As many of you know, SPEED TV will have a press conference at 2:00 PM EST today to announce the details of a 10-year deal to bring Formula One racing to the Garden State, beginning in June 2013.
We plan to watch the press conference but are more interested in your feedback:
What are your thoughts about (an) additional race(s) alongside the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas from 2012-2021?
We are very sad to hear about the passing of Italian MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli. You can read more about "Super SIC" and his motorcycle racing career here.
Last Friday we attended InnoTech - a business & technology conference in Austin - and got a chance to speak with Circuit of the Americas CMO Geoff Moore and Manoj Saxena of IBM. We look forward to sharing these exclusive interviews with you soon.
We'd also like to invite you to watch the inaugural Indian Grand Prix with us back at Six Lounge this Sunday. Here are the details:
Photo from Indian Grand Prix on Facebook - click for more
The Austin Grand Prix Downtown Watch Party Hosted by Six Lounge
Sunday, October 30, 1:30-4:30 PM
Six Lounge - 117 W. 4th Street, Austin, Texas
Watch the first Formula 1 race at the new Buddh International Circuit near Delhi, India. We are currently finalizing food and drink specials, and will have Robert DeGroff's F1 racing simulator for you to try out.
You can RSVP on Facebook or just show up on Sunday!
There's some news breaking about "the future of grand prix racing in the United States" coming from Autoweek, saying that a special announcement will air on Speed TV this Tuesday. Much of the speculation about this announcement is rumored to be involving a grand prix race in New Jersey, and expected to be for the 2013 race calendar.
While little else is known about this news, we expect it to attract much attention leading up to Tuesday's press conference, but don't expect any wild speculation on our part. We don't foresee a project on the same scale that Circuit of the Americas is undertaking.
While I can say that a race across the Hudson River from New York city would be exciting, we'll have to wait and tune in to Speed TV at 2pm Eastern time this coming Tuesday, Oct 25th.
This announcement does not mean or even imply a cancellation of the return of the F1 USGP in Austin; all of our sources confirm that Circuit of the Americas is on track for a November 18, 2012 race. So lets see what happens on Tuesday and until then, Keep Calm and Race On.
Upon wrapping up their second consecutive world championship title with three races remaining in the season, most drivers probably wouldn’t be racing the rest of the field so hard that they look like they’re still competing for the title. One would also think that such a driver starting second on the grid Sunday will surely drive a bit more conservatively this weekend, trying to avoid the mayhem that inevitably ensues on the first lap while the drivers try to find their place. But then, most drivers aren’t Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Renault.
About midway through the first lap, Vettel had already attempted two passing maneuvers on pole sitter McLaren-Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton - the second which paid off – and then opened a full 1-second gap at the start of lap 2. By the end of the race he finished 12 seconds clear of 2nd place Hamilton, who struggled most of the race to keep at bay Vettel’s teammate, a quicker Mark Webber. This battle for 2nd place was probably the most interesting one on the 
Sebastian Vettel took his rightful spot at the front of the pack mid-way through lap 1. (Photo courtesy of Getty Images)track and resulted in Hamilton finished a mere 0.4 seconds in front of 3rd place Webber, who could not make a couple of passes on track stick. The gutsy wheel-to-wheel driving didn’t stop there however, as McLaren-Mercedes’ other driver Jenson Button spent most of his race clawing his way back up to a 4th place finish, equaling his starting position on the grid. He also spent much of the last half of the race fending off Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who finished 1 second behind. Alonso’s teammate Felipe Massa finished 6th. Red Bull’s 1st and 3rd place finishes were also enough this weekend to secure their second consecutive constructors championship.
What comes to mind when thinking about Austin as a tourist destination? Most would recite our mantra as "The Live Music Capital of the World" with a proud, Texas-sized smile.
But recently, Austin has been referred to as high tech's "Silicon Hills," or the southern answer to San Jose, California's Silicon Valley of the high tech industry.
We'd have to agree. Just look at the companies located and headquartered here. When the F1 US announcement was made last year, we quickly defended the decision, citing Austin's ability to absorb hundreds of thousands of visitors throughout the year and serve as a great place to live and work throughout the year, due in large part to the numerous technology companies in our backyard.
