Austin Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Serving as the United States home for Formula 1 since opening in 2012, the Circuit of The Americas plays host to some good ol’ American Muscle this weekend when the NASCAR Cup Series comes to town for the inaugural running of the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix. The 20-turn, 3.41-mile road course sitting just outside of Austin, Texas is one of a handful of new tracks for the Cup Series to visit in 2021 and the first of five road course races that will take place throughRead More

By ARX Rallycross Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross’ Scott Speed held off first lap challenge from Loenbro Motorsport’s Ken Block to claim the victory in the second ever Americas Rallycross (ARX) event at the Dirtfish ARX of COTA. Speed took maximum points from the first event held at COTA’s permanent rallycross circuit and now leads his VARX teammate Tanner Foust – who won the second semifinal and started on the front row of the grid with Speed in the final – by one point in the Championship. As they did in qualifying,Read More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor AUSTIN, Texas – It’s not very often you get a chance to witness the debut of a new race series, but fans at Circuit of the Americas this weekend are enjoying the opportunity. The brand new ARX American Rallycross series has its U.S. debut today with the Dirtfish ARX of COTA, just over a month after the series inaugural race at Silverstone in the UK. The new series is picking up where Red Bull Global Rallycross leaves off and has taken up the mantle of theRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The United States Grand Prix is coming up this weekend! Seeing as Circuit of The Americas is right in our backyard, we’ve put together a guide to COTA and the awesome city of Austin, Texas for those of you making the pilgrimage to one of the best races of the year. What is it? The U.S. Grand Prix, F1’s one and only race in the United States, takes place every October at the wonderful, purpose-built road course known as the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.Read More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor After racing in Malaysia and Japan for Toro Rosso, 2016 Formula 2 (formerly GP2) champ Pierre Gasly is set to miss the U.S. Grand Prix in order to compete in the Super Formula season finale to try and add another series championship to his CV. Gasly temporarily replaced Daniil Kvyat in the team’s lineup and is expected to be paired with the Russian for 2018, but he is only half a point off the championship lead in Super Formula behind Toyota driver Hiroaki Ishiura. It isRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The intense speculation and fear for Circuit of the Americas and the United States Grand Prix’s future after 2015’s torrential floods killed attendance and morale are history because the US GP is well and truly back. Attendance figures for last weekend’s event came to a fantastic 269,889 people for the three day event. Whether it was due to Taylor Swift’s massive Saturday night concert, the perfect weather, Haas F1, or a combination of factors, the numbers topped even the attendance of the inaugural race in AustinRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor American Formula One fans rejoice! Recent troubles that have put the US Grand Prix’s fate at stake may have been averted by a recent settlement. According to the Austin American-Statesman, Circuit of the Americas has reached a settlement with the Travis County Central Appraisal District that has lowered the 2015 appraised value of the circuit by over $180,000,000. The move, pushed for by COTA bosses since 2014 will see the track save millions of dollars in property taxes. Enough to recoup the losses from state funding andRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor The U.S. Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas will know its fate by the end of February, according to circuit chairman Bobby Epstein. This follows news from early November that the future of the race is at stake due to issues with funding from the State of Texas. The original deal between the track and the state had annual contributions from the government coming in at $25,000,000 per year through 2022. However new leadership in the State comptroller’s office and a new formula applied toRead More

Lewis Hamilton claimed his third Formula One World Championship title with victory in an incident-packed United States Grand Prix that saw the Briton’s Mercedes’ team-mate Nico Rosberg take second place ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. The win, Hamilton’s 10th of the season, puts him on 327 points in the championship, 76 points ahead of nearest challenger Sebastian Vettel. With a maximum 75 points on offer from the final three rounds, Hamilton cannot be overtaken in the standings. Hamilton joins a list of three-time champions that includes Jack Brabham, Sir JackieRead More

Nico Rosberg edged Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by a tenth of a second to claim pole position for this afternoon’s United States Grand Prix. The German took his fourth pole of the season with his Q2 time as heavy rain once again disrupted running and led to the final part of the session was cancelled. Row two of this grid at the Circuit of the Americas will be an all-Red Bull affair with Daniel Ricciardo qualifying fourth ahead of Daniil Kvyat. Q1 began with steady rain falling across the trackRead More