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Texas State Capitol

Thank You from AGP

The Texas State Capitol in Austin, TexasThe entire Austin Grand Prix team is grateful for the support of our fans and friends throughout the past two and a half years! We wanted to share our appreciation with a few members of the F1 Paddock in a unique way, so we requested the flag of the State of Texas be flown above the Texas State Capitol on Sunday, November 18, 2012 to commemorate the Inaugural Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.

With the help of our friends Jennie Gow, Jason Swales and John Watson with BBC Radio 5 Live, two of the historic flags made it to São Paolo, Brazil for a special delivery during the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix. Jennie tells us that Lewis "was touched" by such a commemorative gift and Will Buxton also shared his reaction via Twitter: "Just been given the most amazing gift. One of the 4 flags that flew on the State Capitol on USGP Sunday. I'm in tears...hugely honoured and very grateful."

AGP is excited to share our Texas pride and this small part of history with the winner of our Inaugural race, Lewis Hamilton, and with Will Buxton, who has been an incredible supporter of Formula 1 in America. This is only the beginning!

Enjoy these photos:

 

Fancy Another Red Bull?

Remember all the Red Bull Racing excitement that happened in Austin, Texas last month? Well here is the final product released from Red Bull earlier today.

 

In case you need a refresher of the roller coaster journey to get to that final product, let me recap:

Your Daily Red Bull Update

Detail of Proposed Red Bull Racing Showcar AreaMore details for you on the loudly rumored Red Bull Racing F1 Showcar and David Coulthard appearance proposed for this Saturday, August 20, in downtown Austin, Texas. (If you want to see a Red Bull car exhibition, click HERE to read our previous post.)

Here are two maps for you to plan your attendance. The street closures requested in the City of Austin Permit lists blocks 1500-1700 north on Congress Avenue and 0-211 east on 15th Street. The permit lists the 100 east block of 15th Street twice, but we believe this is a mistake, and it should be the 0-125 west block of 15th Street and 0-211 east blocks of 15th Street (technicality).

As the Statesman reported yesterday, the requested permit time is from 7:00 AM - 12:00 PM. A knowledgable F1 source believes the exhibition will not occur until around 10:00 AM. It could take anywhere from 2-3 hours to set up the showcar, pit, filming and safety equipment, and secure the safety and related inspections. They will probably do a few laps and pit stops during filming, as well as media opportunities (still photos, interviews). That brings us to about 11:00 AM, when everything will have to be deconstructed and the permit area cleaned up by noon.

As of 1:16 PM today, the Permit filed with the City of Austin is still listed as "Pending."

We will continue to deliver the latest breaking updates for you as they become available.

Here are some planning tips for you:

  • In the maps, the red streets are the proposed showcar streets to be blocked off for the event. The grey streets are Austin's major streets to get you to the event.
  • Parking meters are not effective on weekends (this means they are FREE!). Therefore, watch for metered street parking, or there are paid parking garages - but we make no guarantees that they will be open on Saturday morning.
  • BRING EARPLUGS! I don't care how macho you are; you will be begging for them!
  • This should be no surprise to you: Saturday's forecast is projected to be sunny with a high of 103' F and low of 76' F. But you're in luck: at 10:00 AM it's usually about 85' F. Dress accordingly.
  • Bring water! But hopefully there will be Red Bull for you to drink as well.
  • Bring cash. Austin has over 4,000 food trucks. Someone get the word out and start inviting food trucks to the area (breakfast tacos anyone??).
  • Do you want to book a hotel close to the Capitol and proposed Showcar space? CLICK HERE!

Overview of Proposed Red Bull Racing Showcar Route & Surrounding Area in Austin, Texas

And finally, we went out to the Capitol and proposed Showcar area last night and shot this video for you. Keep in mind, the Showcar DOES NOT have permission from the State of Texas to take the Red Bull Racing F1 Showcar on Capitol grounds, but we love our Capitol and wanted to share it with you.

Trivia question: What makes the Texas Capitol more like the United States Capitol when compared to all other US states? Take a stab at it and we'll give you some free COME AND RACE IT™ gear!

Our lawyers made us write this: *We make no guarantees or assurances to the vailidity of planned events and are not responsible for cancellation or changes to revised event dates. Details provided for informational purposes only and no warranties are made or implied.

This Week's Million Dollar Question - When Will Red Bull F1 Come to Austin?

Sunset Over Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas - by Visualist Images, John Rogers

This is the view from the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin, Texas. It hovers over Lady Bird Lake, is home to the world's largest urban bat population, and in the background, you can see the Texas State Capitol.

"Congress Bridge," for short, is where we hope Red Bull Racing will film DC's inaugural F1 drive this Saturday.

I've been keeping an eye on the City of Austin's permit filings since DC revealed his intentions to take the Red Bull Racing Showcar for a spin in Austin and LA during his summer holiday this month. We were beginning to wonder how Red Bull would shut down the main artery of downtown Austin, Congress Avenue, for such a worldly event, as it has never happened in the US before. I was convinced a vague, yet rejected, permit filed for Fox Sports Promo was going to be edited the day before the event and thereby approved, until a new revelation last night - a permit not-so-stealthly titled "F1 Comes to Austin" was filed on Friday.

David Coulthard at RBR Showcar event in Singapore - April 2011 - Image from Red Bull Racing

We believe, via numerous sources, that the Red Bull Racing Showcar expedition will be in Austin this Saturday, August 20 (and in LA on the 19th). And, that's about it. No word on time. No word on location. Their permit language is confusing in that it says: "Film crew will be shooting a Formula One Car Driving driving down Congress Avenue towards the Capitol Building and exiting towards 15th street." This could put us north of the Capitol and headed south, or on our preferred path from the Congress Bridge and heading north towards the Capitol.

Wherever we end up, this is going to be a great event for F1 in the US. We were looking forward to a weekend of F1 fun, with the SENNA movie premiere slated for the 19th. However, the release date for Austin has been pushed back a week, August 26, so you'll just have to make two trips to our fine city.

Plus, this is not Red Bull's first rodeo. They're used to creating wildly successful public events at the drop of a hat. Austin's 2007 Red Bull Flugtag competition drew the largest US attendance of over 85,000 people to the Auditorium Shores of Lady Bird Lake. Were you there?

Heads up: we also enabled hotel booking on our site last week. Why should you book with us? Because we support local businesses and invest back in the Austin community whenever possible. $2 of each hotel room rental per night will go to Big Brothers Big Sisters; having been a "Big Sister" in Central Texas since 2004, this charity is important to AGP. We can also help large groups with easy booking - contact us for assistance.

So, our question remains - Will DC and Red Bull COME AND RACE ITTM?

*We make no guarantees or assurances to the vailidity of planned events and are not responsible for cancellation or changes to revised event dates. Details provided for informational purposes only and no warranties are made or implied.