Attesa, the 2,360-acre recreational motorsports destination being developed by Danrick Builders near Casa Grande, Arizona will feature two world-class road racing courses designed by the best circuit design company in the industry.
Apex Circuit Design Ltd. of Buckinghamshire, England is designing two separate 2.8-mile road courses plus a karting track, driver experience center and a multi-surface racing and event area. These circuits, estimated to cost $310 million for construction, will be the foundation for Attesa’s Motorsports Technology Core, which will also include residential, industrial and commercial properties plus a hotel and convention center and 6000-foot private air strip.
“Apex is the premier race track engineering firm in the world,” said Pat Johnson, president of Danrick Builders. “When we started this project we did a thorough review of all the top design companies and Apex was the clear favorite. They’ve created spectacularly successful permanent and temporary circuits, testing and proving grounds, high performance training courses and more, from Europe to Asia to Australia to South America. Drivers, manufacturers and spectators love Apex courses. They’re going to love the ones at Attesa, too.”
Attesa will be home to the first Apex-designed tracks in the U.S., adding to a list that includes circuits inDubai (UAE), Bangkok (Thailand), Hockenheim (Germany), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Sydney (Australia) and Shaoxing (China). Apex designed Hampton Downs in New Zealand, which hosts A1GP, V8 Supercars and historic F5000 racing. Apex also designed the FIA World Rallycross circuit in Barcelona, Spain and is the International Management Group’s (IMG) commercial rights holder as the preferred designer for the FIA World Rallycross Championship.
While many fans consider oval racing as America’s favorite type of motorsport, road racing, where drivers turn left and right in negotiating a circuit with elevation changes and vastly different corners is becoming more and more popular. Even stock car racing, which has raced on ovals almost exclusively since its inception, now host major events on road courses to the delight of spectators and TV audiences.
“The traditional drawback to road racing has been limited viewing for spectators,” said Dan Erickson, Member/Manager of Danrick Builders. “But Apex has worked with us to solve that problem. Both of the full-size circuits at Attesa will be built predominately below grade with a 25-foot berm surrounding each course. Fans will be able to sit up high and see the entire track with very few obstructions. We’re probably going to have better spectator sightlines than a lot of oval race tracks.”
Both the public circuit, designed for testing, product development and major racing events, and the private circuit, for members of an exclusive club at Attesa, will meet FIA 2 (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) and FIM A (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) standards for performance and safety. Except for Formula 1, the tracks will be acceptable for any type of racing series in the world including MotoGP, the world’s most popular motorcycle racing series, and all major open wheel, sports car and stock car series.
“When Attesa contacted us we were quite pleased with their preliminary concepts and goals,“ said Dafydd Broom, design director for Apex Circuit Design. “Their ideas for below-grade tracks and berms addressed both spectator viewing and noise issues and their commitment to creating circuits that will allow passing, driver improvement and product development is in perfect alignment with our philosophy.”
In addition to the two, full-size racing circuits an FIA CIK -approved karting track, a 129-acre driver experience center and a multi-use arena are planned for Attesa. These areas will offer provisions for new product introductions and media events, high performance driver training, ride-along entertainment and temporary courses for off road, short track and motocross events.
Targeted for ground breaking in summer 2017, Attesa will be a motorsports entertainment destination that will draw guests from all over the world. It will combine speed, luxury experiences and racing opportunities while creating a powerful economic engine for Pinal County.
Attesa is currently going through the entitlement process in Pinal County.
