Circuit Of The Americas F1 Track Officially Opens

If you follow cars or automotive racing all, you're probably aware that Austin, Texas has a new F1 track that will be used this year called Circuit of the Americas. While the F1 race is still several weeks away, the track has just now been officially completed and the ribbon-cutting ceremony was performed over the weekend. As part of the festivities, hoards of rich and famous drivers turned up in all sorts of exotic vehicles.

The race track has 20 turns and spans 3.4 miles. All the Ferraris and other exotic vehicles that showed up at the track were owned by VIPs who actually got a chance to drive their vehicles on the racetrack. I know hoards of track day automotive enthusiasts who are frothing at the mouth for a chance to drive on this racetrack. The track ribbon-cutting ceremony also featured a number of race ready cars from various automotive racing series.

There were also racing cars on hand to zip around the track included a mid-engine Corvette racing car from the Grand Am series, a Lotus F1 car, and a crazy three-seat F1 car people could ride in. Mario Andretti was on hand at the event and made some hot laps around the track in an old school John Player Special Lotus 79 Cosworth.

I guess my invitation to this VIP and press event got lost in the mail. The first major racing event to be held this track will be the inaugural US Grand Prix the weekend of November 16. This is the Formula One event the track was built for. After that, I can only hope the track will be open to driving enthusiasts and various track day organizations at a decent price.

[via Jalopnik]