Circuit of the Americas is a unidirectional, grade 1 FIA
specification 3.427-mile motor racing facility located in Elroy, on the
southeastern periphery of Austin city limits, in Central Texas. COTA plays
host to the Formula One United States Grand Prix. The circuit also hosts the
Motorcycle Grand Prix of The Americas, a round of the Road Racing World
Championship, commonly known as MotoGP, the FIA World Endurance Championship, as
well as the Tudor United SportsCar Championship. It previously hosted the
Australian V8 Supercars series, the American Le Mans Series, and the Rolex
Sports Car Series in 2013. The circuit and Grand Prix were first
proposed in the middle of 2010. The circuit was the first in the United
States to be purpose-built for Formula One. The layout was conceived by
promoter Tavo Hellmund and 1993 Motorcycle World Champion Kevin Schwantz
with the assistance of German architect and circuit designer Hermann Tilke, who
has also designed the Sepang, Shanghai, Yas Marina, Istanbul, Bahrain, Yeongam,
and Buddh circuits, as well as the reprofiling of the Hockenheimring and
Fuji Speedway. The circuit has FIA Grade 1 license.
A crowd of 117,429 watched the Formula One race in November 2012.
The circuit = Construction=
In a news conference on July 27, 2010, Tavo Hellmund announced plans to build
the track on about 890 acres of undeveloped land in southeastern Travis
County. The majority of the site was previously planned for a residential
subdivision called "Wandering Creek". In the same news conference, Hellmund also
revealed that Texas billionaire Red McCombs was the project's largest
investor. McCombs wished to call the site "Speed City", but the owners
originally anticipated selling the naming rights to various parts of the
facility for $7 million. On April 12, 2011, the track's name was announced as
"Circuit of the Americas" at a press conference. The circuit homologation
design was submitted to the FIA in Geneva for approval on December 17,
2010. HKS, Inc. and Tilke Engineers & Architects designed the track and Austin
Commercial, a subsidiary of Austin Industries, was the general contractor.
Construction began on December 31, 2010, and was due to be complete by June 2012.
Following a stop-work order in December 2011, the completion date was revised to
August. The first tasks were building the silt fences, taking core samples,
and shredding existing vegetation. On January 21, 2011, a $900,000 check
was posted with Travis County that permitted grading to begin. The money
was to be used to restore the land if the U.S. Federal Emergency Management
Agency declined to allow the project to move forward because part of the site
lies in a floodplain. FEMA issued a letter on June 28, 2011, stating the
project meets its floodplain management criteria.
In January 2012, Travis County announced that Elroy Road—one of the two primary
public access roads to the circuit—would receive an upgrade to handle the volume
of incoming traffic, but not before the running of the 2012 race. At the time of
the announcement, the unstable clay soils under the road surface had caused
Elroy Road to gradually buckle and shift, necessitating the upgrade.
On June 13, 2012, Charlie Whiting—the FIA-appointed Race Director for Formula
One—declared himself satisfied with the circuit's construction, scheduling a
final pre-race inspection of the circuit for September 25, sixty days before the
first race, which the circuit later passed.
The first layer of asphalt was completed on August 3, 2012. Construction began
laying the final layer of asphalt on August 14, and was finished on September
21. The track was officially opened on October 21, with Mario Andretti running
the ceremonial first laps in a Lotus 79, the car he drove when he became the last
American to win the World Drivers' Championship in 1978.
The Grand Plaza, Observation Structure, Tower Amphitheater, and Main Grandstand
were designed by Austin-based architectural firm Miró Rivera
Architects. = Configuration=
In an episode of Speed TV's Wind Tunnel program broadcast on August 22, 2010,
Tavo Hellmund revealed that the circuit would be 3.4 miles long and would be
made up of twenty turns with an elevation change of 133 feet. The final
plan of the circuit was released on September 1, 2010, showing a design
inspired by the European tradition of sculpting the circuit to the contours of
the land. The design draws from several European Formula One circuits, including
a recreation of Silverstone's Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel sequence,
Hockenheim's arena bends, and a replica of Istanbul's Turn Eight. Other corners
were loosely inspired by the Senna 'S' at Interlagos and the Österreichring's
Sebring-Auspuffkurve. A feature of the circuit is a deliberate widening of
corners, to encourage drivers to follow multiple racing lines. A similar feature
was used at the Buddh International Circuit in India, where the circuit
widens on the approach to certain corners.
The circuit was one of only a handful on the Formula One 2012 calendar to be run
counter-clockwise, the others being Marina Bay, the Korea International
Circuit, Yas Marina, and Interlagos. Because of this, the circuit contains
more left-hand turns than right-hand ones, placing greater physical demands
on the drivers whose bodies, particularly their necks, are more
adapted to the lateral g-forces of clockwise circuits.
From the start line, the drivers climb to the first corner—the highest point of
the circuit—with the apex of the corner positioned on the crest of the hill.
They descend the hill to navigate a series of fast sweepers modeled on
Silverstone's Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel complex and through a blind corner at
Turn 10, taking them to the far end of the circuit and a hairpin at Turn 11.
The drivers then follow a 0.62-mile straight back towards the pit and
paddock area before entering the final sector of the lap and weaving through a
series of corners modeled on Hockenheim's stadium section. This is be
followed by a downhill, multi-apex corner with limited run-off before the
final two corners of the circuit, a pair of left-hand bends that return the
drivers to the main straight. = Reception=
The reception from drivers ahead of the inaugural race was highly positive.
Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton both praised the circuit, suggesting that it
would be considerably more difficult to learn than other recent additions to the
Formula One calendar. Jenson Button described the first sector as
"spectacular", but remarked that he felt that starting second would be better
than starting first as the placement of pole position put it on a steeper
incline than the rest of the grid. Kamui Kobayashi, on the other hand, was less
complimentary, claiming that he did not feel intimidated by the steep climb to
the first corner as it was no different from Eau Rouge at the Circuit de
Spa-Francorchamps, and accusing the media of hyping it up without precedent.
Mark Webber was also unimpressed, stating that while he enjoyed driving
the first sector of the circuit, the second and third sectors were similar to
other circuits on the calendar. Major features on site
= Grand Plaza= Bordered by the track on three sides,
the Grand Plaza is a 20 acres space designed by Miró Rivera Architects of
Austin, Texas that includes a large reflecting pool, lawn, and varying
landscape zones. A promenade along the north side of the Grand Plaza hosts
concessions, retail, restroom facilities, and entrances to spectator
seating. From the southeast end of the Grand Plaza, two pedestrian bridges
cross over turns 16 and 3 to provide access for visitors to other areas of
the circuit complex. = Observation Tower=
Circuit of the Americas features a 251 feet observation tower designed by Miró
Rivera Architects and built by Patriot Erectors as a landmark for the venue.
The structure of the tower consists of an elevator hoist-way surrounded by a
double helix staircase of 419 stairs, both of which lead to an observation
platform 230 feet above ground level. The platform provides a 360-degree
panorama of the circuit, as well as views to downtown Austin, Texas. The
observation platform, which is accessible to the public for an
admission fee, can accommodate up to 70 visitors and features glass railings and
a partial glass floor. In addition, a "veil" consisting of 18 bright red steel
tubes runs nearly the full height of the tower, acting as a canopy for both the
observation platform and the stage below. The design of the observation
tower was inspired by the visual imagery of sports cars and movement, and the red
color was selected to mimic the streaks of lights trailing racecars at night.
= Austin360 Amphitheater= On July 23, 2012, COTA announced a
booking agreement with Live Nation to book major concerts at an open air
amphitheater to be built at the base of the observation tower. Designed by Miró
Rivera Architects, the venue opened in April 2013 with a concert by Kenny
Chesney. The amphitheater will accommodate up to 14,000 people with
5,240 permanent reserved seats. Another 1,700 seats can be configured on the
stage-front floor or there is standing room for 2,300. The remaining general
admission spots are on a sloping grass area behind the reserved seats. The
venue was originally going to be called Tower Amphitheater, but in March 2013,
was renamed to Austin360 Amphitheater, with naming rights sold to the
entertainment/events website associated with the Austin American-Statesman.
= Main Grandstand= The primary permanent seating at Circuit
of the Americas is located within the Main Grandstand, designed by Miró Rivera
Architects. Above-ground construction on the grandstand began in March 2012, and
the "topping out" occurred in June 2012 with completion in time for the
inaugural United States Grand Prix. The Main Grandstand is 65 feet tall, and
has a total capacity of approximately 9,000 spectators. The seating is divided
into three levels: lower level, club level, and suite level. The majority of
seating is covered by a tensile fabric canopy. The primary structure is 500
feet long, while the lower risers extend an additional 500 feet. The grandstand
also contains concessions, restrooms, offices, and two lounge spaces located
at the second and third levels. The Velocity Lounge on the second level is
approximately 7,100 square feet, and contains a 36-screen video wall and the
acrylic painting "Velocity" by Dallas-based artist Christopher Martin
measuring 120 feet in length. Both the Main Grandstand and the
concessions buildings in the Grand Plaza were conceived as a modular system
consisting of several components that can be arranged according to need. The
concessions, with banners and deep canopies, can be expanded with
restrooms, permanent seating or suites. Inherent to this “kit-of-parts”
construction system is flexibility allowing the site to grow and change.
City endorsement and lawsuit In order for the race to take place, the
Austin city council was asked to be the sponsoring municipality for the event.
Through being a sponsor, the city could apply for money from a state fund, the
Major Events Trust Fund, designed to attract major sporting events to Texas
that would be used to pay the Formula One race sanctioning fee. This matter
was complicated by opponents of the project who filed a lawsuit against
state comptroller Susan Combs, claiming that she had promised the funding to the
circuit without having been legally authorized to do so, though promoters
have responded stating that all necessary guidelines had been followed.
On July 1, 2011, a state district court judge declined to enter a temporary
restraining order against Combs preventing payments from the METF;
none-the-less, Texas Comptroller Combs reconsidered and chose not to make the
July 31 advance payment to FOMC/Bernard Ecclestone as previously agreed for the
first year's sanctioning fee. The attorney for the project's opponents has
stated that he is unsure if they will continue pursuing the lawsuit.
In June 2011, the Austin city council agreed to allow the circuit to apply to
the Texas Major Events Trust Fund but withheld its full endorsement requiring
the circuit to pay the financial match normally borne by the local government
sponsor. As a part of the endorsement, the sport will pay $15,000 in carbon
offsets and $5 million to establish an on-site research project into
environmentally friendly technologies. Breach of contract and reinstatement
In November 2011, Bernie Ecclestone expressed what he called "minor" doubt
over the future of the United States Grand Prix in Austin after
"disagreements inside the [management] company". These issues were later
confirmed when construction of the circuit came to a halt because of a
dispute between the circuit owners, promoter Full Throttle Productions, and
Formula One Management. Promoter Tavo Hellmund admitted that his company had
been in breach of its contract with Formula One Management since May 2011.
The situation further escalated when state comptroller Susan Combs described
the planned Grand Prix of America as a threat to the race in Texas, and said
that the first $25 million payment from the state sports fund would only be made
available after the first Grand Prix at the circuit, despite having previously
promised to make the funds available in time for the inaugural event. Bernie
Ecclestone later issued an ultimatum to the owners and organizers: find a
solution before the December 7 meeting of the FIA World Motorsport Council or
else risk being removed from the 2012 calendar. Ecclestone emphasized that if
the Circuit of the Americas were removed from the calendar, it would not be added
again at a later date. On December 7, 2011, the World
Motorsport Council released the final calendar for the 2012 season, with the
Circuit of the Americas retaining its November 18 date. Further details
revealed that the race investors, McCombs and Epstein, had reached a new
arrangement with Ecclestone, with work on the circuit scheduled to resume
immediately. As a part of the arrangement, organizers paid the
sanctioning fee for the 2012 race one year in advance as a show of good faith.
At the time of the circuit's reinstatement, there were no reports
supporting Tavo Hellmund's continued involvement under the new contract. On
March 4, 2012, The Austin American-Statesman reported that
Hellmund had launched legal proceedings against investors Bobby Epstein and Red
McCombs, with Hellmund claiming that he was still a part of the management
company and had not been paid since September. Further details emerged,
reporting that Hellmund was in the process of attempting to acquire
Epstein's interest in the company, describing the condition of the circuit
as of 4 March as "teetering". Epstein responded to the lawsuit by stating that
Hellmund had been found to have been in breach of contract by Formula One
Management. In June 2012, the dispute between
Hellmund and Epstein was reported to have been settled out of court.
= Dispute over planned MotoGP race= In April 2011, plans were unveiled by
Tavo Hellmund of Full Throttle Productions and Kevin Schwantz of
3fourTexas for the circuit to host a round of the 2013 MotoGP World
Championship, with the race to be known as the Texas Grand Prix. The race was
the brainchild of Schwantz, the circuit co-designer, who would serve as event
promoter with his company, 3fourTexas. However, following the settlement of the
lawsuit between Tavo Hellmund and Bobby Epstein, Schwantz announced that he
would be suing Steve Sexton. Schwantz claimed that upon the resolution of the
dispute between Hellmund and Epstein, Sexton moved to negotiate directly with
MotoGP's commercial rights holder, Dorna Sports, ignoring what he claimed was an
existing contract between Dorna and 3fourTexas to hold the race. Circuit
representatives denied that there was ever a contract between Schwantz and the
Circuit of the Americas, and that his dispute was with Dorna Sports. Dorna
later claimed that although a contract for the race between Dorna and Schwantz
had existed, the contract had been terminated in July 2012 as they believed
Schwantz had failed to acquire the necessary rights from the circuit to
hold the race. Schwantz then accused Sexton and the Circuit of the Americas
of "undermining" him, deliberately blocking his attempts to establish a
race in order to have the contract terminated and allowing them to
negotiate a more-favourable arrangement with Dorna.
In October 2012, Dorna Sports announced that they had come to agreeable terms
with organisers of the Texas motorcycle Grand Prix, including the race on the
2013 calendar as the Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas, but made no
mention of the dispute with Schwantz or any outcome of it.
Prior of the 2014 Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas, the circuit announced
that COTA and Schwantz had amicably settled their legal differences and
reached an agreement to collaborate to promote motorcycling racing, with
Schwantz taking the role as official ambassador for COTA.
Lap records † uses a shorter 3.7 km section of the
track. References
External links Circuit of the Americas – Official
website United States Grand Prix at Austin –
Official website Miró Rivera Architects.
Pictures of the course Circuit of the Americas Seating Charts
Circuit of the Americas on Google Maps Circuit of the Americas circuit guide