Is this the end of the Nürburgring/Nordschleife?

[Hail22]

I woke up got ready as usual, on my way into the office I received and email with a link to this:

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/2815 ... o-support/

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is starting to feel slightly upset of this news.

Please discuss...

[beelsebob]

In some ways, it's a big shame... the Nordschliefe is obviously something no one would want to lose... On the other hand, F1 racing around the Hockenheimring rather than the Nürburgring is a big plus, it's a much better circuit.

[SeijaKessen]

I woke up got ready as usual, on my way into the office I received and email with a link to this:

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/2815 ... o-support/

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is starting to feel slightly upset of this news.

Please discuss...

I hope it does not impact the Nordschleife.

I think the GP track is rubbish to be honest and would not lament losing it from the calendar.

I would much rather see F1 do Hockenheim every year...although in a perfect world, I'd like to see the old Hockenheimring restored, and F1 race on that.

That aside, we've known for quite some time that the Nurburgring has been under financial duress...so I can't say I'm entirely surprised by this latest bit of information.

[Hail22]

I woke up got ready as usual, on my way into the office I received and email with a link to this:

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/2815 ... o-support/

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is starting to feel slightly upset of this news.

Please discuss...

I hope it does not impact the Nordschleife.

I think the GP track is rubbish to be honest and would not lament losing it from the calendar.

I would much rather see F1 do Hockenheim every year...although in a perfect world, I'd like to see the old Hockenheimring restored, and F1 race on that.

That aside, we've known for quite some time that the Nurburgring has been under financial duress...so I can't say I'm entirely surprised by this latest bit of information.

I'm more concerned for the Nordschleife, such a beautiful track, its literally a track built by a God...for humans to "attempt" to conquer her.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOogHubp ... ure=relmfu[/youtube]

[Pup]

Bankruptcy protection is just what it says on the box - protection from creditors. It's designed to allow the business to stay in business.

So, no, this doesn't mean they're closing the track. It's possible, yes, but not certain by any means. It depends on whether the owners and creditors can come up with a plan to run the track profitably. Everyone involved is motivated to do that, since the creditors don't want to lose their investment entirely.

There's a possibility, depending on German law, that the creditors could take ownership and either run the track themselves or sell it off. If it gets sold, then it would be at a price at which it can be operated profitably. Unless of course someone pays too much for it.

There's an off chance that the land could be sold off for some other purpose - housing development or something - if the value of the land is more than what someone would pay to run the track. That would depend on what the market is for something like that - probably a weak one at best in this economy.

[gato azul]

while not "good news", it does hardly mean, that they are going to dismantle it.
Could be a "good way" to clear the books, and start new without any debt, there are
quite some examples from companies who "flourished" after a bankruptcy.

I'm reasonable sure, that the "Nordschleife" part of the business will remain, or be spun off
into a separate company, as I would be very surprised, if this is not a profit making business.
They may lose the F1 GP and some other events which operate at a loss, but I doubt it will spell
the end of the facility.

[Cold Fussion]

I must be the only person to prefer the gp circuit to hockenheim.

[strad]

Cold Fussion; I think they both suck.

[raymondu999]

Cold Fussion; I think they both suck.

Ah... but that's the beauty of the word prefer. You don't have to outright like either one.

[f1316]

If the Nurburgring was lost, and Hockenheim prefer a shared arrangement, I wonder if this would open the possibility of an alternating German/French GP? I'd prefer to see both nations represented with one each year, but this may be a possible, economical solution.

I agree that the Nordschleife could be a separate entity to the modern GP circuit, since it has separate value both as a test track and as an historic site. However, it seems that the Nurburgring, more than Hockenheim, is a valuable show-piece race for Mercedes - with their big circular grandstand - and they may therefore have an interest in its survival.

[Steven]

Perhaps so, but Mercedes have their own stand at Hockenheim as well. I think that is also closer to Mercedes' home base.

Personally I very much prefer Hockenheim as a circuit because of its layout. It's also further away from Spa-Francorchamps, which could help Spa as well if we wouldn't have a race at Nurburgring anymore.

I'm curious to know though what caused the circuit te be in such bad situation. Is it mainly because of losses incurred for F1, is the Nordschleife making losses or is something else going on? It would be important to know this in order to get things in order.

Interestingly, Hockenheimring's MD recently spoke about their own solid financial situation
http://www.f1technical.net/news/17587

[raymondu999]

As I understand it Nurburgring have been in financial decline for quite some time, no?

[Nando]

This is a little blasphemy but i like the idea Tilke had about the track.

Just fixing the safety up to todays standard, with run-offs etc but not change the layout of it.
Maybe just re-pave it and smoothen it out.

Obviously this would be hugely expensive but it would also be the reincarnation of it and introduce it to modern day F1 cars.
Maybe we get some "danger" back into the sport

[Pup]

I'm curious to know though what caused the circuit te be in such bad situation. Is it mainly because of losses incurred for F1, is the Nordschleife making losses or is something else going on? It would be important to know this in order to get things in order.

It's not the track, but the other things they tried to do around it. Building a massive shopping mall and installing a roller coaster. They racked up hundreds of millions in debt.

It wasn't a bad idea in theory - to make the track the anchor for a larger entertainment destination. But it seems that non-racing people aren't attracted to shopping malls in the middle of nowhere, and racing people just want to go drive the track and then have a beer afterwards.

The good bit of that is that it seems like decent evidence that the track isn't good for much else besides a track, so it's unlikely to become anything else.

[marcush.]

why is it the end of the Nordschleife ? i´m not sure how much it is really connected (financially )to the rest of the desaster produced in the eifel ...the track itself is pretty much a separate entity the real issue would be it would fall into the hands of the oem s (for its value as a test track) and the question is if there is a desire to retain the endurance classic and the endurance race series...as well as the infamous terrorist driving (allowing anybody driving anything on the track as long as it has a license plat stuck to it)

Anyone who has lived there or went to race there knows :The nurburgring is in the middle of nowhere in an area with predominantly -BAD Weather-The origianl Nurburgring was instated their to help the region and attract people to go there as it was a mainly underdeveloped poor area...
Still the idea to attract other people than racing teams and fans is not a bad one .But as it happened the project was marred and dented from the word go and right everything has a smelly odor...very unfortunate.