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Originally Posted by jtuds
The Save The Ring folks aren't gogin to be happy about this...but it could turn out OK.
Apparently the buyer was talking about all the great stuff they want to implement to make Touristenfahrten safer and more efficient, so that was promising.
I think the locals are worried that the demand from auto makers, track day rental companies and other private users will be so high that the company will go for wherever the profit is, even if that means less public access. My question is - when it was government owned, why would they have not doen the same? The thing lost money for years, and if my tax dollars were paying for it, I'd want the gov't to operate it profitably, not to take a loss for the sake of the gear heads.
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What many people seem to fail to understand is that the part of the 'Ring that was not profitable was not at all the race track (or rather tracks as there are two). They were and have always been quite profitable. The big money was lost in the totally insane idea of the infrastructure that was recently built around it, i.e. the RingWerk and the GrüneHölle. These things do not have anything to do with the race track (at least not directly) and were the cause for all the financial problems the 'Ring as a whole had the past few years.
Capricorn wants to go back to the basics, i.e. the idea of a center of automotive competence, which is a good thing IMO. They also seem to be far more competent and involved in the automotive world than the people who were in charge in the past, and Capricorn already has roots at the 'Ring anyway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtuds
Another risk is simply less public days, so peopel who live nearby may not be able to drive over tehre after work on a Wednesday for a few laps. That would suck because if you've ever seen the place on a weekend, it's ridiculous - but of course it probably pulls a ton of cash.
I don't think they'll end touristenfahrten, but I could see them limiting it to weekends, which would suck but be better than nothing...
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They cannot "end Touristenfahrten". Aside from that it would be a rather bad idea from a commercial and reputation standpoint, a law has been passed last year which ensured that the 'Ring will always be open to the public.
Most of the money on the Nordschleife (not the Grand Prix circuit) comes from the industry pool, i.e. car manufacturers that test their prototypes between March and October every year. However, a big part of it has always been that everyone can drive there, and that will not change.
Alpina_B3_Lux