WEC appoints Andrew Craig to help COTA promote the Austin round of the

[AustinF1]

WEC appoints Andrew Craig to help COTA promote the Austin round of the WEC and get the brand out to North America.

http://www.statesman.com/weblogs/formula-austin/2014/mar/05/wec-appoints-former-cart-boss-support-austin-race/

 

By Dave Doolittle

Andrew Craig, the former head of CART who now runs a sports business and politics consultanting firm, has been appointed as the World Endurance Championship's North American representative and will work to support its race in Austin, officials said today.

Craig will also look for other opportunities to support the global sports car series in the United States and Canada, officials said.

"We would like to welcome Andrew Craig to the WEC team," series boss Gerard Neveu said in a statement. "His immediate responsibility is to help establish the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas event in Texas and also to promote the WEC brand across North America, which is an extremely important territory for the ACO, the WEC and its partners."

The announcement was made by France's Automobile Club de l'Ouest, the organizing body behind the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Paris-based Federation Internationale de 'Automobile, the governing body of global motorsports.

Craig, originally from Great Britain, from 1994 to 2000 was chairman and CEO of Championship Auto Racing Teams Inc., better known as CART, the American open-wheel series that ultimately became part of IndyCar in 2008 after bankruptcies and other difficulties.

He is now CEO of the Craig Co. LLC, a Detroit-based firm that advises cities and governments on how to win the right to host the Olympic Games and other international sports events.

The World Endurance Championship is set to return to Southeast Austin's Circuit of the Americas for a six-hour race in September.

Last year's race was paired with the American Le Mans Series, a North American sports car series that merged this year with Grand-Am to form the Tudor United SportsCar Championship.

Three-day attendance for last year's event was announced at 33,591, well below the116,851 that had been estimated in an economic impact study filed months before the race.

Series spokesman Jeff Carter last year told the American-Statesman that he he wasn't disappointed with the series' first foray into the United States.

But, Carter said, "We probably have to do more to take the cars to the people. We have to do more to raise awareness."

The second sports car weekend is set for Sept. 19 and 20, with both series racing on Saturday.

[AustinF1]

COTA has finally put the WEC on it's schedule of events, and now Atherton has come out & talked about it, too.

http://racer.com/index.php/component/content/article/56-grand-am/102064-imsa-series-progressing-on-shared-event-with-the-wec-at-circuit-of-the-americas

 

Atherton also reports the meeting included steps to increase visibility and attendance for the lone North American stop for the WEC cars as well as the TUDOR Championship.

"The track is completely switched on for this," he added. "We spent two days with every department at COTA to go over our shared objectives; no one was happy with last year's turnout, and I think it's justified based on the quality of what's racing there, so everyone is committed to growing the event and putting on the best show possible.

 

 

Google Translation from Corporate Legalese to English:

"COTA barely promoted this event last time around so now, like the WEC who hired a special liaison to make sure the race gets promoted, we're holding their hands and walking them through it step by step. They better be "switched on" & get it done this time around, or there may not be a next time."