Today we celebrate the official Formula 1 announcement of F1 returning to the US via Austin Texas. That announcement kicked off our efforts to help connect Austinites with what was once a foreign sport but will now be in our backyard in 177 days. Along the way we have befriended amazing friends and supporters worldwide and because of your enthusiasm for F1 coming to Texas, Austin will soon welcome additional motorsports; V8 Supercars will be here in 2013 and the MotoGP contract is still a viable option.
To celebrate this two year milestone, we are broadening our motorsports horizons to include two wheel coverage. We're at Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City, Utah for an eventful racing weekend. Four wheel fans will be enjoying the glitterati in Monaco this weekend, celebrating the 96th Annual Indy 500, and cheering their favorite drivers and riders in one of the many road races taking place this Memorial Day.
This weekend, Miller Motorsports Park (“MMP”) hosts Round 6 of the Superbike World Championship (“SBK”). The series celebrates their 25th Anniversary this year and Salt Lake City is their only American “round.” The SBK season consists of a series of rounds held at circuits worldwide, similar to F1. Each round has two races and also like F1, the results are combined to determine two annual World Championships, one for riders and one for manufacturers. Like most other racing series, a race weekend is full of activities, including multiple practice and qualifying sessions before the grands prix. For this weekend, SBK practices will be on Saturday and Sunday, with climatic Races 1 and 2 on Monday.
Also on location is the American Motorcycle Association (“AMA”) for a series of races – AMA Pro National Guard Superbike, AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SuperBike, AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com, and AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Championships.
For real-time social sharing, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (search for "AustinGrandPrix") for photos and updates from the various events. We'll be sharing the weekend's festivities well into next week!
Many thanks to our Contributing Editors Mike McKinnon, Andrew Swinghamer, Jamey Price, Benedict Wong, Allison Berguin and Iain Robertson for their valuable contributions and support these past two years.