One of the many exciting new features for the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship is the addition to the calendar of the 6 Hours of the Circuit of the Americas in Texas, USA. With the FIA WEC and American Le Mans Series due to visit the CoTA the same weekend, from 20-22 September, fans from both North and Central America are in for a feast of amazing sports prototype and GT racing.
Circuit of the Americas, which will host the fifth round of the FIA WEC, is the first purpose-built Grand Prix facility in the United States designed for any and all classes of racing. It is home to the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, the F1 championship’s debut at the circuit being held to huge acclaim last November, as well as MotoGP, V8 Supercars and GRAND-AM Road Racing.
The 3.427 mile (5.51km) layout was conceived by Tavo Hellmund and former motorcycle World Champion Kevin Schwantz, with the assistance of circuit designer Hermann Tilke. The well-known German architect also designed the Shanghai, Bahrain and Fuji Speedway (reprofiled rather than designed by Tilke) tracks visited by the FIA WEC.
Pierre Fillon, president of the ACO, said, “It gives us great pleasure to take the FIA World Endurance Championship to the Circuit of The Americas later this year for the North American round of the world championship. Working with our friends and colleagues at the American Le Mans Series, we want to establish this as one of the premier endurance racing events in the United States, and we are sure the people of Austin will be want to experience the Spirit of Le Mans at the 6 Hours of the Circuit of the Americas this fall. I would like to thank Circuit President Steve Sexton and his team for their hard work, and I’m confident that 2013 will see the start of a long and fruitful partnership.”