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Red Bull Recap

 

Hopefully by now you've heard about the Red Bull Racing Show Car's appearances in Austin this past weekend. If not, let us show you:

 Or, take a look at our gallery, HERE.

Due to the on again/off again reports, we decided to take a walk down to the "filming set" early Saturday morning. Actually, we heard the car when we woke up in the AM. We would have loved for the event to be a full-on show car exhibition, but understand this filming was for a promo shoot, similar to this:

 About 200 people showed up for the closed set filming and I think it's safe to say that NO ONE was disappointed.

We were lucky enough to score a post-run interview with THE David Coulthard himself. We'll post it next week; right now we're working to make the return of the SENNA Movie to Austin a smashing success!

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.

David Coulthard To Drive F1 Car in Austin

Before Saturday's qualifying session, the BBC's F1 crew was catching viewers up on the progress at the Circuit Of The Americas and did a plug for an event DC is doing in America.

Here's the transcript:

Jake Humphrey - "But you're off to Texas soon to drive an F1 car, right?"

David Coulthard - "Indeed, I'm heading out there during the summer break whilst everyone's taking two and a half weeks away from Formula 1. I'll be doing a little demonstration with a Formula 1 car in L.A. and then heading down to Texas to do downtown Austin, to try and get a flavor of Formula 1 and show the people..."

JH - "Nice, so make a bit of noise?"

DC - "and make some noise"

JH - "...and make some smoke, brilliant, we'll show you that on the BBC as well..."

Well David, we are ecstatic and can't wait for you to COME AND RACE IT™!

We're expecting the official news for this event to be released very shortly and hope that you all can join us on the streets of downtown Austin at this exciting event. Given Red Bull's experience in the Austin community at holding large events (i.e. Red Bull Flutag) and several others, we also anticipate this will be a RB event, which should make it an instant success.

Here's a little taste of the Red Bull Showcar with DC driving:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines...in 380 Days!

In just 380 days the construction site behind me will host the 2012 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.

2012 Calendar Announcement from The Austin Grand Prix on Vimeo.

This news comes from the FIA World Motorsport Council, who met today in Barcelona, Spain and confirmed the 2012 Formula 1 Calendar. The F1USGP is officially set for June 17th, 2012; just 380 days from today.  Though there are many construction and logistical hurdles to be cleared, and the viability of the track depends on a pre-race inspection, it looks like work at the track will continue to progress full-speed ahead in order to meet the FIA's deadline.

In addition to setting the 2012 calendar, the WMSC voted unanimously to hold the Bahrain GP on Oct 30th this year, following an on site visit with government officials and the FIA Vice President. If you recall, this year's Bahrain GP was set for March 13, but canceled on February 21 due to political unrest in the country. According to the FIA statement, the intention of reinstating this year's race in Bahrain is to use the GP to unite the people of Bahrain, but there are still large challenges to overcome due to the political and humanitarian state there. With this announcement, there has been loud outcry from teams, drivers and F1 fans worldwide who do not agree with this decision.

The Statesman also shared that next Tuesday the Austin City Council will meet with the COTA team to discuss enrolling the City as the "local sponsoring entity" in order to support the Major Events Trust Fund.  Despite rumors and speculation by naysayers, the METF is designed to be a self-sustaining fund that is fueled by increased tax revenues from food, drink, travel and hotel sources in conjunction with major events. Thus, the Austin City Council would play a passive role in this sponsor scenario, and according to Richard Suttle, COTA's lawyer, the city will not be out of pocket for the "rolling loan" needed to kick-start the METF. You can read more at The Statesman.

Well it's no surprise that we're extremely excited about this announcement. We set up a Facebook Event: Formula One Grand Prix of the United States, so be sure to join the event and socialize with us and other fans. We'll be posting information on tickets (the #1 question today!) as soon as it is available, because we want you to join us in Austin in 2012!

You can also sign up for our newsletter for ticket information and to stay up to date on the latest news from Austin!

More detailed investigations into the effect of the Bahrain schedule addition and the City Council/METF meeting next Tuesday will follow.

View from Turn 1 - Circuit of the Americas - Picture taken April 14, 2011 - All Rights Reserved by Austin Grand Prix