Welcome to Texas!
And the Circuit of the Americas looks a very impressive facility indeed though the heart always sinks when directed into yet another sparkly new media room with no windows!
That aside the business in hand was general testing for both the FIA WEC and ALMS runners today and the weather is steamy, sticky and not a little threatening with particular concerns over heavy rain looking likely tomorrow and potential storms thereafter, though temperatures are set to be well into the 90s too!
For many of the travelling circus it was a flight into either Dallas or Houston and a 2-3 hour road trip through a surprisingly green landscape populated not with longhorn cattle and nodding donkey oil derricks (though we did spot a few of both!) but rather fields, slightly overgrown ranches and the sort of strip mall and roadside billboard clutter that rather defines much of the modern inter-urban USA.
The fact though that we have both the ALMS and WEC this weekend lifts the spirits with sensibly sized grids for both and hopes (rather than necessarily expectations) of information to come this weekend about the shape of both the World Championship and the ALMS’s successor series.
The death of the Baltimore Grand Prix is the biggest news in the North American calendar debacle and that may well be sorted sooner rather than later with rumours flying of a 12 date calendar that may, or may not, have a standalone race for the pro classes (P and GT) at Long Beach and the ‘Am and Pro-Am’ Classes at Detroit (LMPC and GTD).
Canadian Tires Motorsport Park may have muscled its way back onto the list and VIR looks likely to be back too.
For the WEC, calendar confirmation will have to wait for a final nod from the World Council but Gerard Neveu’s 4 year plan is said to be well on track and we shouldn’t expect terribly much of a surprise, the debate on whether Spa (or the Nurburgring) features for 2014 may well be now settled – Has the pendulum swung back to the fan favourite Belgian circuit?
We’ll see!
ON the FIA WEC entry list there are a couple of late changes to update – Matteo Mallucelli joins the #81 8Star Ferrari crew, replacing the ever unlucky TBA and Roald Goethe won’t be here in the #96 Aston Martin, late business commitments preventing the ever enthusiastic German from travelling this weekend. Stefan Mucke meanwhile is driving with cracked ribs this weekend after his monster shunt at the Barcelona 24 Hours.
Meanwhile – with a spit or spot of rain in the air I’m off for a couple of (very) quick laps with Bruno Senna in the V12 Vantage road car – and despite the best efforts of my day job employers today I’ve had worse mornings!
