Construction work at the new United States Grand Prix site in Austin, Texas has begun, with groundbreaking at the new Tilkedrome site taking place earlier this week after the organisers secured their planning permission.
The organisers of the new race, which secured the deal for the returning US leg of the F1 schedule earlier this year, had targeted a December start for construction in order to ensure the track would be ready for their 2012 debut.
And it seems that the track remains just about on schedule, with work beginning with just days of the month of December yet to run.
According to a report in the newly F1-fanaticised Austin American Statesman newspaper, groundbreaking took place at the 970-acre area of Travis County, south-east of central Austin, near the location of what will eventually be turn 11 of the new track.
Work on the new 5.5km circuit, which has been designed by the usual suspect Hermann Tilke, commenced on Thursday morning.
Final planning permission has not yet been granted, with the permission remaining provisional until the Federal Emergency Management Agency has completed an assessment of the danger of flooding at the site, which is being built partially in a flood plain.
But the provisional permission is sufficient to allow the construction effort to begin.
The Austin American Statesman also reports that the most recent estimates of the cost of the project stands at $250 million, with the circuit eventually set to accommodate over 120,000 fans.
As things stand, the race does not have a final slot on the 2012 calendar, but organisers have reportedly been advised to ensure that the track is ready for use by June 2012.
This is the likely timing of the first US GP at the circuit, with the race probably forming a North American 'double header' with the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
The United States has not featured on the Formula One schedule since 2007, when the final event at the unloved Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield circuit took place, won by Lewis Hamilton.
Meanwhile, plans for another potential new race on the F1 schedule, the Rome street track, has been approved according to the race's promoter Maurizio Flammini.
"I am very pleased that the city has taken an official decision and has approved the continuation of all activities so that the GP can take place in 2013," Flammini was quoted as saying this week regarding the race.
The Rome GP will reportedly join the schedule in 2013, but recently the project has suffered a number of blows, with local residents and Ferrari bosses speaking out against the plan for a second GP in Italy.
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