Motogp Is Coming To Texas!
MOTOGP IS COMING TO TEXAS!
Circuit of the Americas signs 10-year contract with Dorna
MOTOGP IS HEADED TO THE $300 million Circuit of the Americas now under construction near Austin.
This past April, CotA management announced it had inked 10-year contracts with MotoGP and Formula One. MotoGP will bring all three classes— MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3—in 2013. F-1 will make its inaugural stop at CotA next year.
Designed by Tilke GmbH, the 20-tum track sits on 350 acres and will be 3.4 miles in length with elevation changes of 133 feet. Future phases will stretch another 620 acres. The track is 2 miles from Austin Bergstrom International Airport.
CotA principals “Red” McCombs, Robert Epstein and Tavo Hellmund were joined on stage by 1993 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz and factory Yamaha MotoGP rider Ben Spies.
“It’s a big deal,” beamed McCombs, “and we’re really excited.”
Epstein, a partner with Prophet Capital Management Ltd., and billionaire McCombs are financing the build. Ex-race-car driver Hellmund said the general contractor is working six days a week on the project.
Spies, from nearby Longview, remarked that for the first time in his career, he will be able to drive, rather than fly, to a MotoGP race.
“I’ll be asking for a lot of tickets,” he laughed.
“Tavo and I have done our best with the guys from Tilke to make this [track] as challenging as we can,” added fellow Texan Schwantz. “During my career,
I poured everything I had—my heart and soul—into Grand Prix racing. Everybody could see that when I got on the bike. That’s exactly what we’re going to do for both the riders and spectators with this facility. Expect nothing less.”
Matthew Miles
