[Don]

Two articles in Aug 26th AutoWeek.com

" Financial documents released in Texas this week show that Full Throttle Productions, the group building a Formula One track in Austin, expects to collect $7 million in revenue from naming rights, plus $17 million from non-F1 races and property rental. Full Throttle promoter Tavo Hellmund also requested $25 million annually from the State of Texas. Full Throttle battled the state in court to keep the papers private, but Texas attorney general Greg Abbott released all but a few sensitive documents.

Papers released earlier this summer revealed that the company could employ up to 1,500 workers during construction of the track and 1,200 on race weekend. Full Throttle also claimed the event will create $300 million in revenue for the area and that the track will operate 250 days per year.The proposed circuit will be located 20 miles from Austin on 900 acres of land. Hellmund said recently that the layout will feature 20 corners spread over 3.2 miles of the “natural terrain road course." "

" U.S. Grand Prix promoter Tavo Hellmund says that his yet-to-be constructed racetrack near Austin will accommodate up to 130,000 to 140,000 fans. According to local newspaper the American-Statesman, Hellmund made the comment during a speech that was part of an event organized by the Urban Land Institute at downtown Austin’s Headliners Club.

It will be the biggest thing Austin has ever had,” Hellmund said. He claimed that the track’s grandstands might accommodate 50,000 fans, while the rest of the attendees could enjoy the race from various open spaces around the facility. Hellmund also said that attendance will be affected substantially if Formula One adds Mexican drivers to its field.

“I could see 30,000 or 40,000 people from Latin America coming,” he said before revealing that the track will feature “four real passing zones.” As for the track’s construction time line--work is planned to begin in December--Peter Wahl, a director of the Hermann Tilke-owned circuit-design company, said that the project is doable in time for a race in 2012. “[The time issue] does not frighten us,” he said.

Exactly when the race will take place remains unknown, but Hellmund assured his audience that it will not be held in the scorching-hot months of July or August. "