Tavo Hellmund

Tavo Hellmund (b. February 24, 1966; Mexico City, Mexico) is an American business man, event promoter and former racing driver. Although he worked for the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico and also the 1996 IOC Atlanta Olympics, Hellmund is most well known for masterminding and being responsible for bringing Formula One racing back to the United States for the United States Grand Prix at Austin in 2012 and the Mexican Grand Prix Mexico City in 2015. He was also a founding partner of Circuit of the Americas in Travis County, Texas. This is why he has been named North Americas F1 Hero.[1]

Tavo Hellmund

Racing career

Hellmund showed signs of talent but was always hamstrung by lack of sponsorship during his racing career. He won races in FIA Formula Ford and Formula 3, SCCA Formula Ford, American Sedan, NASCAR Grand National and Late Models, ending his driving career in 2005. [2]

Promoter

Having inherited the event promoter bug from his father, he worked in one capacity or any other, sweeping concessions, ticket taking to marketing and activation on the operational and commercial side on dozens of events, including a broad variety of races such as INDYCAR, IMSA and SCCA races and as diverse as the 1986 World Cup and 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. From 2005 - 2009, he promoted the Texas Racefest which combined a National USAC Midget Race and a NASCAR Grand National race on the same weekend. Racefest sold out all 5 years and won his company Full Throttle Productions short track Promoter of the year. [3]

United States Grand Prix

In May of 2010, Formula1 announced that a 10 year deal was struck with Hellmunds Full Throttle Productions for the F1 USGP to be hosted at a soon to be built track Circuit of the Americas outside of Austin, Texas beginning in 2012. Hellmund has had a 45 year relationship with Bernie Ecclestone Chairman Emeritus of Formula One. [4] Hellmund and then Texas Comptroller Susan Combs spearheaded the passing of legislation that would enable the F1 race to receive 25 million dollars annually for the event. Hellmund named the track Circuit of the Americas because of his love of the name of a horse track in Mexico City. He also sketched the layout of the track on a barbecue napkin back in 2007. The final product is 90% the same as the original sketch. [5] After a couple years of feuding with one of the investors, Hellmund agreed to being bought out, which was officially completed in November 2013. By this time he was already well underway at launching the Mexican Grand Prix. Hellmund no longer has any ties to Circuit of the Americas. [6]

Mexican Grand Prix

In July 2014, Bernie Ecclestone confirmed the Mexican Grand Prix would return to the F1 schedule in the 2015 Formula One season. The revived Mexican Grand Prix is driven by two key figures, Tavo Hellmund mastermind of the F1 USGP in Austin Texas and his counterpart in Mexico, Alejandro Soberon, chief executive of Grupo CIE.[7] On Sunday November 1, 2015 the Mexican Grand Prix welcomed a race-day attendance of 134,850, and the three-day mark was 335,850.[8] Three-time world champion and former Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda told reporters after the Mexican Grand Prix, "It was the best I've ever seen in my whole life." [9] David Tremayne of the Straits Times wrote, "Now, that's a serious audience. As an object lesson in how to organize a grand prix, Hellmund's team set a new benchmark, and for this, the sport should be grateful".[10] For the second consecutive year the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix was awarded event of the year. Bernie Ecclestone , CEO of Formula One Management (FOM), said "This is a recognition of the extraordinary promotion and organization of the Grand Prix and the incredible passion of the Mexican public. Mexico did it again![11] In Dec 2019 - The Mexican Grand Prix was awarded the best promoted race for an unprecedented and record 5th year in a row. [12]

F1 Team Ownership

In November of 2015, it was reported that Hellmund was seriously considering buying the financially strapped Manor F1 Team from then owner Stephen Fitzpatrick. [13] Hellmund admitted that towards the end of 2016, the Hellmund led consortium had agreed to terms for the purchase on the condition that the team finished the championship in 10th place in the constructors championship which would guarantee the team $15 million the following year in prize money. As it turned out, Manor lost the position at the Brazilian Grand Prix and the deal fell apart. Unfortunately Manor fell into administration and was out of business 2 months later. [14]

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References
  1. Staff, Automobile Mag. "Why is Tavo Hellmund North America's F1 Hero?". AutoMobileMag. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
  2. Staff, HCRPCA. "Tavo Hellmund: A Local Racing Hero" (PDF). Hill Country Region Porsche Club. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
  3. Sylt, Christian. "F1's Billion Dollar Man". Forbes. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
  4. Staff, Motorsport Week. "F1 signs a 10-year deal to return to the US". MotorsportWeek. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  5. Sylt, Christian. "F1's Billion Dollar Man". Forbes. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
  6. Maher, John. "Austin - Against all odds, F1 track has been built, ready to host race". Austin American Statesman. Retrieved 2013-01-04.
  7. Sylt, Christian. "Ecclestone Confirms Mexican Grand Prix Will Return In 2015". Forbes. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  8. Maher, John. "After F1 success in Austin and Mexico, what's next for Tavo Hellmund?". Austin American Statesman. Retrieved 10 Nov 2015.
  9. Maher, John. "After F1 success in Austin and Mexico, what's next for Tavo Hellmund?". Austin American Statesman. Retrieved 10 Nov 2015.
  10. Tremayne, David. "Formula 1: Mexican fans lap up homecoming after 23-year absence". The Straits Times. Retrieved 3 Nov 2015.
  11. Staff, Motorsport. "The GP of Mexico, chosen best event of the year in Formula 1". Motorsport. Retrieved 2 Dec 2016.
  12. Staff, Automobile Mag. "How the Mexican Grand Prix Became F1's Best Event". AutoMobileMag. Retrieved 2019-12-30.
  13. Staff, AutoWeek. "Tavo Hellmund Admits Interest in Buying Manor F1". AutoWeek. Retrieved 2015-11-11.
  14. Staff, GrandPrix24/7. "HELLMUND: We Had Agreed to Terms to Buy Manor". Grand Prix 24/7. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
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