1/4/11 1:37 PMFormula One racetrack designer was recruited for an Austin racing venture once before

Page 1 of 3http://www.statesman.com/news/local/formula-one-racetrack-designer-was-recruited-for-an-729746.html?printArticle=y

Print this page Close

Formula One racetrack designer was recruited for anAustin racing venture once beforeLast project to which Hermann Tilke's name attached was a country club forenthusiasts that got a red flag from economy.By John MaherAMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Updated: 10:28 p.m. Saturday, June 5, 2010Published: 9:36 p.m. Saturday, June 5, 2010

Aside from billionaire boss Bernie Ecclestone, few figures in the flamboyant world of Formula One racing aremore polarizing than Hermann Tilke, a 55-year-old German engineer.

When Tilke GmbH was announced as the designer for the proposed Austin Grand Prix track, race fans hereand around the globe were quick to post scathing comments on websites charging that Tilke and his "boring"courses were killing racing. "Effete," "sterile" and "characterless" are some of the adjectives heaped by self-appointed critics on his designs.

Even some of the praise Tilke receives can seem tepid. "The circuits he has built are probably as good as onecould hope for" considering the safety constraints that must be met, racing legend Stirling Moss told ESPN F1last week.

The Grand Prix project is the second racing deal in the Austin area that has banked on Tilke's name. Fouryears ago, racing enthusiast Steve Patti and his partners contracted with Tilke to design a facility for a high-enddriving country club they wanted to develop in the Hill Country.

Patti calls Tilke "the gold standard in racing, like having Jack Nicklaus design your golf course." The proposedclub, Bergrennenring, would have been the first in the U.S. for the designer whose tracks and lavish hotelsepitomize the glamour of the F1 racing circuit from Turkey to China and Abu Dhabi.

"Tilke was for us the Holy Grail," said Patti, a marketing consultant. "When we went to investors, that was to bepart of the eye candy. We've got Hermann Tilke. Do you want in or not?"

Since 1996, Tilke's company, which he runs with partner Peter Wahl, has done almost all new trackconstruction or modifications of old tracks for F1. "Hermann is very expensive," Patti said. "He's three to fivetimes as expensive as the next designer ... but his facilities are impeccable."

Patti's group planned to fly Tilke to Austin in spring 2008 for a lavish meet-and-greet at the Driskill Hotel withjournalists and potential club members. Then plans for Bergrennenring stalled, and the visit never came off.But it may have planted a seed.

"We probably paved the way for these (Formula One) conversations a couple of years ago," Patti said.

The concept for Bergrennenring was similar to that of the Monticello Motor Club in upstate New York. Until lastweek, Monticello had been considered a front-runner to land the Grand Prix event that instead was awarded toAustin promoter Tavo Hellmund.

1/4/11 1:37 PMFormula One racetrack designer was recruited for an Austin racing venture once before

Page 2 of 3http://www.statesman.com/news/local/formula-one-racetrack-designer-was-recruited-for-an-729746.html?printArticle=y

Find this article at:

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/formula-one-racetrack-designer-was-recruited-for-an-729746.htmlPrint this page Close

Patti said Bergrennenring was to be a $30 million facility located on about 350 acres in one of four counties:Travis, Hays, Burnet or Blanco. Initiation was pegged at $25,000 per member. The idea was to make the club adestination where drivers and their families could also enjoy nearby amenities such as golf courses andrestaurants.

Patti said he first contacted Tilke's firm about the venture in June 2006. In August, Patti and his partners flew toAachen, Germany, the headquarters of Tilke's company, to pitch their project.

"He leaned back in his chair, took a puff of his cigarette, raised an eyebrow and said, 'This is very interesting.'He was intrigued because he viewed the American market as very lucrative," Patti recalled.

Eventually, Patti said, he put down a $100,000 deposit and signed a contract with the firm. Wahl, who was tobe the liaison, is also likely to be in charge of the proposed Austin Grand Prix, as Hellmund said Wahl typicallyhandles the firms' projects in the Western Hemisphere.

In 2007, Patti and his partners looked for a suitable site. Patti said he was surprised how quickly word spreadabout the project, especially among potential neighbors. It turned out to be a hard sell.

"There's a bunch of wooing and courting you have to do," said Patti. "The commissioners, the neighbors — wehad people asking if the lights would keep their cattle up at night. We had a lot of two-hour, three-hour andfour-hour meetings."

The first site picked was off U.S. 290, west of Johnson City. A portion of that land, however, already had beencommitted to a housing project, making the available tract too small. Next, Patti's group focused on 350 acresof ranch land in northern Blanco County, not far from the intersection of Texas 71 and U.S. 281, nearHorseshoe Bay.

"We thought we had it nailed. We thought we had the land," Patti said.

That deal fell through in large part because of the objections of the potential neighbors. "We did not want to goto a county that was hostile," Patti said.

Burnet County officials and residents were more receptive, but the land was more expensive there. When theU.S. economy tanked in 2008, Bergrennenring was shelved, along with plans to spend $20,000 to bring Tilke toAustin for the meet-and-greet.

As for some of the criticism race fans direct at Tilke, Patti said, "He may be very close to Bernie (Ecclestone),and that may be the rub... We found him to be amenable and cooperative and to not have the arrogance youmight expect."

Hellmund said, "Formula One's requirements are so stringent. If you look over 15 years, the people that haven'tused Tilke end up hiring him to fix or complete the things that weren't done... I don't think we're going to haveany issues."

Patti predicted: "The product will be fabulous."

jmaher@statesman.com; 445-3956

1/4/11 1:37 PMFormula One racetrack designer was recruited for an Austin racing venture once before

Page 3 of 3http://www.statesman.com/news/local/formula-one-racetrack-designer-was-recruited-for-an-729746.html?printArticle=y