Circuit of the Americas Formula 1 Race Track

[turn1]

Pretty bumpy day out at COTA today ...

[Austin1971]

Originally Posted by turn1

pretty bumpy day out at cota today ...

s

[Jdawgboy]

It's a shame that Epstein doesn't want to put in money for any real upkeep of the track. It's ridiculous and I don't blame F1 drivers for not feeling safe to race on it. To let such a good circuit to deteriorate this badly is despicable. Once they knew the soil was sinking they should have come up with a long term solution to fix it rather than shaving down the track which is a horrible idea IMO to begin with.

[the Genral]

In all fairness, road courses that run on city streets are worse. At least one driver said despite the bumps, which are being described as worse this year, he doesn't mind them so much as it makes it more challenging than a totally smooth track. What concerns me is that the bumps are much worse this year which shows a lack of regard on Epsteins part which could someday be his undoing. But still, I find F1 drivers to be a bit more fussy than other drivers including Nascar. But MotoGP may have a legit concern because it can become dangerous in an already dangerous sport. If the problem doesn't get fix by the time they roll into town, this might be then end of that race.

[hookem]

USGP Summary:

• Boring race, but that’s not unusual this season.
• Looked like there were a huge number of British fans, probably hoping to see Hamilton win his 6th championship. They are thrilled they got exactly what they wanted. Think watching Texas win a National Championship (even if it was expected.)
• Bumps look bad, but didn’t lead to much drama
• COTA always seems to look good on TV during the race. Attendance looked great, but I’m sure a lot of that is due to the downsizing of the stands.
• WAY too much McConaughey, probably because of lack of drama on the track. Made it seem like he was the only celebrity there, and the only interesting person in Austin.
• Rick Perry looked zonked out during trophy presentation. Tried to give it to the wrong guy first, then was ushered in front Bottas and basically just stood there while Bottas grabbed it from him. Never turned around.

[Austin1971]

A

[the Genral]

Originally Posted by Austin1971

After watching F1 coverage over the weekend it's pretty evident that the race is kinda just an afterthought around here now. Every year the hype and coverage dwindles. Local print and television hardly talk about it. SKY Sports, ESPN and Liberty Media put very little effort into embracing and promoting the Austin scene and in my opinion portrayed Austin as some kind of shit kicker cowboy cattle outpost. They spent 10 minutes interviewing a driver while driving around Hollywood in L.A. during the pre race. Pretty clear they want to be somewhere else. They used stock footage of DT from several years ago when showing the skyline.

Looks like COTA will be addressing some of the problems.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/c...591945/?nrt=54

Great crowds though.....

Ummm, shouldn't this have been addressed weeks before the "Main Event" for COTA instead of after?

[StoOgE]

I think the event went really well this weekend.

This is I think the best production COTA has put on.

The race itself was really nice. We got a great drive from Danny and Albon, really gutty tire preservation strategy from Lewis and the Ferrari's duffed it completely likely due to their engine.. um.. creativity being snuffed out.

I think a resurface of the main trouble spots will have the track back in good form and hopefully we can get an extension here.

I will say, the Bold stadium looks nice, but is taking up so much real estate that would be better served by more picnic space and food vendors. My main complaint was the food lines were insane this year. They need far more vendors in the main plaza area around Turn 15, and they need to move them closer to the grand-stand so the walkway can move a bit better. Beer vendors were also down to only white claws about 15 minutes before the race began.

Hopefully the 2021 specs work out and passing becomes a bit more of a thing in F1 again, but as far as races go I think it was a solid Tier-2 race this year (with Austria, Britain, Hungary and Germany being Tier 1).

The post-race parking situation continues to be a mess and a half, they need to bring more stuff to keep fans around longer after the race. Like an A-list concert or even a dumb dance party with a DJ a la Monza. Something to keep 120K people from all heading to the exit within half an hour of one another. I think Parking lot F is the prime offender as it is horribly designed and encourages people to drive backwards to try and cut the lines.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by Austin1971

After watching F1 coverage over the weekend it's pretty evident that the race is kinda just an afterthought around here now. Every year the hype and coverage dwindles. Local print and television hardly talk about it. SKY Sports, ESPN and Liberty Media put very little effort into embracing and promoting the Austin scene and in my opinion portrayed Austin as some kind of shit kicker cowboy cattle outpost. They spent 10 minutes interviewing a driver while driving around Hollywood in L.A. during the pre race. Pretty clear they want to be somewhere else. They used stock footage of DT from several years ago when showing the skyline.

Interesting. But, how is this the responsibility of SKY Sports, ESPN, Liberty Media, etc. to "promote" Austin? Shouldn't you be more disappointed with COTA, the City of Austin, and most importantly, our own Chamber of Commerce? They are the groups responsible for advertising this city...not the media. COTA, the city and our chamber should work with the media in a better way if they want to use this platform to promote Austin.

It's obvious they are not.

Look at it this way...I don't see the media promoting the DFW area during NASCAR events. If anything, it's a city or chamber doing the leg work. CBS doesn't promote the City of Augusta during the Masters.

Promoting the location in which an event is held is advertising. And media outlets are not going to do anything for free in this area.

[Austin1971]

r

[StoOgE]

NASCAR isn't doing great. I suspect there are lots of factors including political that are not helping the sport who saw massive popularity spike in the burbs during the 2000s.

It's mismanaged as hell, ran away from it's hardcore fanbase and classic tracks and instituted the most hilariously stupid "post season" to try and make it feel like a team sport and more accessible to newcomers.

NASCAR cars tend to perform poorly on road courses, but they need to do something to inject life into a sport that operates on too many near identical superspeedways in locations that are not traditional NASCAR hotbeds and general economic downturn of rural America.

Idlike NASCAR at the track, but it's not the same NASCAR in popularity we were all clamoring for back when COTA was announced nearly a decade ago

[the Genral]

Former HUGE NASCAR fan here. Main reason for being formerly HUGE but still a fan...I no longer know who the hell the drivers are. I miss the Labonte brothers, Dale Sr. and Jr, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Dale Jarrett, Waltrop, Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon, Ricky Rudd, Ernie Irvan, Davey Allison, Richard Petty, Carl Edwards, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, David Pearson, Sterlin Marlin, Neil Bonnet, Buddy Baker, A.J. Foyt, Rick Mast, Ken Schrader, Brett Bodine, Davy Allison, Harry Gant, Jimmie Spencer, Dick Trickle, Lake Speed, just to name a few but maybe you get my point. Watching motor sports is far more entertaining when you know the names and personalities of the drivers. I did, and the car and the sponsor. During the pre race parade lap, the usual drivers got huge cheers, some like Jeff Gordan always got boo'd and some drew silence, I always felt bad for them, but there was a connection between drivers and fans, more so than today. I don't know when exactly it happened but I lost track of all that, hence I lost interest. All the drivers that mattered to the huge fan base that followed Cup races, have retired. That's what killing NASCAR today. Its also the major issue with Indy. I could make another list of names albeit not as long of all the popular drivers 20 - 30 years ago. I know very few today so I have no one to root for. I think the falloff is because Nascar's biggest fans miss the old drivers and don't much care for the new ones. And I don't think there are as many young fans now as there were 20 years ago. What made NASCAR great died when the drivers I mentioned left, along with the fights, feuds, bumping and take outs. When I went to TMS, there were bleachers all along the back straight away. They are long gone along with many, many fans. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with NASCAR, except most of the fans who loved it don't give a shit about the new drivers. They are boring. The sport lost its personality. Now getting back to COTA, finally, I've said it before, I would absolutely love to see a stock car race there despite what I just said, but if it ever did happen, which I doubt, the race would suck unless you like a ton of wrecks and attrition. Turn 1, forget about it. Pit road? How can it accommodate 43 cars, half of which would be damaged on the first turn of the first lap and need to pit. You would have brake issues (over heating) and Stock Cars have a tendency to blow engines and drop oil all over the place. Imagine the long yellow flag laps. Like Stewart said, COTA is a technical track. I think he had fun because there weren't 42 other cars on the track at the time. I've been to Watkins Glen and it is far less challenging than COTA and good with stock cars. Factor in TMS and its just not going to happen folks. My honest opinion for what its worth...

[StoOgE]

Also, Tony Stewart is one of the better all around drivers in NASCAR with experience in multiple kinds of competitive vehicles and is a skilled road course driver.

Most NASCAR drivers are less adept at road courses, let alone the technical challenges of the 2nd sector at COTA.

Basically in NASCAR history: Jeff Gordon, Ricky Rudd, Tony Stewart, Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and Rusty Wallace were the 'NASCAR' guys who were good at road courses, the rest went from "average" to "horrible". The other road course specialists were middling Indy, V8 or F1 drivers who came over later in their careers.

I wouldn't mind the course happening, but it's a very technical track and as mentioned Turn 1 Lap 1 would be like a 18 car pileup.

[turn1]

Originally Posted by hookem

USGP Summary:

• Boring race, but that’s not unusual this season.
• Looked like there were a huge number of British fans, probably hoping to see Hamilton win his 6th championship. They are thrilled they got exactly what they wanted. Think watching Texas win a National Championship (even if it was expected.)
• Bumps look bad, but didn’t lead to much drama
• COTA always seems to look good on TV during the race. Attendance looked great, but I’m sure a lot of that is due to the downsizing of the stands.
• WAY too much McConaughey, probably because of lack of drama on the track. Made it seem like he was the only celebrity there, and the only interesting person in Austin.
• Rick Perry looked zonked out during trophy presentation. Tried to give it to the wrong guy first, then was ushered in front Bottas and basically just stood there while Bottas grabbed it from him. Never turned around.

Good post! Agree re: all but the bumps not causing drama. They caused a throttle issue for LeClerc and Vettel broke his suspension on that nasty Turn 9 bump, ending his race. Max's rear wing cracked because of it, per RBR, and iirc one of the Haas's had a problem caused by the bumps as well. There were pieces flying off of cars all weekend, without contact with other cars.

[turn1]

Originally Posted by Austin1971

After watching F1 coverage over the weekend it's pretty evident that the race is kinda just an afterthought around here now. Every year the hype and coverage dwindles. Local print and television hardly talk about it. SKY Sports, ESPN and Liberty Media put very little effort into embracing and promoting the Austin scene and in my opinion portrayed Austin as some kind of shit kicker cowboy cattle outpost. They spent 10 minutes interviewing a driver while driving around Hollywood in L.A. during the pre race. Pretty clear they want to be somewhere else. They used stock footage of DT from several years ago when showing the skyline.

Looks like COTA will be addressing some of the problems.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/c...591945/?nrt=54

Great crowds though.....

Yeah while I'm a huge Daniel Ricciardo fan, I thought it was a weird choice to spend so much time on that interview. And he's a big fan of Austin in general and is a big UT sports fan, so opportunities were definitely missed there.

Re: COTA addressing the bumps, based on the length of time scheduled for these repairs (<45 days), it's probably not the big repair the track needs imho. But it's a start. They're only resurfacing about 40% of the circuit. According to Epstein it sounds like they're only going to resurface where they're digging up the damaged pipes to repair them.

Re: the crowd, it was a good crowd and definitely up from last year's unimpressive one. Epstein's claiming 120k though. Nope. No way. Zero chance.

[turn1]

Originally Posted by the Genral

Ummm, shouldn't this have been addressed weeks before the "Main Event" for COTA instead of after?

Indeed it should have. It's not like they didn't know about the bumps, and the bumps didn't pop up overnight. They've worsened a great deal in the last year, but they've been there since before the 2015 storm. The storm did exacerbate the problem and break the drainage pipes though. They made "superficial, patchwork" repairs, so now they have to go in and do it right. The fact that they had grinders and rollers out there Friday and Saturday night tells me that someone from F1 made them do it. They clearly weren't so inclined otherwise.

Loved your NASCAR post too. I'm guessing we're about the same age. Sprint Car racing and then NASCAR are what led me to being a huge motorsport fan in general, esp F1. Not into NASCAR anymore, for much the same reasons you described. Still into Sprint Cars though. Maybe the best racing on the planet.

[turn1]

Originally Posted by StoOgE

... the Ferrari's duffed it completely likely due to their engine.. um.. creativity being snuffed out.

I think a resurface of the main trouble spots will have the track back in good form and hopefully we can get an extension here.

I will say, the Bold stadium looks nice, but is taking up so much real estate that would be better served by more picnic space and food vendors. My main complaint was the food lines were insane this year. They need far more vendors in the main plaza area around Turn 15, and they need to move them closer to the grand-stand so the walkway can move a bit better. Beer vendors were also down to only white claws about 15 minutes before the race began.

Hopefully the 2021 specs work out and passing becomes a bit more of a thing in F1 again, but as far as races go I think it was a solid Tier-2 race this year (with Austria, Britain, Hungary and Germany being Tier 1).

The post-race parking situation continues to be a mess and a half, they need to bring more stuff to keep fans around longer after the race. Like an A-list concert or even a dumb dance party with a DJ a la Monza. Something to keep 120K people from all heading to the exit within half an hour of one another. I think Parking lot F is the prime offender as it is horribly designed and encourages people to drive backwards to try and cut the lines.

Re: the Ferraris, yeah they were slower because of the engine issue, but Vettel was getting quicker before the Turn 9 bump took out his suspension.

Resurfacing all the trouble spots would be great, but that's not what they're doing. According to Epstein, they won't be touching some of the worst areas ... including from T1 through the esses.

Completely agree re: the parking design and lot F in particular. It's always been a fiasco, but this year they cut the shuttle routes and there was no off-site parking, so all the traffic was concentrated on or around COTA ... some say by design.

I really hope you're right about the 2021 rules. I'm optimistic, but I've been burned before.

[turn1]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

Interesting. But, how is this the responsibility of SKY Sports, ESPN, Liberty Media, etc. to "promote" Austin? Shouldn't you be more disappointed with COTA, the City of Austin, and most importantly, our own Chamber of Commerce? They are the groups responsible for advertising this city...not the media. COTA, the city and our chamber should work with the media in a better way if they want to use this platform to promote Austin.

It's obvious they are not.

Look at it this way...I don't see the media promoting the DFW area during NASCAR events. If anything, it's a city or chamber doing the leg work. CBS doesn't promote the City of Augusta during the Masters.

Promoting the location in which an event is held is advertising. And media outlets are not going to do anything for free in this area.

Yep. Promoting the event is the promoter's job. COTA is the promoter.

[turn1]

Originally Posted by StoOgE

NASCAR isn't doing great. I suspect there are lots of factors including political that are not helping the sport who saw massive popularity spike in the burbs during the 2000s.

It's mismanaged as hell, ran away from it's hardcore fanbase and classic tracks and instituted the most hilariously stupid "post season" to try and make it feel like a team sport and more accessible to newcomers.

NASCAR cars tend to perform poorly on road courses, but they need to do something to inject life into a sport that operates on too many near identical superspeedways in locations that are not traditional NASCAR hotbeds and general economic downturn of rural America.

Idlike NASCAR at the track, but it's not the same NASCAR in popularity we were all clamoring for back when COTA was announced nearly a decade ago

You could use that description equally well for F1...

Re: NASCAR at COTA, I'd love to see that. NASCAR is a great show on road courses, and I've actually been impressed with the NASCARs during a couple of swaps they've done at COTA.

[StoOgE]

Originally Posted by turn1

Re: the Ferraris, yeah they were slower because of the engine issue, but Vettel was getting quicker before the Turn 9 bump took out his suspension.

I think the Ferrari issue was tire warming related. I think they cut downforce to increase straightline speed (due to the engine issue) which caused there to be no heat in the tires for several laps which lead to understeer.

It's also very likely a massive contributing factor to why the suspension broke over the bumps. I think the bumps + lower downforce exacerbated the problems with the bumps for the Ferrari's. The team specifically told Charles to avoid 2 sections of the track over the radio where other teams were not as concerned about hitting the Apex in 9.

As far as parking, I had a friend in the cash lot across Elroy Road who got out in about 45 minutes. Just had a 20 minute walk and then 25 minutes stuck in traffic because they walked past the real traffic jam. So lesson learned - don't buy the really expensive Lot F parking, just park a 20 minute walk away and walk past the jam up to the exit of the venue.