Entries in Austin (48)
More Tracks
Thursday, November 4, 2010 at 11:56AM
So the attorney for Austin says that it is not true that they will not be ready for 2012, but they may not meet the 90 day inspection requirement. That is cutting it fine, two years to go and you can tell that closely that you will not make it? Personally I would feel happier if the construction manager told me it was going to be finished, not the attorney. I have never had two years to finish a track, or needed it. My last construction job was a $3.5 billion oil refinery that was built in just over two years, so what's taking so long? Adelaide was a year, Phillip Island nine months, Eastern Creek a year, Road Atlanta six months, and Daytona 364 days from first contact to done.
Korea was not quite the success some people want to paint it. In this weeks Autosport is an article about the "challenges" facing the track. It seems they "papered the halls" to use the industry term for giving away seats to make it look full. The F3 Superprix scheduled for later this year has been canceled due to "force Majeure," some objections have caused the Korean Motorsport Authority to cancel the event at the track. I'd like to know what that is all about. If you would too go to http://ht.ly/19NGTp and read.
Closer to home Dover Downs has closed their track in St Louis, Gateway International. " We are simply unable to operate it with an acceptable return," said Denis McGlynn, CEO of Dover Motorsports. This oval was built not that long ago, 1997, and I never understood how they thought it would work without a NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Dover are lucky to hold on to their race at their main track "The Monster Mile" seeing as how the France or Smith families do not own it, yet. Making money with spectator events in the US gets harder every day. The Milwaukee Mile has gone through promoters trying and that track is in the center of the city.
On a completely different subject it seems Jorge Lorenzo has learned the secret of turning the mind games Rossi usually employs around to his advantage. Riders are commenting on how in the past they would have crumbled after Valentino took a commanding lead like he did at Estoril, but Jorge not only caught but went by him. Valentino said afterward, " I had no way to fight with him. I tried to stay with him but he was too fast." I just love the mind games of riders particularly, and watching the eyes, they are the window to the mind. If you look at photos of Rainey, Gardner and Lawson you will read the determination written large there.
To close, who thinks that if Alonso wins the Championship it will be "tainted" by the actions of Ferrari in Germany. Answers in a closed envelope please.
Korea was not quite the success some people want to paint it. In this weeks Autosport is an article about the "challenges" facing the track. It seems they "papered the halls" to use the industry term for giving away seats to make it look full. The F3 Superprix scheduled for later this year has been canceled due to "force Majeure," some objections have caused the Korean Motorsport Authority to cancel the event at the track. I'd like to know what that is all about. If you would too go to http://ht.ly/19NGTp and read.
Closer to home Dover Downs has closed their track in St Louis, Gateway International. " We are simply unable to operate it with an acceptable return," said Denis McGlynn, CEO of Dover Motorsports. This oval was built not that long ago, 1997, and I never understood how they thought it would work without a NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Dover are lucky to hold on to their race at their main track "The Monster Mile" seeing as how the France or Smith families do not own it, yet. Making money with spectator events in the US gets harder every day. The Milwaukee Mile has gone through promoters trying and that track is in the center of the city.
On a completely different subject it seems Jorge Lorenzo has learned the secret of turning the mind games Rossi usually employs around to his advantage. Riders are commenting on how in the past they would have crumbled after Valentino took a commanding lead like he did at Estoril, but Jorge not only caught but went by him. Valentino said afterward, " I had no way to fight with him. I tried to stay with him but he was too fast." I just love the mind games of riders particularly, and watching the eyes, they are the window to the mind. If you look at photos of Rainey, Gardner and Lawson you will read the determination written large there.
To close, who thinks that if Alonso wins the Championship it will be "tainted" by the actions of Ferrari in Germany. Answers in a closed envelope please.
Tracks
Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at 11:28AM
It seems tracks come and go. Austin is coming, but not quite as fast as was predicted. The latest report is 24 months to build, and they are not scheduled to start until December, and there are planning issues hanging over that date, so that puts us into 2013 for the first race. The way Bernie is going there will be a race in Bangladesh by then.
Edmonton is going, or gone according to reports. It seems the airport wanted to keep one runway open during the IRL race and this required a couple of million to be spent to adjust the track layout. It seems the IRL and the promoter assumed the City would just roll over and cough up, but no. In the US and Canada getting Governments to pay for racetracks is much harder than say Mongolia, or Spain.
McLaren and Red Bull will both let their drivers race this weekend, so we will see if Massa will roll over for Alonso at his home GP. What will we see if Massa is in front of Alonso?
The anticipated shuffle of engineers and team bosses appears to be underway at Mercedes with new race engineers to be brought in to the team next year for both Nico and Michael. Ross Brawn's role is to be "defined."
The rumors are that De La Rosa is going to HRT, with Williams gearbox, next year, and they say they now have a chassis "based" on this years unraced Toyota. HRT must have found some money.
Edmonton is going, or gone according to reports. It seems the airport wanted to keep one runway open during the IRL race and this required a couple of million to be spent to adjust the track layout. It seems the IRL and the promoter assumed the City would just roll over and cough up, but no. In the US and Canada getting Governments to pay for racetracks is much harder than say Mongolia, or Spain.
McLaren and Red Bull will both let their drivers race this weekend, so we will see if Massa will roll over for Alonso at his home GP. What will we see if Massa is in front of Alonso?
The anticipated shuffle of engineers and team bosses appears to be underway at Mercedes with new race engineers to be brought in to the team next year for both Nico and Michael. Ross Brawn's role is to be "defined."
The rumors are that De La Rosa is going to HRT, with Williams gearbox, next year, and they say they now have a chassis "based" on this years unraced Toyota. HRT must have found some money.
tagged Austin, De La Rosa, Edmonton, F1, Ferrari, HRT, IRL, Massa, McLaren, Mercedes, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Red Bull, Ross Brawn, Williams
Austin, De La Rosa, Edmonton, F1, Ferrari, HRT, IRL, Massa, McLaren, Mercedes, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Red Bull, Ross Brawn, Williams To Russia with Bernie
Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 01:08PM
So the deals done. $40m a year for five years in Sochi on a presumably new Tilke track for 2014. Then there's India, Rome, Austin, who's for the chop? Anyone who cannot manage $40m a year I guess.
The teams met in Japan to discuss how to make the Grand Prix's better. Make them two day events was one option being considered as it would be much more attractive for the fans. We could just run Sunday and make them even better on that logic, or perhaps just have a two hour race for the ultimate experience! They thankfully agreed that was not really such a good idea, but thought that they could move inspection to Friday to save them arriving so early in the week. Now that would be a great show for the fans. C'mon guys, you are supposed to be the geniuses running this sport, surely you can do better than this. Fans come to watch cars on track, racing, remember that? These need to be "events", let promoters run some decent supports like the V8Supercars in Australia and give the fan value for money. Look at the Goodwood Revival meetings to see how its done, or Adelaide in its hay-day.
It's nice to hear Massa has the team's full support. Usually that is the last sound someone hears before he is shown the door. Helmut Marko, the Red Bull motorsport genius says that Kimi is not coming through with the PR value for the money he is being paid. What other rally driver to hear about apart from Loeb, especially as Kimi is not winning and still getting coverage? Marko said Kimi crashes, well so does you golden boy Vettel, but I do not hear that you think he is not worth the money. Talking of Vettel it seems he and Webber are still at odds. A friend commented on Mark's body language in the parc ferme after Japan, and apparently Mark was off to the helicopter straight away without waiting for the normal team victory photo. I wonder how this is going to play out? I know Mark has signed a contract for next year and there does not appear many options open, but how can you see this going on for another season?
The MotoGP is gathering at Phillip Island for the Australian GP and Casey Stoner is looking to make it four in a row. If he can keep his Ducati upright it would be a good start, but he has shown in the last few races that it is competitive, so good luck Casey. Let's hope the rain stays away. The Island can be a cruel place at this time of year and the ground is still saturated after the winter. One famous quote from my September race in 1990 was that if you brought a car "you would be as popular as a Russian submarine in New York harbor." This was from a motorcycle magazine, really helped with my ticket sales! Always a good race at that track so make sure to watch.
On a personal note, how is it I can build a track like that and stage the first and best GP's, and be sitting here underemployed and undervalued? I despair of building a track again the way it is going.
The teams met in Japan to discuss how to make the Grand Prix's better. Make them two day events was one option being considered as it would be much more attractive for the fans. We could just run Sunday and make them even better on that logic, or perhaps just have a two hour race for the ultimate experience! They thankfully agreed that was not really such a good idea, but thought that they could move inspection to Friday to save them arriving so early in the week. Now that would be a great show for the fans. C'mon guys, you are supposed to be the geniuses running this sport, surely you can do better than this. Fans come to watch cars on track, racing, remember that? These need to be "events", let promoters run some decent supports like the V8Supercars in Australia and give the fan value for money. Look at the Goodwood Revival meetings to see how its done, or Adelaide in its hay-day.
It's nice to hear Massa has the team's full support. Usually that is the last sound someone hears before he is shown the door. Helmut Marko, the Red Bull motorsport genius says that Kimi is not coming through with the PR value for the money he is being paid. What other rally driver to hear about apart from Loeb, especially as Kimi is not winning and still getting coverage? Marko said Kimi crashes, well so does you golden boy Vettel, but I do not hear that you think he is not worth the money. Talking of Vettel it seems he and Webber are still at odds. A friend commented on Mark's body language in the parc ferme after Japan, and apparently Mark was off to the helicopter straight away without waiting for the normal team victory photo. I wonder how this is going to play out? I know Mark has signed a contract for next year and there does not appear many options open, but how can you see this going on for another season?
The MotoGP is gathering at Phillip Island for the Australian GP and Casey Stoner is looking to make it four in a row. If he can keep his Ducati upright it would be a good start, but he has shown in the last few races that it is competitive, so good luck Casey. Let's hope the rain stays away. The Island can be a cruel place at this time of year and the ground is still saturated after the winter. One famous quote from my September race in 1990 was that if you brought a car "you would be as popular as a Russian submarine in New York harbor." This was from a motorcycle magazine, really helped with my ticket sales! Always a good race at that track so make sure to watch.
On a personal note, how is it I can build a track like that and stage the first and best GP's, and be sitting here underemployed and undervalued? I despair of building a track again the way it is going.
Drainage
Saturday, October 9, 2010 at 03:41PM
As amply demonstrated at Suzuka, drainage is a key factor in building a track, and a most difficult thing to achieve. It is one of the featured topics in my Track Engineering session at next months Professional Circuit Owners Forum in Cologne, and we have the right guy presenting the latest designs, as we have for every topic. If I were building a new track I would take this team of presenters to do it for me.
Now Suzuka did some upgrading before the Japanese GP came back from Fuji, but they obviously spent all the money on the important stuff like the pit building, corporate suites and press room. I do not know how much rain they got, but 50mm was the forecast, which is not a lot where I've been living, but the topography of Suzuka, which makes it such a great track, also presents a huge challenge for drainage. Tomorrow morning is forecast wet as well, so we are in for an interesting day. Lewis Hamilton's weekend went from bad to worse with a gearbox change, so he is going backwards at the moment. Still, Kimi won it from 17th once, so anything is possible.
It seems the flexi-wing saga is not over, with comments about how low the Red Bulls are running resurfacing. Martin Whitmarsh said he was too busy to notice, I bet he was.
Bernie is as always in the news guaranteeing the Korean race will go ahead amidst photos of a track with a top course and curbs. I will be the first to congratulate them if that surface stays down, and will be in the queue to ask what they used. Bernie also said the Russian F1 GP is a done deal, the only potential stumbling block being the annual promotion fee, apparently comparable to the approximately $40 million paid by Singapore and Abu Dhabi. Oh, is that all? Bernie says he will sign the deal with the resort city Sochi the day after they sign it. For $40m I bet he will. So who is being dropped from the calendar? Is Austin in trouble? According to the local American Statesman newspaper the planning authorities have issued a four page list of concerns about the project. Tavo is apparently some way from satisfying the bureaucrats who have to approve it before groundbreaking can occur, which is scheduled for December. Couple this with the recent report that the design has not been submitted to the FIA as expected, not that they have missed a deadline, just an opportunity, and you wonder where this going. Tavo welcomed the inclusion of Perez in the Sauber Team, saying it will add 20,000 to the crowd.
In Malaysia Jorge Lorenzo is obviously out to prove himself a worthy champion by taking pole for the MotoGP ahead of Nicky Hayden, Nicky's best qualifying for a long time. Maybe Jorge figures that being in front is the safest place to be with Valentino back in sixth spot. Ben Spies qualified well, maybe he is going to run rear guard for his future team mate?
In the FRenault 3.5 final round Australian Daniel Ricciardo won the first of the weekend's two races to tie for the lead in the Championship with Russian Mikhail Aleshin, so Sunday's race will decide the title. Nice going Daniel, let's hope you have the backing to keep going unlike most Australian drivers. Perhaps Mark Webber's performance and potential F1 title will spark more sponsorship interest. Tonight's race , for us in the US, from Suzuka should clarify the F1 Championship picture, and not hopefully not "muddy the waters," couldn't help that. Whatever happens it will be a great few hours of TV thanks to the qualifying postponement.
Now Suzuka did some upgrading before the Japanese GP came back from Fuji, but they obviously spent all the money on the important stuff like the pit building, corporate suites and press room. I do not know how much rain they got, but 50mm was the forecast, which is not a lot where I've been living, but the topography of Suzuka, which makes it such a great track, also presents a huge challenge for drainage. Tomorrow morning is forecast wet as well, so we are in for an interesting day. Lewis Hamilton's weekend went from bad to worse with a gearbox change, so he is going backwards at the moment. Still, Kimi won it from 17th once, so anything is possible.
It seems the flexi-wing saga is not over, with comments about how low the Red Bulls are running resurfacing. Martin Whitmarsh said he was too busy to notice, I bet he was.
Bernie is as always in the news guaranteeing the Korean race will go ahead amidst photos of a track with a top course and curbs. I will be the first to congratulate them if that surface stays down, and will be in the queue to ask what they used. Bernie also said the Russian F1 GP is a done deal, the only potential stumbling block being the annual promotion fee, apparently comparable to the approximately $40 million paid by Singapore and Abu Dhabi. Oh, is that all? Bernie says he will sign the deal with the resort city Sochi the day after they sign it. For $40m I bet he will. So who is being dropped from the calendar? Is Austin in trouble? According to the local American Statesman newspaper the planning authorities have issued a four page list of concerns about the project. Tavo is apparently some way from satisfying the bureaucrats who have to approve it before groundbreaking can occur, which is scheduled for December. Couple this with the recent report that the design has not been submitted to the FIA as expected, not that they have missed a deadline, just an opportunity, and you wonder where this going. Tavo welcomed the inclusion of Perez in the Sauber Team, saying it will add 20,000 to the crowd.
In Malaysia Jorge Lorenzo is obviously out to prove himself a worthy champion by taking pole for the MotoGP ahead of Nicky Hayden, Nicky's best qualifying for a long time. Maybe Jorge figures that being in front is the safest place to be with Valentino back in sixth spot. Ben Spies qualified well, maybe he is going to run rear guard for his future team mate?
In the FRenault 3.5 final round Australian Daniel Ricciardo won the first of the weekend's two races to tie for the lead in the Championship with Russian Mikhail Aleshin, so Sunday's race will decide the title. Nice going Daniel, let's hope you have the backing to keep going unlike most Australian drivers. Perhaps Mark Webber's performance and potential F1 title will spark more sponsorship interest. Tonight's race , for us in the US, from Suzuka should clarify the F1 Championship picture, and not hopefully not "muddy the waters," couldn't help that. Whatever happens it will be a great few hours of TV thanks to the qualifying postponement.
Sol Real Update
Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 05:17PM
Had a great audience for our presentation last evening, room was full and buzzing. Nice to see the interest level, and it spurs a good performance by us presenters. The lap record for the Rahal BMW on the simulator was lowered to 2 minutes dead, and the ultimate record lowered in a BMW Sauber F1 car, which seemed easier to drive on this layout than the touring car for some reason, to 1 minute 50 seconds. Top speed was where I thought it would be at over 180mph, and saw over 170 at several other points. The average lap speed is now up to 111 mph even with some very tight and slow sections. I am sure that this time will be lowered as the driver was no expert, but drove surprisingly well. It will be fun to upgrade the model with the cross-falls and elevation changes I have designed.
Otherwise we are moving on with the permitting process, which seems to be going well, but it is early days. It is looking like next April/May to break ground, so end of 2011 to run on.
Been making the final arrangements for my travel to the International Circuit Owners Forum in Cologne (Koln) Germany in November. Some great sessions covering all aspects from conception, design and construction through operations and how to make money, the hard part. If you want to see the program log on to:
http://www.professionalmotorsportcircuit-forum.com/downloads/2010_programme.pdf
I can arrange a discount on the forum fee, so if you are interested in going contact me via a comment and I will respond.
Elsewhere the F1 circus is setting up camp in Singapore. Singapore says it wants to be a "must have" F1 race. Good luck with that, ask the French who invented this stuff, and Spa, Imola and other great tracks how that works and they will tell you it's all about the money. So, as long as your Government is happy losing megabucks every year then you probably can be a "must have" with CVC.
Rumors resurface about Kubica to Ferrari. As I have asked before, why would he want to do that? Alonso is not going to relinquish his number one status, and certainly not welcome someone as quick as Kubica. I can't see Kubica going there a number two, can you? I know he says all drivers want to drive for Ferrari, but is that correct, and under what situation? I can't quite see Lewis at Ferrari can you?
I thought the announcement of a new Russian sponsor for Renault would have secured Petrov's seat for next year, but it turns out they are only in for the remaining races this year, so maybe Kimi can still spring it. Or is Kimi replacing Kubica? The plot thickens.
It seems the boys in Austin are not getting the smooth ride through the planning process as they probably expected, bringing all that economic benefit to Austin after all. Seems the road system needs $15m spent on it to allow for the huge crowd that's going to turn up, and the State DOT wants to know who's paying. The Planning Board is also saying they do not have enough information to even start considering the project. I liked the lawyers comment, "We heard loud and clear … the information flow is going to open up." As they want to break ground by the end of the year you would have thought it would have been flowing thick and fast by now. You can read the whole story on ESPNF1 web site.
Otherwise we are moving on with the permitting process, which seems to be going well, but it is early days. It is looking like next April/May to break ground, so end of 2011 to run on.
Been making the final arrangements for my travel to the International Circuit Owners Forum in Cologne (Koln) Germany in November. Some great sessions covering all aspects from conception, design and construction through operations and how to make money, the hard part. If you want to see the program log on to:
http://www.professionalmotorsportcircuit-forum.com/downloads/2010_programme.pdf
I can arrange a discount on the forum fee, so if you are interested in going contact me via a comment and I will respond.
Elsewhere the F1 circus is setting up camp in Singapore. Singapore says it wants to be a "must have" F1 race. Good luck with that, ask the French who invented this stuff, and Spa, Imola and other great tracks how that works and they will tell you it's all about the money. So, as long as your Government is happy losing megabucks every year then you probably can be a "must have" with CVC.
Rumors resurface about Kubica to Ferrari. As I have asked before, why would he want to do that? Alonso is not going to relinquish his number one status, and certainly not welcome someone as quick as Kubica. I can't see Kubica going there a number two, can you? I know he says all drivers want to drive for Ferrari, but is that correct, and under what situation? I can't quite see Lewis at Ferrari can you?
I thought the announcement of a new Russian sponsor for Renault would have secured Petrov's seat for next year, but it turns out they are only in for the remaining races this year, so maybe Kimi can still spring it. Or is Kimi replacing Kubica? The plot thickens.
It seems the boys in Austin are not getting the smooth ride through the planning process as they probably expected, bringing all that economic benefit to Austin after all. Seems the road system needs $15m spent on it to allow for the huge crowd that's going to turn up, and the State DOT wants to know who's paying. The Planning Board is also saying they do not have enough information to even start considering the project. I liked the lawyers comment, "We heard loud and clear … the information flow is going to open up." As they want to break ground by the end of the year you would have thought it would have been flowing thick and fast by now. You can read the whole story on ESPNF1 web site.