The final turn at the Circuit of the Americas circuit is to be renamed in honour of Formula 1 legend Mario Andretti ahead of the United States Grand Prix. Andretti - who recently tested a 2013-spec McLaren - is one of only two American drivers to have won the F1 World Championship, doing so in 1978, 17 years after Phil Hill. Already a winner in NASCAR and IndyCar by the time he transitioned across to Grand Prix racing, Andretti picked up 12 wins - with his 1978 Dutch success the last for an American driver in F1. In his long career, Andretti became the only driver to win the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, US Open-wheel title (now IndyCar), and the F1 title. He also finished second overall in the 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours. Turn 20, to be known as 'The Andretti' after a ceremony on Thursday, is a medium-speed left-hander at the end of the Austin lap, which feeds onto the DRS-assisted start/finish straight before the climb up to Turn 1. Both IndyCar and NASCAR have also raced on the purpose-built Grand Prix circuit, with MotoGP also heading to the state capital of Texas for events.
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