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Austin's F1 Race In Peril After Texas Governor Dramatically Cuts State's Annual Contribution

Austin’s F1 race is in peril as economic development officials in Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office "are dramatically cutting the state’s annual contribution," according to a front-page piece by Eric Dexheimer of the AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN. Officials with the governor’s office and Circuit of the Americas "confirmed that the state’s payment to support" the '15 race would drop by more than 20% from previous years. The state "had contributed about" $25M from '12-14. This year, the amount of the payment "will be closer to" $19.5M. F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone said, "If it’s changed, it’s going to be difficult to continue the race in Austin." COTA Chair Bobby Epstein "confirmed the change places the future of the Austin race in serious jeopardy." Epstein: "To use a technical term, I think we’re screwed." Dexheimer notes the dispute "raises the specter of a heavyweight legal battle, pitting the race’s wealthy local promoters against the state over whether Texas officials are reneging on their apparent commitment" in '11 to "support the Austin race with a quarter-billion dollar subsidy over a decade." COTA spokesperson Dave Shaw said, "An entire facility was constructed based on that deal. If the calculation is changed now, that’s effectively changed the terms of the deal." A spokesperson for the governor's office said that smaller attendance figures since the race's inception in '12 "wasn’t the main reason" for the $5.5M decrease this year. Rather, he said that the office "decided to use different formulas than the comptroller’s office used to calculate the race’s economic impact." Dexheimer writes nixing the Austin race "would be catastrophic" to COTA (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 11/11).

BRAVO TAVO: In Austin, John Maher notes promoter and former COTA Managing Partner Tavo Hellmund has now "proved vital" in bringing F1 back to the U.S. and to his father's homeland, Mexico, after a 23-year absence. Hellmund said, "I plan to take a step back and really enjoy the moment, try to learn how to smell the roses that everyone keeps telling me I need to do." Maher notes Hellmund is now "involved with a pair of projects that, if they pan out, could change the face of F1 racing in the U.S." If he and his group of investors succeed in acquiring a struggling F1 team, Manor Marussia, Hellmund said that he will "offer a ride" to NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. He is also "involved in a plan to create an F1 track in California, a project different from the urban street race in Southern California." Hellmund said that Ecclestone "is currently pursuing" that event (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 11/11).

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