Yahoo Autos A New Track in Knoxville Called Flatrock Wants to Be America's Next Great Road Course
The United States has a rich tradition of natural terrain road courses, most of which have been around since the days of Can-Am McLarens and Trans-Am Mustangs. Few modern permanent tracks have broken onto the scene to successfully and consistently host pro racing. There are temporary tracks that host major races and permanent road courses that are popular for private driving and track days, but only Barber Motorsports Park (opened 2002), Utah Motorsports Campus (opened as Miller Motorsports Park in 2005) and Circuit of the Americas (opened 2012) have accomplished both goals in this millennium.
It's a short list, and one Flatrock Motorsports Park hopes to join in the next two years. The Knoxville, Tennessee circuit is set to open next year with one of its two tracks both designed by Tilke Engineers and Architects. One will be the "club" track for day-to-day use and the other will be a "grand prix" track designed for professional use, with both linked in an "endurance" layout spanning six miles. The grand prix track, and the endurance layout that integrates into it, won't be up and running until 2024. The track is aiming for FIM Grade 1 for the GP course and FIA Grade 2 certification for both courses, certifications indicating that the track is safe for both MotoGP and IndyCar if either series is interested.
Hosting racing, however, is no small task. While building a track suitable for driving is easy enough, building a sports venue accessible to fans and teams is its own challenge. Tracks with similar ambitions have struggled mightily with it. Missouri's Ozarks International Raceway canceled an SRO GT3 event this season amid concerns about the track. Louisiana's NOLA Motorsports Park famously tried to host an IndyCar race in 2015; that inaugural race was shortened by heavy rains and the event was never run again.
Flatrock has already applied some crucial lessons. The professionally-designed grand prix track layout was designed from the beginning for pro racing, with the needs of both spectators and competitors in mind. While Knoxville may be an odd and relatively place for such a venue (so small that, as track president Rusty Bittle told Racer, that it should keep the track from ever seeking an F1 date), it is a few hours from a few major cities and, as a relevant tourist destination in its own right, a market without a permanent home of road racing that could feasibly support MotoGP, IndyCar, and IMSA events.
But the IndyCar race at NOLA Motorsports Park was not just a failure for competition reasons. The race at NOLA Motorsports Park was also plagued by poor attendance and legal issues over the specifics of how the race was organized and promoted. If Flatrock wants to host series like IndyCar and MotoGP, it will have to be ready for those kinds of issues, too.
It is unclear what exactly Flatrock plans to host in its first few years. Bittle tells RACER that he has confidential memorandums of understanding with sanctioning bodies, including one that would lead to "what [Bittle considers] to be a pretty major event" in 2024. If Flatrock really does have a major event lined up for the first year of its grand prix circuit, we will be able to judge its qualification as both a track and a venue fairly soon.
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