing happens besides a procession (Istanbul somewhat excepted).
strad wrote:Yes, indeed..Thanks Hairy for all the updates and pictures etc
Thanks! I've enjoyed it all, even if it was a bit exhausting.notsofast wrote:A great big Thank-You to Hairy and everyone else who kept us informed of the construction of the track. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread all year long.