COTA chairman: Formula One planning for October race in Austin
Circuit of the Americas chairman Bobby Epstein is planning to host a Formula One race in October, and he expects an announcement regarding all three North American races in the coming days, he told the American-Statesman on Tuesday.
“They’re looking at their whole North American tour, but they’re still planning on coming here," Epstein said.
A spokesperson for Formula One said more details would be released in the weeks ahead.
“We are working with our promoters and authorities in each country on the finalization of our wider calendar and expect to publish more details in the coming weeks,” the spokesperson said, in response to Epstein’s comments.
The absence of a marquee race at the track since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in March has left COTA in a difficult spot, with a latest round of layoffs and furloughs in recent weeks.
“We haven’t had a major event since last fall,” Epstein said. “There’s no income to pay people and there’s no events to need people for.”
He declined to reveal specific figures, but said more than half of the staff has been laid off or furloughed. At least half of the track's employees were laid off in March.
The employees who remain are carefully planning to open the doors for Austin Bold FC soccer matches next month and working on models to safely host crowds while limiting the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Epstein said it was too early to tell if fans would be allowed to attend the F1 race on Oct. 25, and he is being pragmatic about the recent rise of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Central Texas.
“I don’t want to totally shoot the optimism in the foot, but I think it’s a tough time to make any plans,” he said.
So far, a schedule of eight European races has been confirmed by F1, beginning with a season-opening race on July 5 in Austria. The circuit will pass through Hungary, Great Britain, Spain, Belgium and Italy until Sept. 6.
When that initial schedule was released on June 2, an expectation was set of holding 15 to 18 total races this year. On June 12, F1 officials announced that races in Azerbaijan, Singapore and Japan had been canceled, while discussions were ongoing with existing and new race promoters.
F1 boasted attendance of 268,000 for the three days of the 2019 U.S. Grand Prix, and COTA announced a sellout for the race on Sunday.
The second-largest annual crowd at the track is for the MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas, which was supposed to take place in April and was initially postponed until mid-November. Epstein said that there was an agreement with MotoGP to make a decision no later than July 20 on whether or not the race will take place this year.
Complicating decisions are the surging COVID-19 figures in Texas, along with rapidly changing orders and guidelines from local governments. As of Wednesday, fans were allowed at outdoor professional sporting events up to 50% capacity, with an approved plan submitted to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
However, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday gave mayors and county judges authority to impose restrictions on gatherings of over 100 people. In a statement sent to the Statesman, a spokesperson for the City of Austin reiterated the Austin-Travis County Stay Home – Save Lives Order “recommends gatherings of no more than 10 with anyone outside the household; and no more than two if the individual is high risk.”
