Formula 1 coming to Austin, Baby!

Thanks again...

KXAN is saying 10am tomorrow.
No location.

I have to admit I'm kinda scratching my head on the location, which I believe is what TH wants me to be doing. Not that I blame him at all. That's exactly the way I'd play it if I were him.

Frankly I won't be surprised if it's Elroy, Manor Downs, Bird's Nest, south of Manor, 71 and 130, 969 and Burleson Manor...any of those or something completely different.
 
You mean 290E and 130, right?

There's probably a pretty good chance of that. 3 miles from that intersection covers 3 very likely sites, imho.
 
was just watcing fox news and the were interviewing people in Elroy.

I think you convenience store friend may have been on as well
 
I was watching KXAN, who said they'd be streaming the announcement live tomorrow. Watch for me!

What did the folks in Elroy have to say?
 
Looks like I fell for the disinformation campaign. It was always Elroy, apparently. I can see why they wanted to keep it secret until they had acquired all the necessary parcels. Looks like they had to buy some pieces to connect to all the adjacent roads in the area, for traffic purposes.
 
I assume and hope they will make things right with any residents that are in opposition to the track being near them. I think once they get a little education about the event, what it is all about and the possible upsides they will come around. Maybe some sort of tax break or exemption for them could be in order. I hope they cater to them to some extent.

This is awesome and will continue to be so.
 
I will, I promise. Gotta go to HEB and run a couple errands. It's more than I can type quickly.

Let's just say when Red walked out with Tavo my jaw hit the floor but I was thinking "I shoulda seen this coming".

The signs were definitely there.

Wish everyone coulda come along. It was pretty nice.
 
Loopy, frankly the local opposition doesn't mean crap in all likelyhood. Just ask all those folks who lived up near Justin, TX.
 
It doesn't sound like loopy is concerned the residents will somehow try to block the build, rather he's just concerned on their behalf that a major sports complex is moving in next door. That is a very sympathetic and kind hearted view.

I am sure some neighbors will not be pleased, but as was pointed out in the AAS earlier this morning, the other realistic option was a large, dense development of tract homes, so in some ways this race track is a much more desirable option.

Anyway, this seems like a major hurdle overcome, and I'm glad to see it moving along.
 
UTEE is correct. I know that there is pretty much nothing they can do but be vocal and it won't matter. This is going through and they would not be a reason for it not to. I do hope they get some form of education and coming around to the size and scope of this and what it means not just to our area but the State.

The windfall it will get and how it will help keep their taxes lower and other benefits. I would be pleased as punch if it meant top notch roads and services for them to keep that area pristine. I have no problem with that as a tax payer for Travis County.

The noise issue will really only be present for less than a week per year. The activity from testing for alternative fuels and vehicles will give that area life. As mentioned it is a far cry better than the tract homes they were planning.

If some are wise they will open some form of establishment people will want to partake in. The money is coming. It is coming to their neighborhood like it or not and I hope they begin to like it.
 
Totally agree - in the long run (and assuming everything goes as planned) the property values in the immediate vicinity will skyrocket as the development matures.

TH should let the people living in the local vicinity in for free or pay for a hotel room in Austin on race weekends.
 
Good point, clue. Hopefully there will be more than enough road access and planning. Tavo knows the size and scope of an F1 event and how much traffic. They may have bus systems to transport people with dedicated roads or routes for them that won't interfere with cars or bog the buses down. That would make them very desirable. Imagine if the bus dropped you really close to the entrance gates?

I have already been contacted by friends living in Europe as well as friends of friends I have never met who are F1 fanatics about staying at my place in Austin. One dude in Holland (don't know exactly where) said he would be willing to camp out in a tent in the backyard as long as he could use the shower and facilities. He just wants to save some cash so he can watch every single practice and every single minute of qualifying .

I am reserving my spare room and couch space for Hornfans who would not be able to or not want to afford a jacked up Hotel room and food. BBQ, beer and Tex Mex awaits. This is a time to share with others, imho.
 
I live in Houston and have had friends from South Africa, Spain and Sweden invite themselves over. All have been to Austin when they attended school in the US and loved it. One pointed out that a GT series in europe that has vipers, corvettes, saleens, porsches, and ford gt's is desperate for a US presence. I think it's fia gt1. That sounds like a great support race in 2012 and then independent weekend beyond!

I want ALMS, motogp, world superbike, and scca nationals too.
 
FIA GT1 is really good stuff and has been mentioned here before. If they came here it would be outstanding. Check out their website, they have tons of lengthy race video archived race by race in very good quality.
 
Sorry guys, about the delay in recapping the day yesterday. We had guest last night and then I was up doing stuff for formula1journal.com 'til 2:30am...sending photos, and press conference audio, identifying people in photos, writing my recap of what the news conference was like from our p.o.v., etc. We had visitors this morning, too, and then were gone out of town all day. This is the first chance I've had to sit down and do anything like this for myself in about 48 hours.

My story is on the front page and my wife's photos appear intermittently on different pages. Sorry about the typos and a few repeated words or mishandled phrases. I'm gonna see about getting those fixed, but go check it out. Then if you still have questions, fire away!


ETA: and OBTW...Helio was Robbed at Edmonton. That was the definition of the word traveshamockery.
 
Great report, thank you mandingo.
There is one aspect I am wondering about-the AAS reported the partnership has offers from a couple of other landowners to use their sites, and those people are offering incentives, and the F1 partnership said something to the effect of "we would be stupid not to listen to them."
Is it realistic after this announcement that some other site could actually end up the track's location? Doesn't seem very likely to me.
 
Yeah, accuratehorn. I barely caught that, too, and don't know what to make of it. I doubt much will come of it, except maybe this...from what I could gather, like I've been saying before there's going to be a large local research component involved in this, and some of that will probably involve an adjacent campus, but some may be off-campus, so to speak. I'm sure the land they announced will be used, and most likely for the race course and some of the research facilities. Maybe some of the other land they were alluding to could be used for other research campus facilities.

Not much is being made of it, but this is going to benefit DVISD immensely as well. The President of their Board of Trustees, Richard Vasquez, was at the meeting and seemed very happy at the prospects. The Del Valle ISD tax base will be infused with a huge amount of money, and TH was talking yesterday about programs that would involve research internships for DVISD students and other programs at the facility involving the kids and teachers and involving track and F1 employees going into the schools. He stressed showing the kids the multitude of ways to make a wonderful, exciting living in racing without being a driver.

The facility will also be used by UT, HT, aggy, and many other area universities.

The influx of other industry, etc will further enhance tax money for one of the poorest school districts around, as well as boosting Del Valle's economy and prospects in general.

It's gonna be huge.
 
Also, for more details, read the report by "flood1" (John Flood" at formula1journal.com. He did that based on the audio recording I sent him and it reads like he was there! To say the man has has very good listening skills would be a tremendous understatement.

My report was more in the vein of telling what it was like to be there.
 
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