The Austin, Texas, track that will play host to the 2012 Formula One United States Grand Prix finally has a formal name.
Austin track officials announced at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon that the 3.4-mile, 20-turn circuit will officially be known as Circuit of the Americas.
A date for the 2012 event was not announced.
"Right now we've got to be ready to go," said race promoter Tavo Hellmund. "That's really a Bernie (Ecclestone, F1 chief executive) and FIA question, but we're going to try to be ready when he wants us to."
The 350-acre Texas site will accommodate an estimated race attendance of 120,000 guests. The total project, which as announced on Tuesday comes with a price tag of $250 million, will employ some 1,300 Texans before its completion next year.
Sixteen Texas companies have already been involved with the construction.
"It is a big deal and we're all so excited about it," said Texas businessman Red McCombs, the main investor behind the Austin F1 project. "We're meeting the construction milestones."
The 2012 USGP marks the return of Formula One Grand Prix racing to the United States after a five-year hiatus.
The Hermann Tilke-designed circuit will take advantage of the sites natural topography including dramatic elevation changes. The circuit features a total elevation change of 133 feet (40.5 meters), including a steep, uphill run into the hairpin Turn 1, which is expected to become the venues signature corner. The track will be raced in a counterclockwise direction.
F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone used his website on May 25, 2010, to announce that a US GP would be held in Austin from 2012 to 2021. It will be the first F1 event held in the state since the one-off race at Dallas in 1984.
The Austin event will be promoted by Full Throttle Productions, a company with an involvement in NASCAR. The ownership group for the new facility consists of McCombs, Hellmund and Texas businessman Bobby Epstein.
All three men were present at Tuesday's news conference, which included an announcement that Austin officials have agreed on a 10-year contract bringing MotoGP to the facility beginning in 2013.
Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.
