Austin City Council Officially Endorses Formula 1United States Grand Prix Affirmative Vote Advances Race Preparations at Circuit of the Americas AUSTIN, Texas – June 29, 2011 – Austin’s City Council voted today to officially endorse the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix event in 2012. Council Members deliberated on the issue for more than three weeks leading up to the vote and worked closely with representatives of Circuit of The Americas to craft an environmental agreement that is unprecedented for a world-class sports venue. “We appreciate the Council’s approval of the endorsement,” said Steve Sexton, President of Circuit of The Americas. “Austin is a unique community and the environmental provisions we worked together to craft with Council demonstrate our commitment to produce an event aligned with the values and vision of the City. This is a major step toward our vision of bringing the world to Austin to enjoy one of the most spectacular international events in sports. This partnership sets a new standard that every new sports or entertainment venue around the world can emulate.” City Council’s official endorsement of the race clears the way for the Local Organizing Committee to utilize a state fund established by the Texas Legislature for the purpose of attracting and producing major events like the Super Bowl, NCAA Men’s Final Four and now the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix. 'I'm proud of the partnership between the City and Circuit of The Americas to develop and build what will be among the greenest, most high-tech sports and entertainment facilities anywhere,' said Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell.
See, now all the politicians can say they were against it before they were for it if things go badly and hold their chin high about how smart they were voting for it if it goes well!!! Plausible..... lol
More on the US GP date switch. Ecclestone Confirms November Switch For Austin (formula-one.speedtv.com | Speed staff/GMM | GMM newswire)
Red Bull F1 Roadshow Coming to Austin Red Bull is bringing one of its famous road show events to the state Austin. The event is reportedly slated to feature veteran driver and team ambassador David Coulthard driving one of the team's demo cars up Congress Avenue between 15th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard from 7 a.m. to noon this coming Saturday. A crew will be filming the event, which spectators will also get a chance to watch from the sidelines, though details on how many passes DC will make and whether he'll be meeting with fans after the demonstration remain undisclosed. For that matter, the team has reportedly yet to secure the necessary permits for the event, but assuming the paperwork comes together, Texas is about to get an earlier taste of F1 than they expected.
Coulthard drives Red Bull F1 car on the Austin "Track" [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVxQzseaUb8]F1 2011 - Red Bull demo at the Circuit of the Americas - Coulthard on the dirt track - YouTube[/ame]
That was..........different. Not sure what the point of doing that was other than to show Red Bull are willing to do pretty much ANYthing for a bit of publicity. Need to see if I can find some post-stunt comments from Coulthard.
Welp, looks like they are starting to race on the Circuit of the Americas track...... Fixed.... Thanks Steve....
Damn - I wish they would let folks know about this stuff. I was thinking about driving up to Austin to see him run downtown, but then I heard it was cancelled. Well, I guess they did it anyway. Maybe they were worried about me and the other 5 F1 fans in Texas showing up and trashing up the place.
Another example of Red Bull's anything-for-publicity mentality: Tom Cruise drives Red Bull F1 car (gpupdate.net)
... and here's the video they made of Tom Cruise having fun in Red Bull machinery: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyW8FdzH9dg]Tom Cruise test drives Red Bull Racing F1 car - YouTube[/ame]