What's a COTA?
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By Bee Correspondent D-TEC
It may be an unknown term to many West Travis County residents, as well as most of Texas, but the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) is a sports venue known world-wide by millions.
Similar to the dichotomy of American football versus soccer in the rest of the world, Formula 1 (F1) auto racing is the pinnacle of international motorsports as is the IndyCar race series in America.
The 3.427-mile (5.515 km) COTA circuit, located in Elroy, southeast of Austin, is the only F1 race track in the US today. Besides the annual US Grand Prix F1 race, COTA hosts the Motorcycle Grand Prix of The Americas, or MotoGP, several international sports car and motorcycle races, and the Formula Sun Grand Prix with solar powered cars from universities worldwide designed and built by students. COTA also hosts music concerts year-round and will soon add soccer to its repertoire.
The circuit and the Grand Prix were first proposed together in 2010. The layout was conceived by promoter Tavo Hellmund and 1993 Motorcycle World Champion Kevin Schwantz. Texas billionaire Red McCombs was the project's largest investor. Construction of the facility (various reports stating costs at $300M-$450M) began on December 31, 2010, and was completed in October 2012. COTA reports over a million people from all over the world and from all 50 states attend COTA events annually.
The big one, the USGP F1 race is coming to COTA October 20-22. Join 120,000+ of your closest friends at COTA for this international motorsports event or catch it live on television on NBC.
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