Save the Nurburgring Nordschleife

LateBraking · 12-20-2010, 12:41 PM

I hope this is not a repost, but this is important IMO, so here goes....

http://www.facebook.com/SaveTheRing?v=info

As posted on Jalopnik below.
http://jalopnik.com/5684589/save-the-nurburgring

You might be surprised by reading this headline and I'm aware the subject has not gained much awareness abroad, but there's currently a serious threat to the Nürburgring.

Since it's opening in 1927, the Nurburgring has been under complete public ownership and administration, but in May of this year the complete Nurburgring race track and park was rented out to two privateers (Kai Richter, Jörg Lindner). They have no motorsports background whatsoever, but are the driving forces behind the makeover, which includes the addition of a theme park with a new roller coaster that doesn't work, more hotel capacity than the area needs, a 3,000-seat event arena, and a shopping mall. Everything appears to be far too big and remains empty most of the time.

They promised private financing, but this soon turned out to be a fake. The Minister of Finance had to resign as a consequence. Despite lack of funding completion of the project continued.

The heavy burden now sitting on Nordschleife's shoulder is the debt of approximately 400 Million Euros, which seems completely unnecessary considering complete race tracks have been constructed for a fraction of this amount.

The issue is complex and has kept fans of the 'Ring busy, but I want to share with you what just happend last week: Nürburgring officials always claim a total of two million visitors per year, but in true Wikileaks style we got ahold of an older internal document (PDF) telling a different story. Promoters always engage in number polishing, but this is of different quality. It appears there's double bookkeeping for real vs. published visitors for all events held at the Ring. Have a look at the graph summarizing the figures:

Who would dare to claim two million spectators while only 370,000 actually turned up? The Nürburgring did and they based the business plan of the new leisure park on these numbers.

You don't believe me? Ask Sabine next time you meet her. (Edit:

) Several investigations have already been triggered by the Department of Public Prosecution, a governmental board of inquiry and the competition department of the European Commission.

And anyone who criticizes the current direction of the 'Ring is answered with force. Wilhelm Hahne — the oldest of the racing Hahne brothers (his brother Armin finished 6th last weekend at the track) — had his house searched in June of last year and as recent as last week received again a warning letter from the Nürburgring lawyers for speaking the truth.

It really hurts to get sucked into politics and to witness how they treat the heritage we all love. The worst that could happen is enthusiasts be forced to pay the price of a privateer's blunder in the form of higher prices or worse. Threats to the track include reduced maintenance of the track to reduce costs, less motorsports, and restrictions on small clubs running events in the area. Enthusiasts could also be required to book at the new hotels to race at the track.

Please spread the word if you care about Nordschleife and its heritage. Follow ringumbau.de (the documentary community site accompanying the development) and question the information shared by officials.

escobar929 · 12-20-2010, 12:48 PM

wow, that is some crazy sh!t

lunarwater · 12-20-2010, 01:00 PM

we need to find a way to help save the track otherwise our beloved machines might suffer from the increased cost of using the track as a testing site and hence forward that cost on to us the consumers

plus, this makes sabine sad who want to make the queen of the ring sad

Maestro · 12-20-2010, 01:29 PM

never knew the track was owned by the public, now that is interesting in itself, but then again if you kill yourself on the road in Germany you can not sue anyone for your stupidity.

Let me get this right, a bunch of idiots bought the lease rights to the track and land and what to make this big amusement park out it, however, the government who ran the ring for years lied about the actual number of people who attend events. Now they afraid the idiot will find out and back out of the deal or that the idiot will go ahead and realize they are hosed and force people to pay more money to use the ring.

Simple solution, boycott the place for a year and watch the idiot go under and then buy the right back and things are back to normal.

12-20-2010, 12:41 PM	#1
LateBraking Brigadier General 326 Rep 3,882 Posts Drives: Relatively Quick. Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: U.S.A. iTrader: (27)	Save the Nurburgring Nordschleife I hope this is not a repost, but this is important IMO, so here goes.... http://www.facebook.com/SaveTheRing?v=info As posted on Jalopnik below. http://jalopnik.com/5684589/save-the-nurburgring You might be surprised by reading this headline and I'm aware the subject has not gained much awareness abroad, but there's currently a serious threat to the Nürburgring. Since it's opening in 1927, the Nurburgring has been under complete public ownership and administration, but in May of this year the complete Nurburgring race track and park was rented out to two privateers (Kai Richter, Jörg Lindner). They have no motorsports background whatsoever, but are the driving forces behind the makeover, which includes the addition of a theme park with a new roller coaster that doesn't work, more hotel capacity than the area needs, a 3,000-seat event arena, and a shopping mall. Everything appears to be far too big and remains empty most of the time. They promised private financing, but this soon turned out to be a fake. The Minister of Finance had to resign as a consequence. Despite lack of funding completion of the project continued. The heavy burden now sitting on Nordschleife's shoulder is the debt of approximately 400 Million Euros, which seems completely unnecessary considering complete race tracks have been constructed for a fraction of this amount. The issue is complex and has kept fans of the 'Ring busy, but I want to share with you what just happend last week: Nürburgring officials always claim a total of two million visitors per year, but in true Wikileaks style we got ahold of an older internal document (PDF) telling a different story. Promoters always engage in number polishing, but this is of different quality. It appears there's double bookkeeping for real vs. published visitors for all events held at the Ring. Have a look at the graph summarizing the figures: Who would dare to claim two million spectators while only 370,000 actually turned up? The Nürburgring did and they based the business plan of the new leisure park on these numbers. You don't believe me? Ask Sabine next time you meet her. (Edit: ) Several investigations have already been triggered by the Department of Public Prosecution, a governmental board of inquiry and the competition department of the European Commission. And anyone who criticizes the current direction of the 'Ring is answered with force. Wilhelm Hahne — the oldest of the racing Hahne brothers (his brother Armin finished 6th last weekend at the track) — had his house searched in June of last year and as recent as last week received again a warning letter from the Nürburgring lawyers for speaking the truth. It really hurts to get sucked into politics and to witness how they treat the heritage we all love. The worst that could happen is enthusiasts be forced to pay the price of a privateer's blunder in the form of higher prices or worse. Threats to the track include reduced maintenance of the track to reduce costs, less motorsports, and restrictions on small clubs running events in the area. Enthusiasts could also be required to book at the new hotels to race at the track. Please spread the word if you care about Nordschleife and its heritage. Follow ringumbau.de (the documentary community site accompanying the development) and question the information shared by officials. Last edited by LateBraking; 12-20-2010 at 12:55 PM..
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12-20-2010, 12:48 PM	#2
escobar929 Brigadier General 154 Rep 4,528 Posts Drives: M2 CS Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Hollywood, FL iTrader: (14) Garage List 2020 M2 CS [10.00] 2020 M240i [0.00]	wow, that is some crazy sh!t
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12-20-2010, 01:00 PM	#3
lunarwater Private 0 Rep 83 Posts Drives: had e36 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: CA iTrader: (0)	we need to find a way to help save the track otherwise our beloved machines might suffer from the increased cost of using the track as a testing site and hence forward that cost on to us the consumers plus, this makes sabine sad who want to make the queen of the ring sad
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12-20-2010, 01:29 PM	#4
Maestro Major 1013 Rep 1,268 Posts Drives: 2007 335i Sedan, 2021 X3 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Philadelphia iTrader: (0)	never knew the track was owned by the public, now that is interesting in itself, but then again if you kill yourself on the road in Germany you can not sue anyone for your stupidity. Let me get this right, a bunch of idiots bought the lease rights to the track and land and what to make this big amusement park out it, however, the government who ran the ring for years lied about the actual number of people who attend events. Now they afraid the idiot will find out and back out of the deal or that the idiot will go ahead and realize they are hosed and force people to pay more money to use the ring. Simple solution, boycott the place for a year and watch the idiot go under and then buy the right back and things are back to normal.
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