Austin GP deal ’looking good’ for 2012

As the event’s final deadline winds down on Wednesday, there is a growing feeling that organisers of the US GP in Austin have managed to rescue their 2012 race.

With the World Motor Sport Council in India set to take place imminently, F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone had warned Circuit of the Americas bosses to stop dithering and sign a binding deal for 2012 and beyond.

A source close to the organisation has told the Austin Chronicle that the chances the race will go ahead next November are now "looking good".

"I hope Austin goes ahead," Red Bull driver Mark Webber, in Tasmania this week for his outdoor adventure event, told the Daily Mail newspaper.

"That track looks sensational. I’ve been shown the animations of the layout and it looks really, really special, so they’ve obviously done a good job there," he added.