Circuit of the Americas Formula 1 Race Track

[turn1]

Darrin Wicken @zzyzxx8
@StatesmanGP @Austin_F1 COTA now selling discounted USGP (T4 & T9) tickets through livingsocial.com Not a good sign for ticket sales.

-@Austin_F1

[turn1]

X marks the spot: Austin awarded X Games

http://www.statesman.com/news/sports...x-games/nYssY/

[Spaceman]

Originally Posted by turn1

-@Austin_F1

Who will go when the championship is already decided? It's just COTA's bad luck to be scheduled late in the season.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by Spaceman

Who will go when the championship is already decided? It's just COTA's bad luck to be scheduled late in the season.

Jeez dude, you are so negative. People don't go to races concerned about who is the overall point leader as much as they go to see a race and to be at the event itself.

[Spaceman]

Originally Posted by Hill Country

Jeez dude, you are so negative. People don't go to races concerned about who is the overall point leader as much as they go to see a race and to be at the event itself.

That is the reason I have purchased my tickets...But it does affect others

[turn1]

Originally Posted by Spaceman

Who will go when the championship is already decided? It's just COTA's bad luck to be scheduled late in the season.

The Championships aren't really decided yet & may still come down to Austin or Brazil as they did last year, but I doubt it will affect turnout that much. The date's not down to luck though. It's the date COTA wanted. It can help them some when the WDC is close late in the season, but it's a double-edged sword.

[turn1]

Remember the breakfast subpoena served to Carmelo Ezpeleta last time he was in Austin? He has now been deposed in the Kevin Schwantz case:

http://m.statesman.com/weblogs/formu...schwantz-case/

[KevinFromTexas]

KVUE has a new webcam at the F1 track.

http://www.kxan.com/subindex/weather/local_webcams

[turn1]

Looking for a ‪#‎USGP‬ or Texas Football hotel room in Austin? KAYAK.com shows lots of them still available, from $119/nt in Austin, $86 in San Marcos, & $95 in Cedar Park. All prices based on weekend stays from 11/15-11/18, 11/14-11/17, or 11/14-11/18.

Also, in case you might want Main Grandstand tickets, they seem to be going relatively cheap on the aftermarket (compared to COTA prices). Here are a few PSL seats. $525 total each seat for all 3 days...well below face value.

http://www.listwns.com/201308/tickets/ast/52737.htm

[turn1]

Wow. Lots of craziness happening at COTA the last few weeks.

[turn1]

Originally Posted by turn1

Wow. Lots of craziness happening at COTA the last few weeks.

Apparent staff re-org underway.

- Ward Merrill (all-around git it done guy) fired.
- Jason Wade (Director of Track Ops) fired today.
- Marty Hunt (Facilities Operations Director) left for the New Jersey race
- Kevin Tao (sp?, Security Director) quit a few weeks back.
- Others quitting.

Hearing lots of bad stuff. Ex-Indy guy Harder on cost-cutting mission and bringing in his own guys...& much more.

New post on our FB page:

Who"s next? Imo. Anybody, who will not be part of the " go along to get along " gang. Really, what can you expect, when the owners and management, think the best way to run a race track, is to have 9 vice presidents and 11 directors. Then expect all the work to get done by 13 laborers, who have been kicked out of the X Game celebration, ( they were told they didn't belong there) and limited to 40 hours a week. The number of people, who actually care if this place crashes or not, are dwindling fast. Somebody told them, back when this was getting started, that a race track was not like horse racing or golf or trading stocks. So, they realize that, and go and hire someone who's 1 item resume was to be the the vice president of a sinking ship.
Make no mistake, giant egos built this place, and continuesly growing egos will tear it down.
I know, for a fact, many suppliers and vendors, are way past 90 day on getting paid, all is not well with the whole concert thing, and people that care are being ran off.
Somebody tol me, " its never the guy that built the shopping center, that makes the money". In my opinion, its another sinking ship. I can't wait for new people to get their hands on it. They couldn't do any worse than this bunch.

[hookem]

Might want to anonymize the 90-day late on vendor payments claim of your friend, I've seen people sued for saying almost the identical thing before.

Anyway, it does sound like bad news. But what has been concerning me is the lack of leading-up events and discussions about the street festivals, etc. Last year there had already been a Formula 1 expo, promo event/vidoe, the planning of the downtown festivals (which got reduced to 1) was going strong, etc. Now it's like crickets by comparison.

I suppose the lack of competitiveness this F1 season isn't helping. And the majority of the drama this year isn't on the track, it's about Bernie.

[turn1]

Originally Posted by hookem

Might want to anonymize the 90-day late on vendor payments claim of your friend, I've seen people sued for saying almost the identical thing before.

Anyway, it does sound like bad news. But what has been concerning me is the lack of leading-up events and discussions about the street festivals, etc. Last year there had already been a Formula 1 expo, promo event/vidoe, the planning of the downtown festivals (which got reduced to 1) was going strong, etc. Now it's like crickets by comparison.

I suppose the lack of competitiveness this F1 season isn't helping. And the majority of the drama this year isn't on the track, it's about Bernie.

Thanks. Good idea. ETA: Done.

Re: the festivals, etc, there were some good people with good intentions putting on some of those events last year. The big problem, from what I heard from various people, is that COTA stepped in and tried to take over every possible event that popped up because of the race coming to town. The events they couldn't latch onto and eventual take over were blocked into oblivion, with their friends downtown making permitting, etc difficult, and other tactics. I guess this year those people just said screw it.

[turn1]

Ecclestone turns back on New Jersey, looks to Mexico for 2014 F1 race

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20130825/F1/130829880

The 2014 calendar will be finalized in December by F1's governing body, the FIA, but new races need financing in place by now to ensure their plans are on track. “I should know within a couple of weeks about Mexico,” Ecclestone told Autoweek, adding “I'm going to try to make it happen.”
The Grand Prix is due to be held at Mexico City's Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which last hosted an F1 race in 1992. The plan to revive the Mexican Grand Prix has the backing of an all-star management team which is driven by two key figures.
The first is Tavo Hellmund, the creator and mastermind of the F1 USGP and the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. His counterpart in Mexico is Alejandro Soberon, chief executive of the world's third-largest live entertainment company, CIE. The team members include Carlos Slim Domit, who sits on the FIA's decision-making body, the Senate, and is son of the world's richest man, Carlos Slim. Also backing the F1 effort in Mexico are George Gonzalez chief executive of CIE subsidiary Ocesa, and Federico Alaman, president of motorsports for Ocesa. And, they aren't the only driving forces behind the race.

This year there are two talented Mexican drivers on the F1 grid in the form of Esteban Gutierrez at Sauber and McLaren's Sergio Perez. They have both been bankrolled by Slim as they moved through the ranks of motorsport. There has also been recent change in Mexico as the country got a dynamic new president in December last year when 47-year-old Enrique Pena Nieto took office. With this kind of support, it is a matter of when, and not if, the race takes place.

The Mexican Grand Prix is understood to be fully funded but, according to Ecclestone, the same cannot be said of the Grand Prix of America in New Jersey. Its organizers appointed investment bank UBS in June to raise $100 million which is required for the race to go ahead. It seems they have run out of time.

[Jdawgboy]

I am glad that New Jersey is a no go at least for the time being. Let us have a few more races under our belts before a second race is added in the US.

[turn1]

We were talking yesterday on one of the boards wondering why COTA won't offer single-day tickets for the USGP. They have for other events when sales were lagging. Almost as if on cue, they gave us what we asked for, sort of:

http://circuitoftheamericas.com/arti...lable-sept.-31

GENERAL ADMISSION & BLEACHER SEATING IN TURNS 3, 4, 5 & 11:

FRIDAY:
GENERAL ADMISSION: $49
BLEACHER SEATING: $79
LOT F PARKING: $50
LOT L PARKING: $50

SATURDAY:
GENERAL ADMISSION: $79
BLEACHER SEATING: $129
LOT F PARKING: $100
LOT L PARKING: $100

SUNDAY:
GENERAL ADMISSION: $129
BLEACHER SEATING: $229
LOT F PARKING: $100
LOT L PARKING: $100

Three-Day Ticket Price:
Nov. 15-17
General Admission: $169 (152-percent savings)
Grandstands 3,4,5,11: $299 (146-percent savings)

Individual tickets for Friday’s practice sessions, Saturday’s knock-out qualifying rounds and Sunday’s Grand Prix race go on sale Tuesday, Sept. 3, at 2 p.m. CDT and feature prices as low as $49 per person.

“Our Formula 1 United States Grand Prix weekend is an incredible experience, and we understand not everyone can come to all three days,” Circuit Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer Geoff Moore said. “So we’re introducing ticket options that make it easy to attend on any individual day. Our first Grand Prix was named the 2012 ‘Sports Event of the Year,’ and was raved about by diehard and casual fans. We want to give everyone who loves world-class sports and entertainment a chance to witness the remarkable spectacle that is Formula 1 racing at Circuit of The Americas.”.

Not sure how they're calculating those %savings numbers.

[turn1]

This has been their m.o. starting with Grand Am. Make tickets cheaper as the race nears and GSs aren't selling, like 3,4,5,11 aren't now. I wonder how the folks feel who only needed a one-day ticket and bought a 3-day because it was the only option. Other circuits offer incentives to buy early and then go to normal (higher) pricing as the event nears.

Lesson here is to never buy COTA tickets early.

BTW, wouldn't 152% savings mean they're paying us to attend?

[turn1]

I see what they did. The total of single-day GA tickets is $257. A 3-day ticket costs $169. $257 is 152% of $169. That does not = 152% savings LOL.

Oy.

[_Matt]

Originally Posted by turn1

I see what they did. The total of single-day GA tickets is $257. A 3-day ticket costs $169. $257 is 152% of $169. That does not = 152% savings LOL.

Oy.

Oy indeed. This is high school math. It's 34% savings vs. 152%. Doesn't the FTC regulate this stuff?

[turn1]

Originally Posted by _Matt

Oy indeed. This is high school math. It's 34% savings vs. 152%. Doesn't the FTC regulate this stuff?

lmao. Posted on our page a little while ago:

152% OFF?!? Woot! So where do I pick up my ticket & my $130?