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.
Post here all non technical related topics about Formula One. This includes race results, discussions, testing analysis etc. TV coverage and other personal questions should be in Off topic chat.
My 25 years xperience from design engineering has told me that attention to detail and aesthetics is more often than not a reflection of the general competence behind the contraption in question, but on the other hand, after seeing that moon-vehicle in Houston live, it makes you wonder how they made it to the moon in the first place.
What's that, they never did, it was just a show?
"I spent most of my money on wine and women...I wasted the rest"
Circuitoftheamericas.com is back up and running, and with it so is Ticket Reservation info. $100 per seat to reserve your place in line to buy "Select Seating" which seems to be limited to the Main Grandstand and suites, but it's really not clear after reading the FAQs posted.
I guess I'll reserve comment for now, but I have questions about other things I found unclear:
- Come March 1, if I've paid my deposit, can I purchase a seat for 1 year without getting a PSL, or is March 1 for PSL sales only?
- Also, does my $100 deposit apply to the ticket price?
- Before I buy a PSL, I need to know how long the USGP is secured to be held at COTA. Without that information, PSLs are a no-go for me and my family. Is that available?
- If I'm not interested in seating or suites on the main straight, but I do want tickets in other grandstand areas toward the back of the track, does the deposit apply to these?
I'll submit these and let you all know what I hear.
From January 23 until February 13 fans can join the SSWL to be first in line to purchase a personal seat licence which will go on sale March 1, 2012. Personal seat licences will range in price from $1,000 to $5,000 per seat payable in two installments if desired, depending on proximity to the start/finish line and amenities. This licence entitles its holder to purchase tickets for all racing events at Circuit of The Americas for the next 15 years.
Select seating is focused on the main grandstand, which has approximately 9,000 seats in 26 rows. There is also expected to be high demand for the Turn 1 grandstand, which organisers claim features the clearest sightlines for the track's signature turn along with a view all the way to downtown Austin.
Formula One's fundamental ethos is about success coming to those with the most ingenious engineering and best ..............................organization, not to those with the biggest budget. (Dave Richards)
LOL...both of the following are straight from the COTA site:
As you register for the waitlist, you'll be asked to pay a $100 deposit. This deposit applies to a spot on the waitlist, regardless of the amount of seats you're interested in purchasing.
In order to reserve your spot on the official Circuit of The Americas waitlist for suite and select seating opportunities, a $100 per seat deposit and contact information must be submitted at the following link: http://bit.ly/SelectSeatingDeposit
So...which is it?
This update has generated more questions and confusion than answers. Wonder when COTA will clarify.
That's pretty standard English. $100 deposit per spot on the list.
I personally think PSLs are immoral, but they've become almost standard for new sports venues these days. (Thanks, Premier League!) I'll be waiting for individual tickets to go on sale.
See if I can get this straight now; I'm supposed to deposit 100 USD for having the chance to pay 1000 to 5000 USD just to be allowed to buy tickets for the next 15 years to races on a track which doesn't xist yet?
"I spent most of my money on wine and women...I wasted the rest"
Not at all. CotA doesn't particularly care about you or its international status. A PSL is essentially a right of first refusal for all events - races, concerts, festivals, etc. - held at the track.
If the track existed, I don't know for sure that they'd be offering PSLs. PSLs are generally used to help finance initial construction or improvements to stadia. They are (sadly) quite common here in the States.
EDIT: To add a little context, many PSLs at the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium sell for over US$150,000.