• US Grand Prix

Austin submit circuit plans to FIA

ESPNF1 Staff
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Austin has a contractor to bring its circuit plans to life © US Grand Prix
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Organisers of the 2012 United States Grand Prix have spoken of their confidence about being able to deliver a circuit outside Austin after submitting plans with Formula One's governing body, the FIA.

Circuit chiefs were not expected to make the submission until early next year, but they wanted to make a statement of intent. "Our early submission is a true indicator of our ability to meet our slated opening in 2012," promoter Tavo Hellmund said.

FIA senate president Nick Craw met with Hermann Tilke official Peter Wahl and Hellmund in October and, according to the Austin American Statesman newspaper, said: "I have a very high degree of confidence that they'll bless it [the plan]."

Hellmund said: "Tilke has done this a million times so they know what is needed. It's all the civil engineering. It's a big book, a massive document. It's a blueprint for what the track is going to look like with all the cross-grading and everything."

The submission of the plans sets in motion the process for the circuit's mandatory homologation.

"We look forward to approval and positive feedback from the FIA Circuit Commission, which will meet in February to review our submission," Hellmund said.

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