Most liked posts in thread: F1 Coming to .... TX!!

minimark · Nov 15, 2011

Steve said: ↑

I didn't say it was a good formula...sarcastic attitude isn't easily expressed via text.

You're right, Bernie honors his contracts if he wants to honor his contracts. Ya pays yer money (up front) and ya takes yer chances.
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Didn't think that sounded like you... ;

farkus · Nov 15, 2011

As expected, all construction has been halted as of tonight...

Construction on Circuit of the Americas, a $300 million Formula One race track in southeastern Travis County, has been shut down indefinitely until a contract dispute between the race promoter and circuit officials is resolved, officials said today.

Promoter Full Throttle Productions, headed by Tavo Hellmund, has a contract with Formula One to hold races for 10 years starting in November 2012, but those rights have not been transferred to the Circuit of the Americas, officials said in a statement.

“While construction at Circuit of The Americas has progressed as scheduled with over 300 workers at the construction site daily, all work will suspend immediately,” the statement said. “The delivery of the Formula One Grand Prix race contract will allow construction operations to resume.”

A timetable to transfer the rights has not been met, officials said today. They did not elaborate on other details, including how long the dispute has been going on, how long it might last or whether circuit officials are willing to walk away from the project.

“It is in the best interest of all parties to reach a timely resolution. Local businesses, fans and the State of Texas are counting on us,” Red McCombs, a founding partner of the circuit, said in the statement.
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Steve · Nov 16, 2011

Ecclestone - Austin Race Set To Be Called Off (formula-one.speedtv.com)

Adam Cooper | Posted November 16, 2011 | Balen (BEL)

Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed that the US GP is on the verge of disappearing from the 2012 calendar â€“ and that nobody holds a contract to run the race.

In essence, the final deadline for any kind of resolution is the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in India on Dec. 7.

Speaking to Ian Parkes of the UKâ€™s Press Association, Ecclestone admitted that the race would be dropped if there was no solution in the coming days: â€œYes, it will be, for sure, 100 percent.â€

Ecclestone also confirmed that Tavo Hellmundâ€™s Full Throttle Productions no longer holds a contract to run the race, because it has been cancelled. Circuit of the Americas' Bobby Epstein has thus been in negotiation over a totally new contract, rather than an acquisition of the one held by Hellmund.

â€œWe had an agreement with Full Throttle Productions,â€ Ecclestone told Parkes. â€œEverything was signed and sealed, but we kept putting things off like the dates, various letters of credit and things that should have been sent, but nothing ever happened.

â€œThen these other people [Epstein and COTA] came on the scene, saying that they wanted to do things, but that they had problems with Tavo.

â€œThey said they had the circuit, and that they wanted an agreement with me. I told them they had to sort out the contract with Tavo, which they said they would. But that has gone away now because weâ€™ve cancelled Tavoâ€™s contract as he was in breach.

â€œWeâ€™ve waited six months for him to remedy the breach. He knows full well why weâ€™ve cancelled. Heâ€™s happy. But these other people havenâ€™t got a contract. All weâ€™ve asked them to do is get us a letter of credit.

â€œWe are looking for security for money they are going to have to pay us. That is via a letter of credit, normally from a bank. If people donâ€™t have the money, they find it difficult to get the letter of credit, and so we donâ€™t issue a contract.â€

The big problem is that the race no longer has any guarantee of receiving $25 million from the Texas Major Events Trust Fund, which was to have funded the sanctioning fee due to Ecclestone and the Formula One organization.
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Redbeard · Nov 16, 2011

*Sounds of flushing*

Bah. Bummer.

btwdriver · Nov 16, 2011

I hope this doesn't die, though I think it probably will.. As much as I would love to see an F1 race local to me, I want to race on the track even more.

minimark · Nov 16, 2011

How the......do you start building a $300million facility for an event with the likes of Bernie behind it without having all the tees crossed and eyes dotted. Way more than just the $25million going on here....

This is the kinda crap that makes taxpayers not support projects like this......and rightly so.

You wait, it will get done in the end but Bernie will wind up with way more in his pocket$. New Jersey taxpayers, pay close attention.....

Redbeard · Nov 16, 2011

minimark said: ↑

How the......do you start building a $300million facility for an event with the likes of Bernie behind it without having all the tees crossed and eyes dotted. Way more than just the $25million going on here....
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$300MM is easy. I worked on the $8.6B (yes, Billion) CityCenter project in Las Vegas as a Financial Analyst. It was amazing to watch. The project was still in the midst of being DESIGNED when it was already being built. There was sooo much money wasted on that project it's not even funny. So $300MM is easy to do. :frown5:

Stinker · Nov 16, 2011

I just want to see a F-1 race in this country. Its been to long since I when to one. (Long Beach 1981)

farkus · Nov 17, 2011

Bernie changes the game...don't cross Bernie, he will win and he will take more of your money in the process.

Ecclestone is believed to have offered a contract to Epstein at a meeting in London in October but the terms contained in it were not the same as the ones in the contract to Full Throttle.

It is not known precisely how the terms differed but it is possible that they covered points such as the share of trackside advertising retained by the race promoter. Circuit of the Americas' business model was based on the terms of Full Throttle's contract so a reduction in what is offered could prevent the race from being viable. One certain change is that Ecclestone has moved the date for the first race from 2012 to 2013.

"The contract we proposed to them is ten years from 2013," says Ecclestone. With the previous contract cancelled and Epstein and McCombs being new contractual partners for Ecclestone, there is no reason why the F1 boss should offer them the same terms as Full Throttle had. However, it seems that they are not happy with this situation as a statement from them on Tuesday said that "organisers of Circuit of the Americas...are suspending further construction of the project until a contract assuring the Formula One United States Grand Prix will be held at Circuit of the Americas in 2012 is complete."

Unsurprisingly, Ecclestone is irked by this kind of posturing. Throwing down the gauntlet he says that "they have been sent a contract but they missed that deadline. I can't solve it. We told them a month ago that if it isn't signed then that is it. All they need to do is sign a contract. If they don't sign we will have to cancel at some stage in December." This deadline makes sense since there is a World Council meeting next month which, realistically, is the final time the 2012 calendar can be changed without causing too much disruption.

Faced with the risk that the race will not take place next year Combs has taken drastic action to protect the state's finances. "The state of Texas will not be paying any funds in advance of the event," she said on Tuesday. This effectively puts the brakes on the race ever taking place because if Ecclestone's fee is not paid in advance it is highly unlikely he will give the grand prix the green light.

Austin is renowned for being one of the greenest cities in America so if the grand prix does not take place a new race could begin as the state chases down who is really to blame for leaving it with a 1,000-acre construction site.

With hindsight, it is perhaps easy to see just how bold a gamble this project really was. Getting $25m of annual state support is a feat in itself given that America is a country which knows little about Formula One and still has a bad taste in its mouth from the scandal of Indianapolis. In comparison, the British Grand Prix, which is one of the best attended races on the F1 calendar in a country with decades of connection to the sport, gets no financial assistance from the government. Somehow Hellmund managed to pull off this incredible feat and that alone makes him a visionary in F1. So even if Austin never hosts an F1 race the sport could do a lot worse than making a concerted effort to ensure that he remains involved.
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Sorry but my opinion is Hellemund should climb down into the same hole as Peter Windsor and Ken Anderson.

minimark · Nov 17, 2011

Agree.

Guess a ten year contract in hand is not really in hand with this bunch. As much as I would love to see F1 here; piss on Bernie and the whole lot and until they go the way of the Buffalo, this race fan will not spend one cent in support of F1.:incazzato:

ScottinBend · Nov 17, 2011

I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Bernie gets around 25mil PER RACE ! !

Steve · Nov 17, 2011

ScottinBend said: ↑

I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Bernie gets around 25mil PER RACE ! !
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Normally closer to $35M from what I've read. Speculation is Bernie gave Hellmund a discount price of only $25M (where's that code for sarcasm...) as a favor because they're old friends. I have no trouble believing Bernie would push the price back toward his regular even more ludicrous levels for anyone else.

Also, check the attitude: "All they need to do is sign a contract." Right, that's all there is to it, just a signature. Just another sign he thinks his fees are a pittance and you shouldn't be playing his game unless you think of that kind of money as pocket change. Of course I think if he didn't already have a contract with the folks in New Jersey, and a number of prospects in other countries which he'll only have room for on the calendar if he can find venues to drop, he might be slightly more inclined to deal...maybe... Demand is high elsewhere and he has other options so he can afford to set the price wherever he likes...greedy, money grubbing so and so... :mad5:

minimark · Nov 17, 2011

Integrity

- adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty

....an attribute that Bernie is sorely lacking in.

Redbeard · Nov 17, 2011

Meh. It's done. It's not going to happen unless there is a miracle. There is a small chance of 2013 but I find that prospect highly dubious.

Most likely, the circut is going to become a clean-up disaster and a half-forgotten after-thought in F1 conversations 10 years from now.

"You remember them trying to start a race in Austin?"

"Yeah, I wonder what happened?"

"Bernie didn't like Texas or something."

"Oh."

farkus · Nov 17, 2011

ScottinBend said: ↑

I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Bernie gets around 25mil PER RACE ! !
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For one thing, the prize money for each race is paid from the promoter's fee, but you'll probably have a hard time finding out what that amount actually is. This last GP at Watkins Glen in 1980 had an overall purse of 1 milllion US dollars, but that was 31 years ago and pre-Bernie-in-charge.

What, you didn't know that each race had a purse? Ya never see that big cardboard check on the podium any more...

minimark · Nov 17, 2011

Because every race would have Bernie standing atop the podium, cardboard check made out to him in hand!!! Lol

Steve · Nov 18, 2011

US Grand Prix promoter confident race will not be scrapped despite losing Bernie Ecclestone's support (telegraph.co.uk)

By Telegraph staff and agencies | 11:41AM GMT 18 Nov 2011

Promoter Tavo Hellmund has said that he remains hopeful that Austin can still host next year's planned US Grand Prix despite losing the rights to the race and the apparent support of Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

Ecclestone said he cancelled his original contract with Hellmund's Full Throttle Productions because of a breach of contract and may axe the race altogether.

The 81 year-old was left dealing with the track developers, Circuit of the Americas (COTA), but has since run out of patience with them, saying they had a week to agree to a new contract and pay up or he would scrap the event.

Hellmund, whose father worked with Ecclestone to put on the Mexican Grand Prix in the 1980s, said his company and the race organisers only had themselves to blame for the fallout.

"The reason we don't have a contract with Formula One is because as a project, we have failed many times over to fulfil our financial obligations to Formula One. It's literally that simple," he said.

"Right now we should be praising Mr Ecclestone. We were in breach on multiple issues as late as May. And he sent numerous requests and letters that we were all aware of how to fix it and we failed to do that."

Hellmund said the problem was caused by a rift between Full Throttle Productions and COTA. He said he tried to buy them out, but they declined, then he agreed to allow COTA to buy him out but they have not yet reached a deal.

"I don't really want to get into the weeds about that. Let's just say there's been a difference of philosophy and for the good of the project I'm willing to do whatever it is for the project to go forward," he explained.

The prospects of the race going ahead as planned in November next year were fading fast with construction halted at the track after COTA officials said they wanted to see a contract, then state government officials ruling out the possibility of a public bailout.

But COTA president Steve Sexton indicated on Thursday that a 2013 startup might be a possibility and Hellmund said he was still optimistic that 2012 could be saved.

"I was encouraged today to see some news reports that the door is still open for us to be able to fix that," Hellmund said.

"And I've also been encouraged in recent days to see that apparently all the funding's in place. And so with that being said I'm really optimistic and hopeful that we're going to get this done and we're going to have a Grand Prix next year."
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Redbeard · Nov 18, 2011

Wow, I didn't know a guy could be so full of BS... :frown2:

Crashton · Nov 18, 2011

^ :lol: :lol: :lol:

Steve · Nov 20, 2011

Pitpass' latest take on the situation:

Austin: There is one way forward

Nothing much new, just a fairly sensible summary for a change.

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