Mark Winterbottom puts USA's new F1 circuit through its paces

AUSSIE V8 driver Mark Winterbottom has taken a Ford Mustang GT around the USA's new Formula One circuit - and says it is the Bathurst of America.

Mark Winterbottom

A GIANT analogue clock hangs on a wall in a demountable, surrounded by piles of dirt and men in hard hats and yellow jackets. The bright red numbers tick along; 145 days, 9 hours and 59 minutes.

That's how long the 700 workers, bulldozing and buzzing around in the 40 degree heat, have to finish the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.

That's when Formula One will return to the USA after a five-year hiatus.

Yesterday, with the clock continuing its count, Australian V8 driver Mark Winterbottom became one of the first men in the world to drive around the track that will put America back on the world motorsport map.

The circuit will host the Formula One on November 18 and then the V8 Supercars next year, a date yet to be announced.

And while half the track still remains dirt, rocks and drain pipes, Winterbottom yesterday saw enough during his blast around the completed sections of the circuit in a Ford Mustang GT to declare the COTA the Bathurst of America.

Designed by track guru Hermann Tilke, of Sepang, Yas Marina and Bahrain fame, it has lashings of Silverstone, Hockenheim and Interlagos. While it is far from complete, there is enough to see that this place is going to be up there with those great tracks. Maybe even better.

The staggering 45m of elevation from the start line to turn one even has Winterbottom calling this Travis County track the Bathurst of the Americas.

"I can't wait to put 29 of our animals on this track," Winterbottom said.

"It is seriously a bit like Bathurst with the crazy elevation changes and the V8 Supercars are just going to eat this place up. You can see this track is just going to be amazing, the best we will race on. I seriously can't wait to unleash on this thing for real. Today, well it was really just a tease."

Winterbottom is allowed to frang his GT around turn 11, the hair pin that follows a steep decent with a slight but dangerous kink. There are still no curbs, and workers line the side of the track, but he manages to get it sideways, much to the delight of the 15 or so American media types that are on hand to see the Aussie they call "Frosty".

At a much slower speed, Winterbottom is allowed to drive the entire course and the man that is heading the building effort sits beside him; Frank Both, a German responsible for building or revamping the famous tracks on the F1 calendar.

"This has been a big challenge for construction," Both said. "The gradient and the height has been a big challenge to everyone. It is quite difficult for us because we have to achieve an evenness, a flatness to a tolerance of 2 millimetres. We can't have any bumps.

"We have dug down to 10m of depth before setting the foundations. Three layers of tar will go down.

"The inspiration was really the natural terrain; there was nothing flat here. We worked with the environment and I think it will be up their with the best."

Both tells Winterbottom where the curbs will go, that the F1 cars will hit a top speed of 350kph on the straight and a minimum of 100kph on the turn 11 hairpin.

And Winterbottom tells him the V8s will put on one hell of a show.

"You will see some of the best racing you have ever seen," Winterbottom said.

"The big V8 Supercar animals will be going four-wide into these corners, putting on a hell of a show. There will be plenty of passing and plenty of racing. It will be a good show."

With the clock still ticking, Both admits the track might not be completed until "a couple of weeks" before the big show. But following threats from Bernie Ecclestone to can the event following a funding feud and a stop work order, the German assures us it will be complete.

"Definitely," he said. "We are now on schedule."