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CoTA sounds like it sucks

Updawg

By Updawg
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Deej
Deej

Maybe if they hadn't been so busy trying to shut down MLS moving to Austin, they would have caught that?

Hawndoh
Hawndoh

I'm pretty sure it's some kind of race track equivalent to the plot of "The Producers".  I almost expect them to stage Springtime for Hitler at the amphitheater. 

relapse98
relapse98

The pace car was the other thousand of people. This thing was well run, I was amazed. Their map had you come in 812 from 130, through Lot A, Tunnel1, through garages onto pit road and track and exi

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wood

wood 11225

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6 minutes ago, skittlebrau said:

I've also heard that they've left COTA, but nothing official.

 

We have tickets for Saturday because my wife is a huge Pink fan. Pray for our ability to get in/out of there.

Yeah I have the same problem here with my wife being a huge Pink fan and wanting to go reallll bad. She has no idea what a clusterfuck it's gonna be with the race fans leaving and the concert fans arriving at the same time. I told her I'll take her to see Pink somewhere else just to avoid that shit ...

re: the MS150, I guess it's pretty telling that Austin's site is listed as TBD when they've been at COTA the last 2 years. These dipshits could fuck up a wet dream.

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8 minutes ago, Goofyboy said:

MS150 left COTA. It’s going to finish in College Station this year. Email was sent out a month back. They couldn’t use downtown Austin due to construction and COTA because , COTA.

Yeah but now they're having starting lines both here and in Houston. Any idea where the Austin start(s) will be?

2019_TXH_Bike_MS_Texas_MS_150_Route_Map.

Official Start Times

Houston
Energy Corridor Addicks Park N Ride
Start: 6:45 am

Houston
Rhodes Stadium
Start 6:45 am

Houston
Waller Stadium
Rolling start 8:00 am 10:00 am

Austin
TBD
Start: 6:45 am

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relapse98

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56 minutes ago, wood said:

Yeah I have the same problem here with my wife being a huge Pink fan and wanting to go reallll bad. She has no idea what a clusterfuck it's gonna be with the race fans leaving and the concert fans arriving at the same time. I told her I'll take her to see Pink somewhere else just to avoid that shit

Daughter was a little interested when I told her the RV is 40' from the superstage (not sure what we'll be able to see/hear) but calmed down to normal flatline when I told her to expect to be out there for 14 hours with me if she goes.

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Goofyboy

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Yeah but now they're having starting lines both here and in Houston. Any idea where the Austin start(s) will be?
2019_TXH_Bike_MS_Texas_MS_150_Route_Map.png

Official Start Times

Houston
Energy Corridor Addicks Park N Ride
Start: 6:45 am

Houston
Rhodes Stadium
Start 6:45 am

Houston
Waller Stadium
Rolling start 8:00 am 10:00 am

Austin
TBD
Start: 6:45 am




No, I have not. I’m in the burbs of Houston, so I leave from Katy. I’m riding for the first time in a few years. Good friend decided to ride his first, so I decided to join him.
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utee94

utee94 15823

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My 12yo daughter loves Imagine Dragons and I was trying to get her out there for the concert.  Neither she nor I had any problems with her taking off all of Friday, but the problem was getting her back home for her Saturday soccer games and other stuff.  The only solution seemed to be me waking up early Saturday morning, driving her out to a spot where her grandparents could easily pick her up, and then driving back into the RV lot and rushing to get into the Circuit for the Saturday morning activity.  Which kind of defeats the purpose of staying out there overnight and not having to rush in and out of the complex in the first place.

So, no ID for her, sadly.  I'll tell her how it was. :)

 

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faps

faps 806

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Probably because the cost to tear up and replace the entire pavement section is obscene. That and the way the soil is out there, it'll have to be done every few years. After the F1 contract, I could totally see it showing up on r/AbandonedPorn one day.

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wood

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3 hours ago, Fuck Tim Beck said:

TWS lost Nascar way back because college station lacked accomodations, etc. 

Austin has accomodations out the ass and COTA is still gonna find a way to out college station college station. 

TWS also had big soil subsidence issues, but yeah...

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wood

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2 hours ago, mcbrisket said:

Probably because the cost to tear up and replace the entire pavement section is obscene. That and the way the soil is out there, it'll have to be done every few years. After the F1 contract, I could totally see it showing up on r/AbandonedPorn one day.

Yeah $8-12M is what I've heard for the COTA job, and I have no idea if that includes any further soil remediation. No way imho that that happens without an extension from F1, and probably not even then. I get the feeling Bobby is gonna just run it as long as he can, getting as much money from the State as he can, and not put any more money into the surface than he absolutely has to ... then wrap it up. The stuff he really loves out there is about to be obsolete anyway.

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13 minutes ago, Updawg said:

Motorcycles are done out there right?

MotoGP 2020 Provisioninal Calendar

That calendar has COTA.  I can't find anywhere that says they ever renewed the contract that expired in 2018. Some day the riders will do something about the shitty conditions of the track instead of just bitching. It looks like a washboard on the back straight.

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Masters Historic Formula 1 looks like it's going to be cool. They have cars from 1974 - 1982 racing. Lotus, Tyrrell, Williams, Hill, March and more.

And Endurance Legengs has some cool Porsche, Nissan, Riley, Corvettes, etc. entered. I think I might be more into seeing these 2, and Formula 4, than F1.

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The Tres Leches

The Tres Leches 58

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Tony Stewart thinks NASCAR could hold race at COTA.

Quote

But, as to whether NASCAR could put on a decent race at COTA Stewart responded, “Absolutely. Don’t tell Eddie Gossage (president of Texas Motor Speedway) that, he’ll get mad at me. But yeah. I think NASCAR is actually looking to run some more road course races, and after driving it there’s some really good passing opportunities on this track for our cars, and I think it would be a lot of fun to see a race here.”

Stewart said he expects to have a chat with NASCAR officials when he’s in the garage this weekend.

“I think it would be very realistic and very easy for NASCAR to come here,” he said. “The facility is already set up for it, and driving the track, there are definitely five legitimate, solid, passing opportunities on this track. That’s plenty to have a really good race here.”

https://racer.com/2019/11/01/stewart-lauds-nascar-prospects-at-cota-after-track-run-with-haas-f1-drivers/

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Slacks

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Masters Historic Formula 1 looks like it's going to be cool. They have cars from 1974 - 1982 racing. Lotus, Tyrrell, Williams, Hill, March and more.
And Endurance Legengs has some cool Porsche, Nissan, Riley, Corvettes, etc. entered. I think I might be more into seeing these 2, and Formula 4, than F1.
Yesterday was My first F1 track day. My son and I liked Masters historic more than f1. We didn't see any Endurance yesterday....

Track is still bumpy.

Sat in T15.
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wood

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Re: those pipes, I was told, by someone that would know what he's talking about, that they failed during the 2015 storms and were only superficially repaired. And now they have to go in and do it right. That's Bobby Epstein's M.O. in a nutshell, right there.

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“Certainly it will involve the entire back straight, the pit out and part of Turn One, there’s a part of a hump before Turn Nine, Turns 18-19. So it’s pretty extensive. I know what 

So apparently no work on the hill down to and through Turn 2, or the esses.

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Updawg

Updawg 2266

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COTA chairman Bobby Epstein has hit out at Liberty Media for agreeing a “parking-lot race” with Miami, saying it could damage the F1 brand.

Earlier this month Formula 1’s owners agreed a deal to run a Miami Grand Prix in 2021.

The race will take place around the Hard Rock Stadium using mostly car parks and land owned by the stadium with a brief venture onto public roads.

Epstein feels it sets the wrong stage for Formula 1.

The selling point behind Miami was not the track, it was the [original] backdrop,” he told ESPN.

“They said we want to be in global destinations with iconic backdrops.

“It does seem very off brand of them to have a parking-lot race.

“We don’t worry from a ticket sales point of view. I don’t worry that that will become a fan favourite.

“It’s not going to be a spectacular track but I do worry the impact it would have long-term in this market.

“I have never had a problem with another race in the same time zone and I’ve always welcomed the push for more U.S. races, but only if done the correct way.

“We dealt with the issues around the addition of the Mexican Grand Prix and the loss of revenue that initially gave us, but it’s clear they’ve built something there.”

Epstein also criticised Liberty Media, calling them up on their failure to speak to him about the way forward in the United States.

“If you asked me, when Liberty bought the business – since we’ve been the only one promoting F1 in the US and have been so successful in it – have they asked us how we’ve done it?

“Have they asked us for any help in building the sport in the US? Have they asked us for any advice? In every case I would say no.”

https://www.planetf1.com/news/cota-boss-hits-out-at-parking-lot-miami-gp/

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Pedestrian killed by hit and run crossing 812 at 6:30 yesterday. Glad my buddy had his dad as DD, he was f'ed, so it wasn't him that was driving.

At one point, he went to invite the Texas cheerleaders up from the tailgate they were at so his dad could get a picture with them, I told him just act sober. He comes back with about 20 cheerleaders in tow. Dad got his pic and I got my annual one with them.

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That article was pretty bad. The whole "Indianapolis is New York or London compared to this place", oh boy.
And the "F1 and NASCAR are Both in Trouble in the U.S." - bro, we make fun of cota, a lot, but that was a very well attended race. Like, most people I can recall in a few years. I think they could have sold 20k more GA if they had the facilities to deal with them.

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utee94

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17 minutes ago, relapse98 said:

That article was pretty bad. The whole "Indianapolis is New York or London compared to this place", oh boy.
And the "F1 and NASCAR are Both in Trouble in the U.S." - bro, we make fun of cota, a lot, but that was a very well attended race. Like, most people I can recall in a few years. I think they could have sold 20k more GA if they had the facilities to deal with them.

It's definitely more than the past few years.  There's no way to prove it (and Epstein's numbers certainly can't be trusted) but based on my own observation, this was the best-attended race since year 2. By a landslide, honestly.

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wood

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54 minutes ago, relapse98 said:

That article was pretty bad. The whole "Indianapolis is New York or London compared to this place", oh boy.
And the "F1 and NASCAR are Both in Trouble in the U.S." - bro, we make fun of cota, a lot, but that was a very well attended race. Like, most people I can recall in a few years. I think they could have sold 20k more GA if they had the facilities to deal with them.

It was a good crowd and definitely up from last year's unimpressive one. Epstein's claiming 120k though. Nope. No way. Probably more like 80k or so, if I'm being generous. Re: GA, they could fit half a million if that many would come out, and Bobby would sell every one of those if he could. There's no reason for them to stop selling GA tickets.  To COTA, "Sold Out" = "We stopped selling tickets when people stopped buying them, then called it a sellout".

36 minutes ago, utee94 said:

 

It's definitely more than the past few years.  There's no way to prove it (and Epstein's numbers certainly can't be trusted) but based on my own observation, this was the best-attended race since year 2. By a landslide, honestly.

Idk. I stumbled onto this streamable of highlights from year 3, and the difference in the crowd size is striking even then, even without 2 of the 3 original T11 grandstands or the T2 & T6 grandstands. There were still around 65k seats then compared to 40k or so now. T1 and T12 hadn't been downsized yet, 3-5 were covered by grandstands, and there was much more in terms of suites and premium hospitality areas.

https://streamable.com/brgqd

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utee94

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But there's so much GA I'm not sure that's really representative.

Crowd-wise, moving around the track, even and especially on Friday, this was definitely the biggest since those first couple of years, and by a huge margin.  Maybe Year3 was bigger, but not since then.

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wood

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16 minutes ago, utee94 said:

But there's so much GA I'm not sure that's really representative.

Crowd-wise, moving around the track, even and especially on Friday, this was definitely the biggest since those first couple of years, and by a huge margin.  Maybe Year3 was bigger, but not since then.

It was a good GA crowd, but GA hasn't changed much across the races, and they still go to all the same places and ignore the same huge areas as well. GA people take up a lot more room than Reserved Seating people. They bring chairs and/or blankets, and all their shit, and they spread out & give each other space.  The only GA area that's really dense is T1, and it's not nearly as dense as a grandstand.

Let's put it this way ... in 2012 they had around 80k seats and said they had 117k on Sunday. Those 80k seats were pretty much packed, and there were lots of suites + the Paddock Club (5000), so that means they probably had around 25-30k or so GA attendees. In order for this crowd to beat that crowd as Bobby's saying it did, they'd need 75-80k people in GA. About 3x as many as in the huge 2012 crowd.

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More on the upcoming repairs...

Austin will close over winter to fix bumps https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/147012/austin-will-close-over-winter-to-fix-bumps

Quote

 

"We're actually closing the track for most of December and half of January to fix the problems.

"We did some of the repairs last year before MotoGP, so I wouldn't say we'd have to do the whole thing.

"Certainly it will involve the entire back straight, the pit out and part of Turn 1, there's a part of a hump before Turn 9, Turns 18-19. So it's pretty extensive.

"I know what the bill is!"

The undulations also caused problems for MotoGP riders when they visited the Texas venue in April.

Epstein explained that the problems can be traced to a flood when the track was being laid in 2015, which consequently led to a number of issues.

Re: the 2015 storms that Epstein blames the problems on in the article, they did exacerbate the issues and accelerate the problem, but the track was already getting bumpy before that. 
 
He mentions having done "some of the repairs" already. That's Turn 10, which was done over the winter after Rossi's test where he repeatedly almost binned it there. He also mentions "part of a hump before T9", which is probably actually the big hump before T11. Or I guess he could mean the nasty hump/bump/jump (depending on which driver description you choose) after T9, the one that Vettel broke his car on. The run up from 7 to 9 is pretty smooth.
 

Re: the scope of the job, he says they're doing 40% of the circuit - " the entire back straight, the pit out and part of Turn 1, there's a part of a hump before Turn 9, Turns 18-19" - and nothing between T1 and T9, a stretch which needs it badly, so it seems like the focus is on the underlying structures and they'll only be resurfacing the circuit in areas where it's necessitated by those repairs. He says they're closing the circuit "most of December and half of January", which doesn't seem like a long time for major repairs.

After the 2015 storms, according to an engineer who worked on the initial construction, the worst damage was in areas where the water crossed the track - tunnels and huge water drainage mains - and the damage was only superficially repaired & thus became a bigger issue later. 

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wood

wood 11225

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In other "dude wtf can you even hear yourself" news...Bobby Epstein openly begs Stephen Ross to take COTA off his hands.

http://www.pitpass.com/66181/Parking-lot-race-would-damage-F1-brand-in-US-warns-COTA-boss

Quote

Epstein believes that if Ross is genuinely keen to be involved and promote a race in America, he would be best served by looking at COTA.

"He could own this track, the greatest modern track in the world, I think he'd love it," he said. "If he's really keen on having a Formula One race, he should buy the best track. Then he'd have the best circuit in the world and no uphill battles... a built-in successful audience.

"The struggle you go through to complete something like (Miami), the hurdle is very high. It's a painful battle sometimes.

"Money would be much better spent here. This was half a billion dollars investment... you could probably buy at a great discount.

"Beyond it the land around the track is prime for development, I think he's a fantastic real-estate developer so to me he'd be the likely partner, not for the race around the Hard Rock Stadium but here. I think it would cost him less than he would lose doing the race around the Hard Rock Stadium.

"Between what it would cost annually and the difficulties there would be to sustain a race there and the fact he has a lot deeper pockets than ours, maybe this should be his."

Edited by wood
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Atxracer

Atxracer 797

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Yeah.  And you can walk around the pits/garages and check out the cars. if you go, download the app race hero or race monitor and you can watch the current standings by class.  
 

A good spot is parking up top and watching from the bridge by 17.  They don’t kick you out of there at these races. 

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