Texas confirmed for MotoGP 2013
The track, located in Austin, Texas, will join Laguna Seca and Indianapolis on the MotoGP calendar as the sport's American footprint continues to grow.
Although a contract had previously been announced, Austin - like Argentina - was not named on the provisional 2013 calendar. However a new deal with the Texan circuit has now been concluded.
America will again have three riders on the grid next season with Nicky Hayden, Colin Edwards and Ben Spies all confirmed.
"We are excited to be working with Circuit of The Americas to expand our programming in the United States and bring our series to an exceptional new Grand Prix facility in Texas,” commented Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta.
“We see tremendous opportunities to market MotoGP and grow its fan-base through this agreement and know Circuit of The Americas is the right promoter to help us achieve that goal."
The Circuit of the Americas will host the penultimate round of this year's Formula 1 championship and circuit president, Steve Sexton, is pleased to join a select group of tracks that host both F1 and MotoGP races.
"The Circuit of The Americas team is delighted to introduce yet another world-renowned racing series to our 2013 event calendar,” said Sexton. ”We know will be hugely popular with fans coming to experience MotoGP for the first time at our state-of-the-art sports and entertainment complex in Austin.
“MotoGP has a worldwide fan base with more than two million fans watching races in person each year. We're confident it will be a great addition to our programming and draw tens of thousands of people to Central Texas, creating yet another major event with significant economic impact for our region."
1993 world champion Kevin Schwantz, involved in the original Austin deal, is in a dispute with COTA over promotion of the MotoGP event.
