Circuit of the Americas Development Updates

[hookem]

Originally Posted by austlar1

I just gotta ask about this event. This time last year the various Austin media outlets and members of this forum engaged in endless speculation about the scarcity and cost of hotel rooms, the possibility of massive traffic jams, the logistics of transporting thousands of people to the track, the need for helicopter shuttles, the influx of deep pocketed zillionaires who were going to fall in love with Austin and spend mega bucks here during the event and also in the future, etc. This year there is barely a peep in the media (until today) about this event, and there just does not seem to be that much excitement on this forum or elsewhere with regards to this event, which was labeled as a game changer just a year ago. Am I missing something here, or are my perceptions accurate? Why the big change in just one year's time?

Last year there was more speculative-type media about the track being finished in time, the traffic, METF money, etc. This year, most of that is gone, but the actual media coverage and promotion of the race itself seems higher to me -- more billboards, more TV commercials, nationwide broadcast (NBC instead of Speed), etc.

It feels like a much more normal "big event" this year. Not like we don't know what's coming and are freaking out about it... more like "here we go again, another ACL fest or SXSW type weekend". Frankly, I think it will be better for the visitors -- Austin locals seemed to stay at home last year. This year, especially with the game going on at the same time, people will really get the feel for what Austin is like.

[lzppjb]

So, I hear attendance was down from last year. Hotel situation scare people off? I figure once that is ironed out, and the roads are expanded, there won't be much holding COTA back.

Personally, F1 is too expensive to try out. I have no idea if I like it or not, so buying a $125 ticket just to test the waters isn't going to happen. Also, the race is on a Sunday, so I'd never go anyway. The pre-race stuff on Friday and Saturday are during prime football season, so that will keep me from those events. Guess I'll never get to check it out.

But I do plan on going back to the Grand Am race, and possibly more of the smaller races next year.

[hookem]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

So, I hear attendance was down from last year. Hotel situation scare people off? I figure once that is ironed out, and the roads are expanded, there won't be much holding COTA back.

It was down, but not by very much. Race day was 113,162 vs. 117K hast year. Actually considering the F1 championship has already been decided this year, and the fact that the same driver (Vettel) has won the last 8 in a row... there was little reason to expect an exciting race. Probably a bigger factor in people deciding to skip the race than hotels. And sure enough, the race was pretty boring. But the crowds and the facility were great.

As far as expense, I bought a GA ticket on Friday for $10 and Sat for $15. Both at the downtown shuttle/Fan Fest location. GA is the best deal because there are excellent viewing areas all over the track. With the $5 for roundtrip shuttle, it was dang cheap for any event. The food and beer at the track is expensive, but at least all the places take cards now so I didn't nead to use a bunch of cash.

Saturday the qualifying for F1 ended around 1:40p. I hopped back on the shuttle to downtown, took about 25-30 minutes. Walked 5 mins to my car and then was home about 10 mins after that to watch the game. I could have just as easily gone from DT to the game. But with all the walking and sensory overload at the track, I just couldn't do it.

BTW, traffic was never a problem, and parking downtown is a breeze. I don't care what anyone else says, it's frickin' easy to find parking downtown (even free) if you are willing to walk a few blocks. Even on Saturday, with UT game and Fan Fest going on, no problem at all.

[Jdawgboy]

Yea I was pleasantly surprised at this year's turnout. Typically attendance at Grand Prix races decreases if the championship is won early on as hookem pointed out. Really on average for each day just 4 thousand less than last year. Fan Fest was really cool this year too. I'm so glad many more locals came to check it out and everyone I talked with enjoyed it. I also had no problem finding parking.

I thought the race was pretty good but your right that there were some boring parts mostly during the middle of the race. But I do like that there are quite a lot of passing areas which I think really helps boost up some more exciting moments compared to other circuits. It is already considered one of the very best tracks and all the drivers like it.

[the Genral]

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

Yea I was pleasantly surprised at this year's turnout. Typically attendance at Grand Prix races decreases if the championship is won early on as hookem pointed out. Really on average for each day just 4 thousand less than last year. Fan Fest was really cool this year too. I'm so glad many more locals came to check it out and everyone I talked with enjoyed it. I also had no problem finding parking.

I thought the race was pretty good but your right that there were some boring parts mostly during the middle of the race. But I do like that there are quite a lot of passing areas which I think really helps boost up some more exciting moments compared to other circuits. It is already considered one of the very best tracks and all the drivers like it.

Yeah, but the passing, (overtaking, in F1 speak,) is typically not for the lead. A race with little to no lead changes is boring to me, but still worthy of watching just for the spectacle of itself. I have to confess, I recorded the qualifying and the race mostly to catch the Austin mentions and video snips. I fast forwarded most of the race to get to them.
Regardless of what I think of F1 racing in of itself, (not really into it) the whole spectacle of it from the technology of the cars, to the parties, to the fact that COTA is considered one of, if not THE best track in the world and happens to be ours, the accolades Austin gets from everyone involved, from the media, to the celebrities, fans and participates, its really quite a remarkable event for Austin. And for all the nay sayers...so far, successful.
I'm curious about the attendance...was it smaller due to no shows or did they sell less tickets? It seems to me that people who follow F1 enough to care about the championship aspect of it would have bought their tickets before the championship was decided. Maybe some of them no showed. Anyway, let's hope the 3 to 4 % drop in attendance this year, isn't an annual trend.

[hookem]

Next year F1 switches to turbo charged V6s, so hopefully that will mix things up a bit. Also Austin's race is a couple of weeks earlier in October, and it is 3rd from last instead of second (according to most recent leaked calendar).

They could have made this year's race a bit more interesting with a different tire requirement. Like last year, they used the most conservative hard tires. If they had allowed softer ones, then you would have seen multiple pit stops from each driver, and that causes lead changes. But the drivers would have complained, the Pirelli soft tires have been failing spectacularly -- which also leads to more exciting, but dangerous, racing. I'm not sure what the tire choices are for Brazil, but if it includes the softs it will probably be a more exciting race.

[The ATX]

COTA makes CEO change:

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2013/11/19/cota-names-jason-dial-as-new-ceo-as.html

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by Hill Country

COTA makes CEO change:

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2013/11/19/cota-names-jason-dial-as-new-ceo-as.html

Thank you thank you THANK YOU. Finally maybe we will start seeing more promotion of other events at the track besides F1.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by hookem

...Also Austin's race is a couple of weeks earlier in October, and it is 3rd from last instead of second (according to most recent leaked calendar)...

Incorrect. The race is "slated" for Nov. 7-9, 2014; just prior to the "inaugural" Mexico City race. However, Mexico City may not be ready...thus, it's "inaugural" race may be pushed-off to 2015 (similar to the "America Grand Prix" in New Jersey). It looks like the only North American races in 2014 will still be Montreal and Austin.

[hookem]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

Incorrect. The race is "slated" for Nov. 7-9, 2014; just prior to the "inaugural" Mexico City race. However, Mexico City may not be ready...thus, it's "inaugural" race may be pushed-off to 2015 (similar to the "America Grand Prix" in New Jersey). It looks like the only North American races in 2014 will still be Montreal and Austin.

No, the latest leaked calendar is different. Abu Dhabi is now the last race, and the season finishes earlier. There is 2 weeks between Brazil and Abu Dhabi (needed for logistics), and Austin occurs the week before Brazil:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111477

March 16 Australia
March 30 Malaysia
April 6 Bahrain
April 20 China
May 11 Spain
May 25 Monaco
June 8 Canada
June 22 Austria
July 6 Great Britain
July 20 Germany (Hockenheim)
July 27 Hungary
August 24 Belgium
September 7 Italy
September 21 Singapore
October 5 Japan
October 12 Russia
October 26 USA
November 2 Brazil
November 16 Abu Dhabi

[Jdawgboy]

Even with a race in Mexico and maybe one in New Jersey though I still am skeptical about that one, I think there won't be a problem with attendance for ours. It is one of the very best tracks Formula 1 races if not the best and its a favorite of all the drivers. You can see a large amount of the racetrack from most areas unlike other circuits. People like that and I think we will have the luck of having the best track and therefore should continue to see the large attendance.

[turn1]

I did finally manage to get through all my Saturday USGP pics. About 130 at the link. Sunday pics to follow asap!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=...073741944.157330087614878&type=1&theater

[turn1]

Oh, and here are some Friday photos. Sorry, I thought I had already posted these:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.744000748947806.1073741942.157330087614878&type=1

[turn1]

Originally Posted by austlar1

I just gotta ask about this event. This time last year the various Austin media outlets and members of this forum engaged in endless speculation about the scarcity and cost of hotel rooms, the possibility of massive traffic jams, the logistics of transporting thousands of people to the track, the need for helicopter shuttles, the influx of deep pocketed zillionaires who were going to fall in love with Austin and spend mega bucks here during the event and also in the future, etc. This year there is barely a peep in the media (until today) about this event, and there just does not seem to be that much excitement on this forum or elsewhere with regards to this event, which was labeled as a game changer just a year ago. Am I missing something here, or are my perceptions accurate? Why the big change in just one year's time?

In a nutshell, imho, last year the track didn't promote the race much, but it was a new race and there was a lot of media buzz around all the approvals they had to get for construction, METF funding, etc. There was also a lot of media interest in the COTA v Hellmund saga, COTA v Schwantz, and the rush to complete the circuit.

This year, the track did little to promote the race outside of Austin, but the race is no longer new & the intrigue in all of those ancillary topics had run its course, minus COTA v Schwantz.

[turn1]

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

Really? I figured there was because I've seen several auto manufacturer's showing off new models at the Circuit of the Americas so I figured that was a big thing.

Yeah there were some media/pr type events, but very little manufacturer testing. In fact, I know of no manufacturer testing at all, & we probably would have at least heard about it after the fact from our friends at the circuit.

As far as news exposure KXAN is doing the most promotion for the event since it's their channel that will be broadcasting the race. I'm out DT tonight right now at 1:40 a.m. I can say it's surprisingly quiet tonight. There are some clubs busier than others of course but overall I was expecting Downtown to be busier than what it has bedn.

Yeah I was at FanFest Friday. Didn't go into any of the clubs but I walked around. The FanFest stuff was pretty cool & Los Lonely Boys were good, but I can't say it was any busier at all on the streets than on any normal Friday night.

Speaking of FanFest, here's a little summary of the weekend I wrote on another forum. It includes a little bit about FanFest on Friday with Massa & Shell.

So...wow. Like I said, crazy weekend.

It all started for me on Wednesday afternoon as I got wind of a Lewis Hamilton appearance at a mall shoe store near my home. So I met my wife there with the boys, who got to meet Lewis. He was great with the kids and they couldn't have been more excited.



From there I drove downtown to the FOTA Fan Forum. I got there just in time to see about the last 20 minutes or so. It was cool, & the drivers seemed to enjoy the interaction in the less formal setting of Cedar Street.



More pics of each event here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.7...4878&type=1

On Thursday I met the Shell folks out at Lost Pines and started my F1/Shell V Power weekend in earnest. From there we went out to COTA for a meeting upstairs in the Pit Building with Shell's Guy Lovett, who leads a team of engineers formulating fuels for Ferrari and works with them throughout the weekend to ensure the proper components are present given changing conditions at the track. From there it was off to the track walk, and a tour of the Ferrari garage & the Shell Trackside Lab, then on the bus back to Lost Pines before a fantastic dinner with the Shell gang at No Va on Rainey Street.



On Friday morning we were up early to catch our bus to COTA & the Shell suite atop Turn 1. Upon arrival all we found was fog and more fog, so we sat for a bite to eat while we waited for it to lift.



Finally the fog abated, and FP1 began. A few minutes later someone noticed that the EMS medevac chopper was not on site. How this escaped the watchful eye of the FIA, I'll never know. Practice was stopped until the helicopter arrived. It took around 45 minutes for it to arrive even though a steady stream of passenger choppers could be seen coming and going. I'm not sure who actually noticed the helicopter was missing, but here in Vance's photo you can see the Statesman's David Doolittle pointing out its absence to COTA's Steve Sexton.



In my post above you can see pics of action from all the practice sessions of the day. I'm still working on Saturday & Sunday's photos.

After Friday's COTA action we piled onto the bus again to head downtown for a Shell Fan Fest media event with Felipe Massa...a "Mixology" lesson with Guy Lovett and the Punk Scientist. After the lesson, I and Formula1Blog's Todd and Paul were able to ask a few questions of Felipe. That event was packed and crazy and ended with a huge toast to Felipe and well-wishes for his future success at Williams. Felipe was a delight and gracious in every way, a true class act. Fan Fest was pretty cool & it was good to hear Los Lonely Boys again, but after that I was just too tired to properly enjoy the rest. Between Shell activities and general F1 stuff, it was a VERY busy 5 days.





Saturday morning we sat in on a Shell/Ferrari Master Class with Shell UK Country Chair and EVP DS Technology Ed Daniels and VP Retail Fuels Technology Andrew Foulds speaking with some of the University of Texas' brightest engineering students. It was very interesting to hear the questions of the students and to see how Ed and Andrew sought to inspire this group on to solving the world's future energy concerns.

There was a problem with our bus Saturday morning, so Paul, Todd, Mike Larsen & I all jumped into my STi to ensure we made it to Qualifying on time. It was interesting that Paul (a driving instructor & former race driver) just wanted to go faster as we drove away from Lost Pines. That road out to the highway is just AWESOME. Those of you who've been there know what I mean. Meanwhile, I'm not sure that going faster was really on Todd's mind. Saturday night Vance & I from Facebook.com/FoF1ATX passed on a late invitation to the Ferrari Especiale unveiling to team with Twitter's Fake Charlie Whiting and Todd & Paul from Formula1Blog for a tweetup at the Hyatt Lost Pines. It was a great night in the lounge as about 40+ folks enjoyed a drink and great conversation with new F1 friends. It was great to put faces and real names together with some internet usernames.

[turn1]

Originally Posted by hookem

...nationwide broadcast (NBC instead of Speed), etc.

Just FYI it was nationwide on Fox last year.

[turn1]

It was down, but not by very much. Race day was 113,162 vs. 117K hast year. Actually considering the F1 championship has already been decided this year, and the fact that the same driver (Vettel) has won the last 8 in a row... there was little reason to expect an exciting race. Probably a bigger factor in people deciding to skip the race than hotels. And sure enough, the race was pretty boring. But the crowds and the facility were great.

It was down, especially on Friday, and there's no way in hell there were 58K people out there as COTA claimed. Completely ridiculous.

As for the Vettel effect or the championship being already decided, I think that effect is completely overblown. F1 isn't something people tend to do on a whim. They tend to finalize travel plans and secure tickets months or more in advance. They also typically go to the race more for the experience of the sights, sounds, and smells, the people watching, etc...they don't typically go to follow the race, the strategy, etc. It's really hard to do at the track unless you have (a) FanVision, which is gone now, (b) live timing on your phone, which is usually useless at COTA as the signals usually suck, or (c) a monitor in front of you to follow race info. At COTA there are monitors but the race info graphics are small and most of the boards are either too small or too far from the fans for the graphics to be visible. You can see action replays though.

I'm curious about the attendance...was it smaller due to no shows or did they sell less tickets? It seems to me that people who follow F1 enough to care about the championship aspect of it would have bought their tickets before the championship was decided. Maybe some of them no showed. Anyway, let's hope the 3 to 4 % drop in attendance this year, isn't an annual trend.

They sold less tickets. The trend of dropping attendance is observable at most GPs, and COTA has really done nothing to counter that.

[turn1]

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

Thank you thank you THANK YOU. Finally maybe we will start seeing more promotion of other events at the track besides F1.

From the moment Dial was hired weeks ago we were already hearing that Sexton was on the way out & would be replaced by Dial. Remember the WEC weekend? We heard at the time that WEC said they wouldn't be back to this track under the same management. Maybe they meant Steve Sexton. Or maybe he was scapegoated & thrown under the bus to keep WEC and as a gesture to keep the investors from going nuts?

As for the promotion, they need better and more across the board, including F1 promotion.

Our F1 crowds haven't been bad. But they haven't really been all that great either, given what Indy drew. The U.S. has historically had huge crowds compared to other F1 countries. In 8 years, all but one of Indy's crowds was bigger than either of ours have been. In year one they drew 225K+ on race day alone. In year 2 they drew 175K on race day to the first major U.S. sports event post 9/11. Only their final race day crowd was smaller than our two have been.

... if not THE best track in the world ...

The track truly is awesome. Hellmund & Schwantz did an amazing job with Tilke on the layout. However, while I think it's definitely in the top 3 or 5 circuits, I can't go so far as to say it's at the top. Just off the top of my head, I have to put Suzuka at the top, and Spa & LeMans ahead as well. Brazil & Istanbul are pretty amazing too.

[turn1]

Hey guys. Finally finished my Sunday USGP pics. Almost 300 of 'em here. Enjoy!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.749491188398762.1073741946.157330087614878&type=1

Here's a preview:

[F1 Tommy]

Originally Posted by turn1

Our F1 crowds haven't been bad. But they haven't really been all that great either, given what Indy drew. The U.S. has historically had huge crowds compared to other F1 countries. In 8 years, all but one of Indy's crowds was bigger than either of ours have been. In year one they drew 225K+ on race day alone. In year 2 they drew 175K on race day to the first major U.S. sports event post 9/11. Only their final race day crowd was smaller than our two have been.

Indy was selling tickets at $15.00 at the door for general admission on practice and qualifying days to get the total numbers up higher. They also did alot of promotion. There is a reason Indy did not want to renew the F1 contract!!