Work stops on Austin Track

[eagleash]

Thought there was an Austin thread somewhere but cannot find it. If so someone can move this over.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula ... um=twitter

[JeremyMcClean]

Oh dear...

[Aerond]

Here we have a potential 2012 ROTY

[DOSBoot]

You'd figure the track owners would have done this before hand. I hope that both sides can come to terms soon. I really want to see this race happen.

[AdrianSutil]

I'm not at all surprised by this. I don't want the race at Austin anyway, I'm desperate for New Jersey to go ahead.

[DOSBoot]

I'm not at all surprised by this. I don't want the race at Austin anyway, I'm desperate for New Jersey to go ahead.

While I like the New Jersey circuit, Austin is closer for me.

[Captain Hammer]

From the sounds of things, it's a misunderstanding between the owners and the promoters about how the race actually works. The owners have a contract that says "this is the circuit where the race takes place" and the promoters have a contract that says "this is who will be organising the events". But it looks like the promoters believe that they are supposed to have one contract that says both things.

[FMecha]

Noooooooooooooooooooo.

Let's hope the dispute complete though, so the race can be held.

[Collieafc]

USF1 in track form? Or one of Bernies ploys?

[eagleash]

USF1 in track form? Or one of Bernies ploys?

"Bernie's ploys"

[eurobrun]

Strange, I thought it would be New Jersey that didn't go ahead

[DanielPT]

If Austin GP ends up in another debacle it could spell trouble for F1 in USA and for the Jersey GP. Let's hope F1 can still get his two races there and the US Formula 1 fans can get the two races they deserve.

[mario]

From the sounds of things, it's a misunderstanding between the owners and the promoters about how the race actually works. The owners have a contract that says "this is the circuit where the race takes place" and the promoters have a contract that says "this is who will be organising the events". But it looks like the promoters believe that they are supposed to have one contract that says both things.

From Bernie's recent comments to clarify the issue, it sounds like things are more complicated than that. Bernie's description of events is as follows; he signed an agreement with Tavo Hellmund for the race pending the normal due diligence checks (letters of credit to prove that the funding is in place, finalising various deadlines and so forth).
Then, partway through the negotiations it appears that the group building the circuit approached Bernie directly, informed Bernie that they were in dispute with Tavo Hellmund and asking if they could sign a deal with Bernie directly. Bernie, naturally, said that he could not do that as he had an existing contract with Tavo's company, Full Throttle Productions, and advised them that they would have to approach Tavo to sort out the details of the contract, which they said they would.

However, it appears that relations between COTA and Tavo have deteriorated, so no deal has been struck between them; moreover, after six months of inaction from Tavo, Bernie has now cancelled the contract he had signed with Tavo citing breach of contract, and according to Bernie Tavo is happy with that. Meanwhile, Bernie has now asked the COTA consortium if they can provide letters of credit to prove that they have the necessary funding for the event - and until they do that, he will refuse to sign any contract. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96270

So, all in all the decision by the State Comptroller to withhold the $25 million subsidy until after the first race has taken place looks increasingly ominous - without that, obtaining credit is likely to be more difficult and may potentially scupper the chances of COTA signing a deal. Moreover, with the race in New Jersey taking form, I doubt that Bernie is likely to offer them as good terms as he was rumoured to have offered Tavo.

[AndreaModa]

Oh dear.

I suspect that the track will get built eventually, but not in time for 2012.

[Captain Hammer]

Or it's just the typical Bernie tactic of strong-arming them into a resolution.

[nome66]

just move Jersey's race to next year. they are clearly more prepared. plus a Manhattan skyline was the prime objective for the United States Gran Prix in the first place!

[FMecha]

Ecclestone ready to drop Austin race if Austin guys are silent

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

[Captain Hammer]

The Independent article is slightly misleading - it implies the race has already been dropped when Ecclestone has given them three weeks to sort themselves out. They have until December 7 to find a resolution, or else risk losing the race.

[TheBigJ]

After Indy 05, and now this, the American Nascar-loving public look at us and probably think we're tools.



Go home, Bernie, just go home.

[DOSBoot]

After Indy 05, and now this, the American Nascar-loving public look at us and probably think we're tools.



Go home, Bernie, just go home.

Agreed. Of all places these things happen, they seem to happen the most in my country.

[nome66]

move the race to new jersey.
do it.

[Captain Hammer]

According to this opinion piece from the city, the whole thing could be a conspiracy to force Tavo Hellmund out of the project:

The scuttlebutt I hear from Austin insiders is that COTA purposely failed to provide the necessary letters of credit due to their falling out with [Tavo] Hellmund [heading the promoter side/company]. It was well known within the organization that this failure would lead to a cancellation of the contract, and it was known that Hellmund could not fund the fee requirements without their help. It appears that they let the cancellation happen so that they could enter into a contract with FOM that did not include Hellmund. I don’t know if this is fact or fiction.

[mario]

According to this opinion piece from the city, the whole thing could be a conspiracy to force Tavo Hellmund out of the project:

The scuttlebutt I hear from Austin insiders is that COTA purposely failed to provide the necessary letters of credit due to their falling out with [Tavo] Hellmund [heading the promoter side/company]. It was well known within the organization that this failure would lead to a cancellation of the contract, and it was known that Hellmund could not fund the fee requirements without their help. It appears that they let the cancellation happen so that they could enter into a contract with FOM that did not include Hellmund. I don’t know if this is fact or fiction.

It's possible that COTA might have sought to undermine Hellmund given that it seems Hellmund tried to buy them out, only for the deal to go sour (and it seems that an attempt by COTA to then buy Hellmund out of his company also went awry, driving the two sides further apart). http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/11/1 ... formulaOne

As for COTA, it looks like their efforts to cut Hellmund out and deal directly with FOM may be backfiring - in theory they have until December 7th to finalise the deal, because the FIA meets on Dec. 7th to finalise the 2012 calendar, which is already a fairly tight deadline. However, Bernie seems to be pretty doubtful that COTA can actually fulfil their side of the deal - he seems to have rather angrily told a reporter that COTA "can't bloody well pay" for the race, and that he has been waiting for 18 months for them to finalise the deal. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/11/1 ... formulaOne

On another note, it has to be said that COTA seem to have made a strategic mistake in dealing with Bernie; as Captain Hammer's post suggests, it looks like COTA have been looking to break Hellmund's existing contract and have started this round of brinkmanship in order to get a better deal from Bernie. The problem is, it looks like Bernie's deal with Hellmund was actually relatively lenient; he is thought to have given Hellmund longer than normal to sort out his side of the contract because the Hellmund family are close friends of his (Tavo's father helped to broker the deal behind the Mexican GP back in the 1980's for Bernie, which is why the two families know each other).
Given that, it's hard to see what COTA could gain by their brinkmanship - Bernie is unlikely to offer them a better deal, and to a certain extent he doesn't really need them when there are multiple venues around the world with a deal or in negotiations with FOM (such as the upcoming race in Russia). Moreover, as more details emerge from this deal it has to be pointed out that it reflects worst of all on COTA, given that the news coming out so far indicates that most of the problems have been caused by them.

[nome66]

[JeremyMcClean]

OK, I get it! Nice photoshopping, BTW.

[JeanDenisAlcatraz]

OK, I get it! Nice photoshopping, BTW.

I don't...

[nome66]

if texas is off, move the race. they are more prepared. the surface is pretty good and it wouldn't take nearly as long to build up the track.
they have already begun construction on the paddock buildings.

[dr-baker]

OK, I get it! Nice photoshopping, BTW.

I don't...

Neither do I... I was a bit too embarrassed to be the first to admit it, but now that someone else has, I am speaking out too...

[lindol]

Have a look at the state of New Jersey image below, look familiar?

[nome66]

OK, I get it! Nice photoshopping, BTW.

I don't...

Neither do I... I was a bit too embarrassed to be the first to admit it, but now that someone else has, I am speaking out too...[/quote]
it's the NIKE advertisement.

[FullMetalJack]

Have a look at the state of New Jersey image below, look familiar?

The outline looks like a cross between Melbourne and Valencia.

[nome66]

all the counties are named after british ones

[dr-baker]

it's the NIKE advertisement.

THAT bit I got... I just didn't get the New Guernsey outline. Looks nothing like the outline of any of the Channel Islands.

And while I could tell you approximately where in the USA each of the states were, I would rarely be able to recognise the outline. At first I thought the outline might have been Florida, with the only straight-line being at the top...

[eagleash]

all the counties are named after british ones

Some, (about one third) are, but not all.

[FMecha]

It is December now, guys. Only one week or the Austin dreams will end.

[East Londoner]

It is December now, guys. Only one week or the Austin dreams will end.

Go home, Bernie Ecclestone!

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-bernie-ecclestone-gives-austin-another-week-to-save-gp/

[mario]

It is December now, guys. Only one week or the Austin dreams will end.

Go home, Bernie Ecclestone!

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-bernie-ecclestone-gives-austin-another-week-to-save-gp/

To be fair to Bernie, though, he has been relatively throughout the negotiations - he gave Tavo a discounted fee and about four months longer than usual to fulfil his side of the contract, and with the COTA group he has extended the deadline for negotiations as far as he can (right up until the day that the FIA formally announce the 2012 calendar). And to be honest, throughout this process it seems that the COTA group have to take a fairly sizeable share of the blame for not only cutting Tavo out of the deal in a clumsy manner, but for basically scaring off the State of Texas from backing the deal (that $25 million subsidy); yes, Bernie does demand high fees, but that is publicly known and it should not have come as a surprise to COTA if they'd familiarised themselves with Bernie's usual negotiation tactics (which ensures that he doesn't just have a joker up his sleeve - he has the entire deck of cards up there).

[FMecha]

Any news on this?

[fjackdaw]

all the counties are named after british ones

Some, (about one third) are, but not all.

In fact, only a quarter - just five of them.

[eagleash]

all the counties are named after british ones

Some, (about one third) are, but not all.

In fact, only a quarter - just five of them.

If you include Gloucester(shire), Monmouth(shire) & Cumberland (a former County now part of Cumbria), there's seven.