Atlanta Motorsports Park

Overview

Atlanta Motorsports Park, often shortened to AMP, is a private motorsport club and circuit near Dawsonville in Dawson County, Georgia, in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains about an hour's drive north of Atlanta. It was conceived by businessman and amateur racer Jeremy W. Porter as a country-club style venue where members can drive fast legally in a controlled setting. Membership comes in car and motorcycle or karting forms and includes a set number of track days, while the public can use the kart track, rent the circuit for private and corporate events or take part in driving schools.

Technical Specifications and Track Features

The road course was laid out by Hermann Tilke, the designer of many Formula One circuits. It has 16 turns and about 98 ft of elevation change, with an old-fashioned character of crests and dips. Two corners were named as tributes to European circuits, Eau Rouge at Spa-Francorchamps and the Carousel at the Nürburgring, and the closing part of the lap closely resembles a section of Motorland Aragón, another Tilke design. The circuit can be run in several configurations and can host up to three events at once. Road & Track included it in a list of the ten best tracks in North America.

Facilities and Specialized Areas

The kart track was built to CIK Level A/1 standards and has 43 ft of elevation change. It can be split into four separate tracks and host three events at the same time, and public sessions use a rental fleet of Sodi RT8 karts. Near the main circuit, a driver development centre has a 7.5 percent sloped surface known as the Ice Hill and a 200 ft skid pad for wet and dry practice. A 21,000 sq ft conference centre faces the track. The site also offers luxury garages, trailer storage, trackside condominiums and circuit villas, the Fuel Kitchen restaurant, race fuel and charging for electric cars, a kart parts and service shop, and member amenities that include a clubhouse, pool, fitness centre, tennis, biking and hiking trails and horseback riding. Driving instruction is provided by the Primal Racing School on the road course, by a kart racing school and by a teen driving programme run with DriveStrong.

History

Jeremy Porter came to the project from karting, where he raced in Formula ICC and won two consecutive Southeastern points championships. The circuit opened in 2013, and the first official race on it was the inaugural ChumpCar World Series event in November of that year. The track was also used for media work around its opening: Motor Trend's Wide Open Throttle reviewed the Cadillac ATS there in July 2012, and in 2013 the circuit appeared in a Ford Escape EcoBoost commercial, a CNN Money segment on the Aston Martin Rapide S and an episode of MotoMan. The same year it was the finishing point of the first Rally for CURE charity drive organised by Taste of Speed. Series that have used the venue include endurance karting, WKA, ChumpCar, SCCA, NASA and the World Racing League, along with the club's own AMP Race Series.