The Nürburgring Circuit
The present Nurburgring bears the name and location of its predecessor, but this is all that the two tracks have in common. Only the start/finish straight remains in the present Nurburgring from the authentic ring which was completed in 1927.
The first major events held at the Nurburgring was the German motorbike Grand Prix in 1927 followed by German Grand Prix for motorcars. The original circuit had a length of 14.2 miles (22.7 km), twisting and turning through the valley of Ardenau, up into the Eifel hills and returning to the start/finish straight in the town of Nurburg. The circuit is well known as the greatest circuit ever created but was also one of the most dangerous. This resulted into the fatal crashes of Onofre Marimon in 1954, Peter Collins in 1958, Gerhard Mitter in 1969 and the accident in 1976 where Niki Lauda was heavily burnt. As result the Nurburgring lost there Formula 1 licence. In 1984 the circuit was rebuilt to a 2.8 miles(4.5 km) combination of long straights, fast corners, a slow hairpin and the famous Veedol chicane. The circuit had become a track where the safety and competitively are the two most important aspects of the circuit. In 1984 the Formula 1 returned to the new Nurburgring as it hosted the second European Grand Prix. In 1985 it had the honour of hosting the 33rd German Grand Prix, but in 1986 the German Grand Prix returned to the circuit of Hockenheim and Nurburgring received the honour of hosting the European Grand Prix in 1996.
The rise of Michael Schumacher, a local boy from the town of Kerpen, just 40 miles to the north of the track, led to increased pressure for a F1 race and in 1995 the F1 trucks rolled into the circuit once again. The change in all the F1 circuits in the late 1980s and early 1990s meant that it did not seem such a bad place after all and despite poor weather it is now a very popular venue. After hosting the European GP in 1995 and 1996, the race was given the rather exotic title of Luxemburg GP for 1997 and 1998 - to avoid complaints that the Germans were monopolizing the European event, but in 1999 it was back to the European tag.
