For 2013, the US will host no less than three MotoGP races out of the eighteen run. Two tracks are familiar to race fans – one located at Laguna Seca, California while the other resides in Indianapolis. The third is a newcomer, and promises to be one of the more eventful races in the MotoGP circuit. As MotoGP.com describes it:
The Grand Prix of the Americas is the first purpose-built Grand Prix facility in the U.S. near Austin, Texas, with a 5.513km track and a capacity for 120,000 fans. Construction of the impressive 1000-acre facility was completed late in 2012, with MotoGP lining up at the track for the first time in 2013.
One of its more distinctive features is near 41m-elevation change with an impressive incline at the end of the home-straight followed by a sharp left. The circuit is one of the most varied on the GP circuit, with a mix of fast straights and tight hairpins, with most sections mirroring at least some part of a famous track around the world.
It was designed by well-known German architect and circuit designer Hermann Tilke. The driving direction is counter clockwise and has a total of 20 corners with 9 right turns and 11 left turns.
Scheduled to run on April 21st, the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas is the second race of the season and will no doubt garner lots of attention from the media, race fans and bike makers alike.