Tavo and Susan Combs at Silverstone

We were expecting this to come out soon and are glad to announce that Tavo Hellmund and Susan Combs, the Texas State Comptroller, met with Bernie Ecclestone at the British Grand Prix this past weekend.

Autoweek released an article about the meeting and Susan's first Grand Prix experience.  We really enjoyed this comment by Combs:

"It's very, very exciting...It has lots of technology, which I found particularly interesting, and it's a real crowd-pleaser, a real show. We're now more excited. With the incredible impact that this has on England, we hope to have a similar impact on the United States.”

Susan seems to be quite enthusiastic about the race and said the support from Texas Special Events Fund is a "done deal."  Read more at Autoweek in Austin Formula One Race A Done Deal.

KO

25 Million for F1 in Austin

Some conflicting news surfacing about how the new track will be funded.  KXAN claims (in the article just before) that no government money will be used, but Austin Business Journal has just released the following article outlining a $25MM per year agreement with the State of Texas.

Austin Business Journal - 25 Million for F1

We will continue to follow this and add more information as the story unfolds; as of this point, we can't be certain that KXAN was correct, given the ABJ article.  However, it's possible the City of Austin will not foot any of the bill and instead will rely on state funding, perhaps from Rick Perry's Enterprise Fund or from Kirk Watson's bill which created the Sporting Event Trust Fund, Motor Sports Racing Trust Fund and Other Events Trust Fund.

Money, Money, Money! 

KO