If you’ve played any sort of auto racing game, be it any in the Forza Motorsport or Gran Turismo franchise, watched Formula 1 or DTM or just an automotive history buff in general, the name Nurburgring should speak quite loudly without saying a word. One of the most sacred and hallowed motorsports venues in the world – next to Spa-Francorchamps, Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Silverstone – the Ring and its famous Nordschleife represent a purity that is motorsport. It seems, however, that things have been headed in the wrong direction for the Ring and things aren’t looking any brighter at the moment:
From SaveTheRing.org’s website:
From 2007 – 2009 the German government built a huge Leisure Park at the Nürburgring. It is based on fake visitor numbers, oversized and badly executed. Most of the time it is an empty ghost town. Once promised as private investment, it is now based on a debt of 350+ million EUR public money.
Instead of pulling the plug they rented the park – including both race tracks – to exactly the same privateers (Kai Richter, Jörg Lindner), who were driving forces behind the Leisure Park’s initial private setup.
Without Racing experience they are since experimenting with events completely unrelated to Motorsport (German Volksmusik for example, another one here) – all under the iconic “Nürburgring” brand name.
They now want Nordschleife to pay for the huge losses of “NüroDisney”: record prices and bundled packages for tourist drives plus a 5 times increase for the automotive industry in rent for their prototype testing sessions.
It’s quite obvious to us at RevdCars.net that those who don’t understand nor have the passion for all things automotive and motorsports should stay the hell out of the Ring. Sure, money needs to be made. You can’t continue operating in the red in your P&L. We understand. But we firmly believe you CAN combine financial sensibility with respect for the Ring or any other motorsports venue.
For more information on how YOU can help Save the Ring, visit their website by clicking here.
