Circuit Of The Americas: A Destination Circuit Deep In The Heart Of Texas

For the past four years, North American sports car endurance racing has traveled deep into the heart of Texas for a trip to the United States’ youngest major racing circuit, Circuit of The Americas (COTA).  A unique venue, it is also one of the most urban tracks in the nation, with beautiful and vibrant downtown Austin both visible from the elevated points of the track and accessible via a short 20-minute drive.

In addition to the racing circuit itself, COTA has numerous other amenities on-site that liven things up. Near the center of the track stands a 251-foot observation tower, offering an exceptional view of the entire track. Aligning with Austin’s nickname of “Live Music Capital of the World” is the Austin360 Amphitheater, Central Texas’ largest permanent outdoor amphitheater, which has hosted artists of all kinds, from Willie Nelson to Drake to Nine Inch Nails.

In 2017, COTA will experience its fifth year of hosting major sports car endurance races – the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship feature on a new weekend in the spring next year, previously being paired with the World Endurance Championship for a fall double-header.

HISTORY

By far the youngest of the tracks on the WeatherTech Championship calendar, ground was first broken on COTA’s 1,500-acre facility in 2010. Its numerous elevation changes were left to rely heavily on the natural terrain of the area. Two years later, the purpose-built, 3.4-mile, 20-turn circuit hosted its first Formula 1 race in November 2012.

The first sports car endurance race at the track occurred in March 2013, when the “Gainsco Red Dragon” Corvette Daytona Prototype of Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney won overall in the second GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series race of the season. Later that fall, the American Le Mans Series competed on a September weekend, with Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr winning by two laps over the rest of the field in the Muscle Milk HPD LM P1.

Beginning in 2014, the two American series merged and competed together from there on out. The race in 2016 marked the fourth appearance of premiere North American sports car racing at COTA. The circuit also has hosted events from the WEC, MotoGP, X Games and more.

DRIVER PERSPECTIVE

Ben Keating, Texas native and co-driver of the No. 33 Riley Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3: “First and foremost, COTA is close to home, which is special for me because I always have lots of friends and family and fans out there, and it’s awesome. There’s something about racing at a brand new track that makes it very unique. The track has changed quite a bit since I first started racing there, and setup has become more challenging. There’s more elevation change than you realize while driving. Walk the track and you’ll realize there’s a lot of change. 

“I do get a lot of opportunities to drive there, which help me learn all the nuances of the track, making me a bit more competitive there than other tracks. I love the tracks that love me back, and I’ve won three out of four races there.

“It’s the only current F1 track in the United States and that makes it special to race there. They have these orange pyramid markers at the apex of most of the corners, that if you hit them with your car, it’s probably going to ruin your day. Keeps you honest.

“I’m looking forward to running the AMG GT3 car there, because I feel it will be better suited for the track than the Viper we ran in 2016. I’m hopeful we can get back to our winning ways at Circuit of The Americas.”

TRACK PERSPECTIVE

• An extremely tight left-hander sitting at the crest of the highest elevation on the circuit, the opening corner of COTA always provides exciting starts. Rapidly climbing 133 feet to the summit, competitors often fan out to four wide or more before diving for the apex and tearing back down the hill.
• A wide series of transitional curves, the esses section at COTA requires absolute focus and expert throttle control to navigate optimally, as a deceivingly wide racing surface holds only one true line.
• Curving all the way around the track’s 25-story observation tower, competitors navigate a fast right-hand sweeper on their way to the final section of the course. Per Keating, “This is a counterclockwise track, which means that most of the turns on the track are left-handers, so most competitors set their cars up to turn left – but this is a right-hand turn that’s falling away from you. With that setup, when you’re getting on the throttle and the weight transfers to the back of the car, it’s really difficult to find front-end grip. It ends up being a corner where the driver has a lot of input. It’s so wide there that there’s so many ways to enter the corner, so many lines you can use to find the grip and be quick. It has a lot of character.”