Circuit of The Americas announced on Thursday it has formalized its multi-year agreement with the V8 Supercars Series that will allow the Australian touring car series to make its North American debut at the new Central Texas sports and entertainment venue May 17-19, 2013. The V8 Supercars championship is made up of 15 championship events across Australia, New Zealand and Abu Dhabi, with the U.S. now set to join that slate.
"V8 Supercars brings to us an extremely exciting series that's a great addition to our motorsport line up at Circuit of The Americas,” said track president Steve Sexton. “The series features great competition from a wonderfully colorful collection of teams and drivers, who enhance their on-track action with great personalities and storylines. They are strong advocates of a major-entertainment atmosphere at their events. We know U.S. race fans will find the V8 series tremendously engaging and will look forward to its 2013 debut at our new facility in Austin.”
“It's fantastic to be part of Circuit of The Americas' events roster for the coming year and to bring V8 Supercars' unique brand of action-packed racing to our growing U.S. fan base,” V8 Supercars CEO David Malone said. “The Austin circuit is coming together beautifully and will offer our teams and drivers fabulous facilities from which to compete – and one of the most challenging road courses ever designed. We're delighted to showcase Australia's premier motorsport category at first-class venue and in a national marketplace with a healthy appetite for top-notch auto racing and family friendly entertainment.”
Formerly known as the Australian Touring Car Championship, the current series was devised in 1993 and branded as “V8 Supercars” in 1997, the series' cars are based on modified versions of Australia's two most popular passenger cars – the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore. Automakers Nissan and Mercedes have announced that they will also provide vehicles for the series in 2013. The series includes races on purpose-built racetracks and on street circuits. Race formats include sprint races as short as 100 kilometers, as well as middle-distance endurance races with the race length often depending on the venue.
For information on tickets and pricing, visit www.circuitoftheamericas.com/tickets.