Edgy01

Wow. http://www.autoweek.com/article/2012...NEWS/120719835

State owned.

Slamuth

I saw that too. Had to read the headline twice before believing what I read.

Zeus993

Let's buy it and manage it properly. There is no other race track that is as big a household word as Nurburgring. It needs to be privately run.

Graygoose997

Built in 1925 by the Government.
Created 25,000 jobs during a period of high unemployment.

Minok

The problem with the site is that the regional government had a massive plan to build an entire 'destination park' on the site that was financed by borrowing a bunch of money... they wanted to leverage the track and add more 'stuff to do' that would bring in more revenue other than just racing and the Nordschleife. That debt, and the failure of that development plan is what lead to the bankruptcy. The roadways and track are pretty self-sustaining.

BoxsterG

Bernie has stated that he may buy it outright. He also said he was thinking of running a race there and would finance the race himself and take the proceeds for himself.
It was also announced today that the government may go ahead and bail out the track even though they originally said they would not.

I found the recent update regarding the governement bailout. The information about Bernie is at the bottom of the article also:
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/08/02/g...r-nurburgring/

Minok

The problem with the bailout plan by the government is the EU regulations. It runs afoul of what would be viewed as an illegal subsidy and violate the trade laws. So fixing that development deal gone bad takes some work to do it the legal/fair-trade way. The state government cannot just toss money at the problem.

Ptech1

Well, whoever ends up taking controlling interest in the end, I'm just relieved that my plans for being on track this coming Monday in our rented GT3 are still going ahead as planned. Literally a dream coming true!

hakaida702

You'll never forget that experience for sure. Just be safe. I've seen a few too many ring accident pics and vids on youtube.

I'm also wondering if the plans to build a copy of the ring outside vegas is still on. I'd love for it to happen since it would be really close for me to go to, but I really think that it would take too much money to complete such a project.

sjfehr

Would this be a faithful reproduction with trees & elevation changes all, or would it add runout space and safety features the original is sorely lacking?

hakaida702

Not sure about the trees, but it was going to be a real reproduction as far as turns and elevation. That's why I can't see them pulling it off. The elevation changes are going to cost too much to do. What an engineering nightmare plus the money would require too much money to do and the return on investment would take forever to recoup the cost of building such a track.

Renzsport

The money ALWAYS takes too much money to do! So annoying

Minok

As this is in the same landscape as Spa, there amount of elevation work that would have to happen would be immense. Vegas is 'flat', so you need to bring in a LOT of Earth and provide for drainage, or dig a huge hole and provide for more serious drainage and pumping.

Without trees it would take out a lot of the feel and visibility limitations. With added run-off and safety features it would take out the reality and danger and not be the same track.

Of course to pull it off, it would need to be a public road that is tolled, so that your standard car insurance is still valid on the circuit. Be true to the original, or go home.

If they pull it off, I'd have a reason to go to Vegas, but I'm not holding my breath.

BoxsterG

Could be really dangerous in Vegas during the heated months. IT gets really hot during the days and may cause some serious safety issues.

Ptech1

You couldn't be more right!!! Thought I had a slightly realistic comprehension of how the track was laid out, but videos, etc., do nothing to prepare you for the constant blind turns and the extreme elevation changes/drops, let alone the FASTER traffic. Was an amazing experience!
And luckily, in the end, the car was still in one piece! (Especially because the rental company had a signed blank credit card slip just in case, with a 75k Euro , or $97,000 deductible for our GT3...)