The OK Corral

In 2012 the brand new Circuit Of The Americas (COTA) delivered arguably
the best Grand Prix of the season. The real star of the scintillating show
in the USA was the terrific track itself. Dynamically dramatic for spectators
who can get up close and personal, and wonderfully telegenic for
TV-watchers, it provides a sensational antidote to the plethora of
bland and boring modern circuits where monumental architectural follies
are the most distinguishing features.

COTA's distinguishing feature, as the F1 Circus performers soon discovered,
is that it's far from being a level playing field.
The Texas track bucks and heaves, twists and turns like a frenzied bronco with a cactus
under its tail trying to throw a rodeo rider off its back. No
section of the track is completely flat (even the lengthy
straight undulates impressively) and the racing route writhes
around in a serpentine configuration as if inspired by the deadly
rattlesnakes that thrive in this neck of the woods.

"Always drink upstream from the herd", advised the American
cowboy philosopher Will Rogers, in a motto that does double duty
as a health warning and a recipe for originality. Refreshingly, the
circuit's designers, Herman Tilke (perpetrator of the much maligned
'Tilkedromes') in company with promoter Taco Hellmund and
motorcycle champion Kevin Schwantz, drank deeply from
the well of creativity and came up with a layout ideally suited to
showcasing the so-called pinnacle of motorsport.

The pinnacle of COTA, the track's so-called signature corner, is
the strikingly steep incline leading into the first of the
track's 20 changes of direction. Any stretch of asphalt that
verges on vertical - it rears up 41m (133 feet) from the
start/finish line - then turns sharp left deserves a more
inspirational name than Turn 1. Why not give the hillclimb a
suitable trafficstopper of an appelation like 'Diamondback' -
after the most infamous of the local rattlers. Tilke himself
calls the Turns 2-3-4-5 segment the "snake section." So how about
labelling this serpentine series of challenges 'Snakebite'.
Tilke's reptilian reference might also be applied to a section
where the track plunges down into a gully. Call it 'Cottonmouth'
(which is also the name of nearby creek) after the dangerous
water moccasin reptile that is also found in this region.

(COTA illustration)

The Circuit Of The Americas fits perfectly into its unique
cowboy country environment but it lacks an evocative name.
COTA might work better after it has acquired more history but a
snappier moniker would help get it kick-started into a place in
the American consciousness. Why not lasso the term referring to
a fenced in space where wild mustangs are broken and cattle are
branded and tie it up with the scene of a famous wildwest gunfight.
After all, the 2012 USA Grand Prix was a real shootout.
Though this track is much better than just okay (and the suggested
new name is already taken, in Tombstone, Arizona) COTA might
more memorably be called The OK Corral.