A Race Fan’s End-of-Season Expression of Thanks.

Attesa is being designed to attract advanced technology car companies who need a place to build, develop and test.  Most will give thanks.  Some will say, “Wanna race?”  We’ll say, “Absolutely!”

Attesa is a master planned community centered around a Motorsports Technology Core.  We’re building two FIA 2/FIM A -spec road courses, one for testing and the other for Private Club members.  The testing circuit will be dedicated to the needs of industrial park tenants and their quest to research, develop, test and refine their products.

But this track will also be one heck of a racing circuit, with numerous passing zones and elevation changes, all within a fan and competitor-friendly arena designed for maximum spectator entertainment and enjoyment.

We love racing.  We understand racing events at Attesa will be the sizzle, not the steak, but who doesn’t like sizzle?

So in honor of Thanksgiving 2016, the last one we’ll enjoy before Attesa’s entitlement phase is over and dirt begins to move, we’ve prepared a short list of the kind of racing we are thankful for, regardless of whether or not those series will ever come to Casa Grande.

Let’s start with open wheel, specifically IndyCar, because that’s how we roll.  Frenchman Simon Pagenaud won this year’s championship in a Dallara DW12 Chevy, a car that’s been pretty much unchanged since it was introduced five years ago, powered by a turbocharged 2.2 liter V6 engine.  Honda also makes an IndyCar engine.  IndyCar needs at least one more engine supplier.  The aero bits will get an upgrade in 2017 with an all new chassis slated for 2020, about when Attesa’s track should be open.

Mazda sponsors the Road to Indy ladder program that grooms young drivers to become Indy 500 racers.  It starts with USF2000, moves to Pro Mazda and then Indy Lights, each series faster than the previous.  Anthony Martin, Aaron Telitz and Ed Jones were last year’s champs.  All three ladder series would be perfect for Attesa.

Sports cars come in all shapes, speeds and sizes, from swoopy Le Mans -style prototypes to Porsche, Corvette and BMW -based GT cars to highly modified 4-cylinder FWD street cars.  There are three major professional series, each with a number of classes: IMSA’s WeatherTech and Continental Tire Series, Pirelli World Challenge racing and Trans Am.  All put on great shows this season.  Dane Cameron and Eric Curran won the top IMSA prototype class co-driving a Coyote/Chevy, Billy Johnson and Scott Maxwell won the Continental Tire challenge in a Ford Mustang, Alvaro Parente won the Pirelli World Challenge GT title in a McLaren and Amy Ruman won the Trans Am championship in her Corvette.

All those series would be welcome to visit Attesa in a few years.

Honda’s Marc Marquez won the MotoGP championship over Yamaha teammates Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.  MotoGP is perhaps the best of all racing series and yes, Attesa’s FIM A public circuit will be a track it could race at.  Scott Speed won the Red Bull Global Rallycross title ahead of Tanner Faust and Brian Deegan in 2016 and we’ll have a welcome mat out for them, too.

Finally, and the reason this article had to wait until today, Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg won the Formula 1 World Championship over teammate and three-time champ Lewis Hamilton.  Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finished third in the standings ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastien Vettel.

There were many other series in action this past season, including MotoAmerica Superbikes, the new Formula 4 series, HSR and SVRA vintage racing, NHRA drag racing and of course all the American Saturday night short track series that remain the backbone of our sport.

Attesa won’t be suitable for all of them but we do plan on hosting our fair share.

Which is why we are thankful for racing, the people who love racing, and especially the 2360-acre community we’re building that will occasionally host racing!