The Austin Grand Prix - Water & Wastewater Meeting Today - Please Email Your Support! (They're Listening)

Please join the "Friends of Formula 1 Austin Texas" group on LinkedIn, which is located here.  Here is the latest post regarding the Water and Wastewater Commission meeting today:

LinkedIn Groups

• Group: Friends of Formula 1 Austin Texas
• Subject: **IF YOU SUPPORT FORMULA 1 AND ARE READING THIS PLEASE TAKE ACTION**

The Formula 1 folks will be attending a Meeting tomorrow and we need to send a message to the Water and Wastewater Commission requesting approval for the project.
Please cut / paste / modify to your liking, the below message and email to the... following addresses and sign your name after the "Thank you" line.

The Water and Wastewater Commission are voting on an item related to wastewater services at the Formula 1 site at their meeting tomorrow, November 10. We would really appreciate if you show your support via email. Thanks again for all of your help and support!

Email addresses:
mespinoza@ctrma.org
gwen.hill.webb@sbcglobal.net
smbaker222@hotmail.com
rimrok@earthlink.net
agoogins@kingengineering.com
dgray@espeyconsultants.com
chienlee2005@yahoo.com

To Water and Wastewater Commissioners,

As a strong advocate for bringing Formula 1 racing to Austin, Texas, I encourage you to support item #15 which would provide wastewater services for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix and the surrounding community. Improvements to wastewater service in this part of the City’s extra-territorial jurisdiction are much needed and well-deserved. The Formula 1 project is the catalyst we need to spur infrastructure improvements in the City’s desired development zone, and supporting this item on today’s agenda will bring this project a step further to becoming a reality.

Thank you,

Supporter of the Formula 1 United States Grand PrixTM in Austin, Texas

Update on 2010-11-11 04:17 by Kerri Olsen

THANK YOU AGAIN! KXAN is reporting "the Water and Wastewater Commissioner's granted approval Wednesday night for Formula One developers to construct water and wastewater transmission lines for the future race track in Elroy."  More here.

Please Email Environmental Board

The Environmental Board is meeting tonight in Austin and they need to hear from Formula One supporters.  Please send the message below (or your personalization) to the board members:

TO:  marygaymaxwell@sbcglobal.net; jimschiss@aol.com; rhgary@bseacd.org; banderson@jrobertanderson.com; jonbeall1@onr.com; eva.hernandez@sierraclub.org

SUBJECT:  Environmental Board Hearing on F1 Track

Dear Members of the Environmental Board,

Please support the cut and fill variances, along with the construction on slopes variance, under consideration at today’s public hearing. As a strong advocate for bringing Formula 1 racing to Austin, Texas, I encourage you to support what city staff has recommended. The granting of these variances will help make this project a reality. The area under consideration will no doubt be put to better use with the construction of a race track, as opposed to the original plan of an 1,800 lot subdivision. The track will allow for less overall traffic, and less carbon emissions, than if it were turned into a subdivision. Again, I hope that you will support the variances under consideration at today’s public hearing.

Thank you,

Supporter of the Formula 1 United States Grand PrixTM in Austin, Texas

 

Update on 2010-11-10 16:31 by Kerri Olsen

THANK YOU for responding to the call to action! The Austin Environmental Board unanimously approved the site and now we are gearing up for the next round of approvals.  Many thanks!

Singapore Grand Prix- Watch Party and Raffle Recap

Today we had another great watch party at Cool River Cafe in Austin, with the support of Zinger Hardware and several local Austin car clubs.

Race Recap -  A very exciting night race in Singapore this week.  There were quite a few crashes and incidents that kept us on our toes.  I won't spoil the final results for those who have not watched yet, but the race was exciting and constantly changing thanks to the incidents and even the fire from Heikki Kovalinen's car.

Now known as "Heikki the Fireman," Heikki Kovalinen's car began to smoke then a fire began as he was getting close to the pit entrance, but he stayed in the main straight and avoided the pits and stopped his car by the wall.  He got out and calmly walked to the wall and was handed a fire extinguisher by a marshal on the other side.  He began to put out his own fire and succeeded without any assistance.  We were all yelling at the screen, "there's a fire, get out!!!," but he was aware and handled the situation promptly without panic.  That was pretty cool to see a driver take care of his own problem.

source: Lotus Racing Facebook Page

An interesting twist on today's watch party, someone (any help on who was the source?) brought in two metal shims for the rear wing of Mark Webbers Red Bull car from the 2008 season.  They handed out one free ticket for all members of the Grand Prix Club, and sold additional tickets for just a dollar each for a simple raffle for the viewers.  Before the begining of the race they paused the video feed and drew out one ticket, then said they would draw another ticket at the end of the race.

I purchased five tickets for myself and my good friend Andrew purchased five as well.  Neither of us won, but the gentleman sitting behind Andrew won the second draw, and ran up to the stage to claim his prize.  He was cheering for Mark Webber during the whole race, along with my friend Andrew, and was exstatic to win the raffle.  He handed the piece to us and I got a chance to feel it and analyze it.  The pieces were about four inches wide by three inches tall, and about an eigth of an inch thick.  They had a serial number written on them and a chassis code, RBR5 I beleve.  They were made of really lightweight alloy, almost like aluminum, but darker and more dense, maybe titanium.

This was a really cool addition to the watch party and got everyone very excited about the chance to own a genuine piece of a car.  I am hoping this can happen again, maybe become more common and get some more pieces for fans to get their hands on.

Kevin

Formula One United States Grand Prix™ Releases Conceptual Master Plan for Austin Stage

Last night Full Throttle Productions, LP and Formula One United States Grand Prix™ announced the Conceptual Master Plan for the new home of the United States Grand Prix in Austin from 2012-2021.  The plan includes "a proposed Driving/Riding Experience and Seminar Building, Motorsports Driving Club, Kart Track and Welcome Center."

As previously reported, the track will have a highly anticipated maximum elevation change of 133 feet and cover the course of 3.4 miles.  In addition to the grandstands and semi-permanent stands,  the grounds will also include "natural grass berms" and picnic areas (think the re-sodded Zilker Park with a race track in the middle of it). 

Zilker Park, Austin, TexasPhoto Courtesy of austintowers.netFor those of you concerned with the recent traffic impact discussions, Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. and has been retained and brings their long list of experience with Texas Motor Speedway, the new Cowboys Stadium, Lone Star Park and Houston’s Dynamo Park.

Graham Lake–Grange, a Director with Global Strategic Outcomes (UK), will handle the guest experience and has also developed successful traffic management plans for thirteen Formula One Grand Prix™ events at Silverstone as well as over 100 large-scale public events.  Still, it might not be a bad idea for Mr. Lake-Grange to experience the 100,000+ masses that pour into Zilker Park every year for the Austin City Limits Music Festival...

Photo courtesy of austincool.comAlso mentioned in the Press Release are a few various multi-purpose functions originally quoted by Tavo Hellmund in the first press conference.  We are very excited about the previously mentioned research and development testing center, which we were really looking forward to.  However, we're wondering where MotoGP fits into this, as we enjoyed speaking with the 1993 World GP Motorcycle Champion Kevin Schwantz at the press conference, and were hoping to see some MotoGP events welcomed at the new facility. 

From the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix™ press release:

• Driving/Riding Experience and Seminar Building: The facility and racetrack will provide the ideal location for manufacturers to test, launch and educate dealers as well as consumers. The facility will feature classroom settings, virtual driving experiences and will provide the opportunity for test-driving on the racetrack, streets and off-road courses.

• Motorsports Driving Club: The membership-only club will serve as a luxury destination featuring an array of hospitality services and amenities. The club will offer its members professional instruction, customized driving courses, premium car story and concierge level services.

• Kart Track: The outdoor karting track will be designed to provide an experience for youth and adults of all ages. The track, open to the public, will specialize in orchestrating custom group events, team building programs, celebratory events, fund–raisers as well as individual experiences.

What are your thoughts?  Good enough or what else would you like to see at the facility or addressed by the official promoter?

Cool River Formula One Watch Parties Growing!

Just a quick shout out to Zinger Hardware:  The F1 watch parties are really taking off! Kevin was in attendance this past Sunday and estimated a watch group of 50-60 guests!  That's amazing!  So great to see the Austin community embracing the Formula One races.

I will be in attendance at the last race on November 14 and look forward to meeting you all then!

Formula One 2011 Race Calendar

The FIA has released the 2011 Formula One race calendar.  It includes 20 races, an 8 1/2 month racing period (including a 4 week break in July-August) and an Indian race "Subject to the homologation of the circuit."

So, where's our first meetup? :)

FIA announces 20-race calendar for 2011

 

Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, has released the calendar for the 2011 world championship. The addition of the Indian Grand Prix makes for a 20-race season - one more round than in 2010 and the longest in Formula One history.

The Bahrain Grand Prix will kick off proceedings on March 13, followed by the Australian, Malaysian and Chinese rounds, before the championship heads to Europe. The inaugural Indian event will take place towards the end of the year on October 30, with the season drawing to a close in Brazil on November 27.

Whilst the 2010 calendar features three back-to-back races, the 2011 season will have four, with the Malaysia/China, Spain/Monaco, Germany/Hungary and Japan/Korea events all taking place on consecutive weekends.

2011 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar:
13/03 Bahrain
27/03 Australia
10/04 Malaysia
17/04 China
08/05 Turkey
22/05 Spain
29/05 Monaco
12/06 Canada
26/06 Europe
10/07 Great Britain
24/07 Germany
31/07 Hungary
28/08 Belgium
11/09 Italy
25/09 Singapore
09/10 Japan
16/10 Korea
30/10 India*
13/11 Abu Dhabi
27/11 Brazil

* Subject to the homologation of the circuit

Images and text courtesy of the Formula 1 website.