Nurburgring redesign plans unveiled

By Ben Barry

Motor Shows

13 November 2008 09:19

Anyone who’s been to the Nurburgring recently will have seen building work on a massive scale. So what’s going on? It’s all part of a €215 million investment that’ll see Europe’s most famous race track build on its uber track day reputation to become what marketing boss Stephan Cimbal describes as a motorsport theme park that’s open 365 days a year. Work started just one year ago, but it’s on track, so to speak, to meet the self-imposed 11 June 2009 deadline.

Nurburgring redevelopment: the plan

The plans are as surreal as they are ambitious, and include the world’s fastest rollercoaster. There’ll also be a new arena with up to 6000 seats for ‘everything from boxing matches and beach volleyball to new car presentations’; 100 budget condominiums; and another hotel – currently only the Hotel Dorint is track-side – with 148 rooms, a casino and a heli pad for motorsport moguls; plus a proper welcome centre to lend a sense of occasion to the slightly anti-climatic greeting today’s visitor’s receive.

Manufacturers have embraced the German circuit in recent years, so the ’Ring Boulevard makes perfect sense – a 300m-long ‘motorsport mall’ with Ferrari, Aston, Nissan, Yokohama and Bilstein showrooms. Other attractions will include the Eiffel Village Green Hell that’ll house a steak house, bar and disco (something that anyone who’s been faced with a choice of schnitzel, schnitzel or schnitzel and zero late-night entertainment will no doubt welcome) and an Ecclestone-endorsed F1 area.

But it’s the ’Ring Werk theme park that’ll really get tongues wagging. It’s 15,000 square metre theme park with a science and history exhibition, plus that bonkers rollercoaster.

By Ben Barry