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Questions and answers about going to a race weekend
#293061
Hey tim, you seem to be really connected or something down there, I was curious, if you know, (or anyone really) the ball park cost for someone to stay down there for say 4-5 days to attend/sight see the austin area. (excluded f1 tickets)

I don't have a lot of dough, but if it is really extreme, i MIGHT be able to get my bro-in-law to let us stay at his place he's only 30 miles away. :clap:

I've heard some folks are getting nicer rooms in San Antonio, even along the River Walk, in the $150 a night range.

Re: being connected...I wish! The current COTA regime isn't big on forming or valuing relationships with the "little guy".
#293111
Kevin Schwantz weighs in on the MotoGP rights situation. It's worse than I thought:

http://www.statesman.com/sports/formula ... witterfeed

Motorcycling legend Kevin Schwantz, who figured to be the public face of that race, has been mum on the subject for months. But in February, Schwantz sent a letter to Steve Sexton, the president of Circuit of the Americas, saying, "I urge you one final time to contact Mr. (Tavo) Hellmund about obtaining the rights to host a MotoGP race in Texas, after which I would be glad to open discussions with you as the new promoter. If you have not obtained such rights from Full Throttle, then unfortunately Circuit of the Americas will not be included as a round of the FIM Grand Prix Road Racing World Championship."


In his letter, Schwantz claimed, "For the benefit of the Austin facility and our Texas fans we entered into the most promoter-friendly contract in MotoGP with Full Throttle, the creator and an owner of the Circuit of the Americas project ... It is my understanding that Circuit of the Americas had the opportunity to obtain these rights on several occasions between late 2010 and the fall of 2011 but that Circuit of the Americas did not follow through."
Full Throttle is Hellmund's promotional company. In a lawsuit filed last week, Hellmund claimed there was an $18 million deal for the Circuit of the Americas to buy his share of the company and the rights to the Formula One and MotoGP races, but that the deal wasn't consummated as planned in an Oct. 25 meeting last year in the London office of Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone.

In December, the track was able to renegotiate a contract for the Formula One race with Ecclestone after Hellmund's original contract was determined to be in breach.

No such deal has been reached regarding the rights to MotoGP.

Schwantz, a long-time friend of Hellmund's, wrote Sexton, "In the past others at the Circuit of the Americas have indicated that their group has attempted to obtain these rights from Mr. Hellmund for amounts ranging from $4 million to $17 million but that Mr. Hellmund declined."

Schwantz claimed he knew such offers hadn't been made and requested documentation of any such offers.
#293112
Sexton said in an email, "We are in discussions with several major race series who have reached out to us, and our confidence is high that three to five major world-class events, including a two-wheel championship, will be on the 2013 schedule — and that these races will take place under terms favorable to the Circuit and the series owners."


Hello WSBK.

That's the same as MotoGP, right?
#293115
Sexton said in an email, "We are in discussions with several major race series who have reached out to us, and our confidence is high that three to five major world-class events, including a two-wheel championship, will be on the 2013 schedule — and that these races will take place under terms favorable to the Circuit and the series owners."


Hello WSBK.

That's the same as MotoGP, right?


No MtoGP bikes are purpose built machines for that series, kinda like F1 while SBK are tuned road bikes.
#293152
Sexton said in an email, "We are in discussions with several major race series who have reached out to us, and our confidence is high that three to five major world-class events, including a two-wheel championship, will be on the 2013 schedule — and that these races will take place under terms favorable to the Circuit and the series owners."


Hello WSBK.

That's the same as MotoGP, right?


No MtoGP bikes are purpose built machines for that series, kinda like F1 while SBK are tuned road bikes.

Yep. I was kidding. :wink:
#293379
The deeper we dig into this story, the worse it looks for the COTA boys:

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20120310/F1/120319997

AutoWeek's Steven Cole Smith knocks another one out of the park.

Looks like COTA was trying an end-around on an already great contract in an attempt to sidestep Hellmund. Sound familiar? It gets better. It seems Epstein even went so far as to lie directly to Schwantz, claiming that he had offered Hellmund $10M for the MotoGP rights. Schwantz directly refutes that claim.

[quote]So, as for MotoGP in Austin: An Autoweek request for an update from Schwantz was answered by a copy of a letter that Schwantz's personal assistant says was sent to COTA president Steve Sexton on Feb. 17.

In the letter, Schwantz said he spoke to Carmelo Ezpeleta, who is essentially the Bernie Ecclestone of MotoGP. The letter said Ezpeleta told Schwantz that Sexton had contacted the MotoGP promoter about “obtaining rights to a MotoGP race at Circuit of the Americas.” Schwantz points out in writing that the rights have already been granted—to Hellmund, Schwantz and Full Throttle—and therefore, such inquiries should be made to them, not Ezpeleta.

Perhaps even more notable, though, is that Schwantz claims Sexton indicated to Ezpeleta that COTA has attempted to buy the rights from Hellmund and Schwantz, and that they declined the offer, in an attempt to “overcharge Circuit of the Americas in exchange for transferring these rights,” Schwantz said in the letter. Schwantz wrote that COTA executives have variously said that COTA offered Full Throttle from $4 million to $17 million for the rights, “but that Mr. Hellmund declined. Bobby Epstein,” the chief financier of the project, “repeated these claims himself, directly telling me that he offered $10 million to Mr. Hellmund for these rights. You, I and Mr. Ezpeleta all know that such offers have not been made to Mr. Hellmund,” Schwantz wrote in the letter.

Schwantz also wrote that the “actions and misrepresentations made by Circuit of the Americas appear to be an attempt to interfere with the contractual relationships that currently exist between us and Full Throttle,” and that “any further attempts to interfere with the contractual relationships between the parties will be referred to my legal counsel.”

Bottom line, then: Schwantz and presumably Hellmund are claiming that COTA is trying an end run to get MotoGP rights, rather than honor the existing contract, which Schwantz wrote was “the most promoter-friendly contract in MotoGP racing,” and which, at the April 2011 announcement, seemed to please everyone within the organization.
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