|
|
Hockenheimring | Address: | Hockenheim-Ring-GmbH
Motodrom
D-68766 Hockenheim
Germany | | | | Telephone: | (+49) 6205 950 05 | | | | Fax: | (+49) 6205 950 299 | | | | Country: | Germany  |
| |
| History: | | 1932 - | Opening date on 29th May (triangle course) | | 1934 - | 1st National Championship race | | 1938 - | Rebuilding into the "Kurpfalzring" (oval course) 1st automobile race (race cars) | | 1947 - | Renamed in Hockenheimring | | 1951 - | 1st International Rhein-Trophy-Race | | 1957 - | 1st World Championship race for motor-bikes | | 1963 - | - 1965 Rebuilding into the Motodrom | | 1970 - | 1st Formula 1 Grand Prix since 1977 (except for 1985) permanent place for the Grand Prix of Germany (Formula 1) , 1st Open Air concert | | 1992 - | 60th anniversary of the Hockenheimring |
| | |
|
The Hockenheimring has taken over from the Nurburgring as the home of German motorsports in recent years. The circuit was built in the 1930's by Mercedes-Benz as a test track, but was abandoned during the second world war.
After WWII the track was shortened and redesigned into a more oval shape before the late great John Hugenholz was hired to redesign the track, integrating the high speed outer section with a brand new slow stadium section. The new track was opened in 1964 for sportscars but was largely ignored by the F1 people. However the track became well known for all the wrong reasons in 1968 when F1 star Jim Clark was killed in a Formula Two race when his car spun off the track into the woods unprotected by barriers. As a result, in 1970 two chicanes were added, one called the Jim Calark kurve, on the site of Clark's accident. That year Hockenheim hosted it's first F1 race, won by Jochen Rindt.
After 1970 the circuit was neglected once agian by F1 in favour of a return to the Nurburgring, however after the closing of the nurburgring for F1 in 1976, Hockenheim was back on the calendar for 1977, and that's where it has stayed, except for 1985. The track underwent minor changes between 1977 and 2001, mostly including the addition of a chicane at the high-speed ostkurve.
The High-speed version saw drivers blast out of the stadium section down long straights through the pine forest interrupted only by three chicanes. The track then reemerges for the twiddly stadium section before drivers would sojourn back again into the woods. This was a track where a good chassis wasn't that important, but a powerful engine was. Cars would usually qualify according to their teams, so that they would line up on the grid in a neat colour-coded order. However after Ralf Schumacher's victpry in 2001 it was announced that the track was going to be completely remodeled.
The last major race on the old Hockenheimring was held on April 21, 2002, a DTM race won by Laurent Aiello. The long straights were subsequently scrapped in favour of a modern, decidedly average, Hermann Tilke designed circuit, which presently stands at the site. The long straights into the woods have been confined to the dustbins of History, torn up and the land replanted. The loss of one of Formula One's most unique circuits.
Statistics
| Seasons: | 31 (1970, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008) | | |
Created by: system
last modification: Friday 08 of July, 2005 [18:08:57 UTC] by senor_soup
|
