Second U.S. Formula One race reportedly on tap in New Jersey

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Formula One hasn’t competed on U.S. soil in four years, but now the international racing series reportedly is set to unveil a second American stop starting in 2013.

A news conference is scheduled Tuesday to announce that Formula One plans a street race in June 2013 in the Weehawken and West New York areas of New Jersey along the west side of the Hudson River, with the Manhattan skyline serving as a backdrop, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal and the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J.

Formula One’s return to the United States already was planned for next November in Austin, Texas, where a course called Circuit of the Americas is being built specifically for the series.

The last U.S. Grand Prix was held in 2007 on a 2.6-mile road course built within the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which hosted the race for eight years. But the series and track then parted ways when they couldn’t come to financial terms and other agreements to extend their contract.

But there always has been pressure on Formula One to return to the United States, because the U.S. is a major sales market for many companies that provide racing equipment or F1 sponsorships, such as Mercedes Benz and Vodafone.

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--Jim Peltz