I remember being told by a few friends early last year about a new racetrack that was going to be built in Texas. It was supposedly going to be a major deal — and it was to be a real roadracing circuit, (thankfully) not another NASCAR oval speedway. There were even rumors that it was going to host a Formula One auto race as well. But with the economic crisis in full swing, I wasn’t giving those rumors or even the prospect of the track itself much weight.
Then in May of last year, the group behind the project came forward and announced that the circuit was indeed going to be built, and that it signed a contract to host a Formula One race in 2012. The project is ambitious to say the least; F1 doesn’t race at just any circuit, and the $240 million, 900-acre facility to be built just outside of Austin — said to include a 5400-square-foot medical building for year-round use as a training facility for emergency care professionals and medical school students, 14 3600-square-foot luxury business meeting suites with kitchens and elevators, a Grand Plaza open stage area that will host music events, just for starters — needs to be completed by June 2012 in order to host the F1 race.
There was little talk about motorcycles and this track, and at the 2010 Indy MotoGP race, MotoGP rightsholder Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta said that they were “interested” in holding a race there, but that no formal meetings had taken place. Then the bombshell dropped on April 12.
At a press conference in Austin, the principals behind the project — Tavo Hellmund, a former auto racer and managing partner of Full Throttle Productions; billionaire Billy Joe “Red” McCombs, founder of an auto dealership empire, co-founder of communications giant Clear Channel Communications, and former owner of the San Antonio Spurs/Denver Nuggets NBA and Minnesota Vikings NFL franchises; and Robert Epstein, a partner with investment firm Prophet Capital Management Ltd. — were joined onstage by Kevin Schwantz and Ben Spies, as the group announced that the circuit (called the “Circuit of the Americas”) had signed a 10-year contract to host a full MotoGP event, starting in 2013. The COTA group had previously announced that it had cinched a contract to host a Formula One auto race for a similar 10-year span.
Normally, skepticism would reign when grandiose racetrack plans like these are announced, but the inclusion of McCombs and an investment firm means that the financial components are in place to make this happen. Construction has already started at a furious pace in order to make the June 2012 finish date. The circuit itself was designed by Hermann Tilke, whose firm was responsible for numerous racetracks including Sepang, Istanbul, Motorland Aragon in Spain, and the radical overhauls of existing circuits such as Catalunya, Hockenheim and Monza, to name a few. The full 3.4-mile track will have 20 turns, although it’s not yet been determined whether MotoGP will use the full length. As with Indianapolis, all three classes (MotoGP, Moto2, and the new Moto3 category) will be held at Austin.
This is obviously great news for any racing fan here in the States, not only because of the additional MotoGP round (Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is in the midst of a three-year contract that extends to 2014, while Indianapolis has yet to confirm any new contract beyond the extension for this year), but also because it will surely add to the list of superb roadracing circuits that have been built recently. Miller Motorsports Park and Barber Motorsports Park have demonstrated that a racing facility doesn’t have to be a stadium-style oval to be profitable, and we’re hoping that an agreement can be reached that will bring the AMA Pro Roadracing series to Austin as well. No word yet on whether track day organizations will be able to hold events there, although I’d imagine there’s a good possibility it will happen, since the facility won’t be tied to the same apparent profit margin sustainability as the oval racetracks in the off-season.
It’s even better news for Kevin Schwantz, who was in on the design phase of the racing circuit itself to ensure that it met the safety needs for motorcycles. He will be transferring his Kevin Schwantz School from its current base in Barber to the COTA, meaning that not only will his riding school have a world-class facility at its disposal, but that he won’t have to fly in to every school date.