the old Hockenheimring. I have been sitting here looking at some of the old racetracks on Google Earth. I must admit that F1 seems to become more and more sterile and boring. Not enough speed IMO. A lot of the newer designed tracks are downright boring. The old Hockenheimring was fun. Looking at it now is really sad. Track torn up and replanted with trees. I have been following F1 since 1982, and sure there are some nice races every now and then, but the overall picture is kinda spolied by the tracks generally being too boing now. So eventhough I still watch all races, I find myself only looking REALLY forward to races at Spa, Monza and this year Suzuka.
Ditto. Watch Rubens' first GP win there- spellbinding in the wet near the end of the race. I still remember picking up my dad's Autoweek and reading about Patrick Depalier's fatal crash there in testing. Sobering times. Great track.
Gotta agree My first "live" race was at the Hockenheimring. Loved it so much we went back three years running. The "improved" track though has no soul
+1 to both of those. I'll never forget going out to breakfast with my dad and seeing a blurb in the sports section. Depailler was one of the drivers I followed early on, and I love his onboard laps on 'Lap of the Gods', especially going all out at Long Beach. The Barrichello victory in the wet/dry still stands out as something pretty spectacular as well. I've disliked the reshaped Hockenheim from Day 1--ironically enough it has produced some exciting races, though usually due more to drama and less to the design. But again, this is why my DVDs of Lap of the Gods see regular action, to race down memory lane on some real tracks.
I have to agree in regards to the old Hockenheim Ring. While stationed with the Army in Karlsruhe, in the 60 and 70 I spend allot of weekends at the Hockenheim Ring. Racing was fantastic and you were able to go to the pit area or were the teams had there setup area. I also was there when Jim Clark had his deadly accident. A very sad day! Anyway, I now reside about an hours drive from the Hockenheim Ring. After they rebuildet the Ring, I only spend a couple of F1 races there. First of all, Ecellstones high price F1 tickets was not worth going anymore. Besides the new Hockenheim Ring is so boring to watch, not hardly a good place to watch from, unless your in the high-priced roof-covered stadium across the start and finish line.
What was also sad was that they dug up all the tarmac and let it grow over with plants. The last I'd heard, the Jim Clark memorial was being overgrown with vegetation!. Wow!, now theres a great tribute to a great driver!. And all because the boys racing today can't handle a mans track!.
Caesars Palace car park, a classic track if ever there was one. (Oh, hang on, I may have got that wrong! )
I also have fond memories of the Hockenheimring, from my days living in Germany, 1986-89. I would drive down for any event including club races. Memorable was the day they had a 312T2 Ferrari in the pits and fired it up just to let us listen to the engine. Even more memorable was the Sunday I went down with a friend only to find that there were no races, but instead the circuit was open to the public. Alternating sessions: 15 minutes for cars then 15 minutes for bikes, four dollars per session. As we had taken my friend's old Alfa sedan, he generously offered to let me drive. Halfway around the first lap he told me "hey, just drop me off in the pits and go on while I drink a beer." I had frightened him that badly, on my out lap, in an unfamiliar car, on an unfamiliar circuit, that he wanted out. But he was willing to let me continue to flog his car around a race track. How cool is that? And yes, I carried on, and had a blast. Not the full GP circuit, the club circuit, which cuts out the forest section. Not the Nuerburgring, but from the Sachskurve to the pit straight is good fun.
Just had a look here: http://f1onboard.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=32281, very sad indeed. At least they've moved the Jim Clarke memorial, it was previously in the woods!.
Brands. 38 years ago, a beautiful day turned bad. remember this Brian? We were in the stands together outside of Paddock? RIP Seppi http://archives.tsr.ch/dossier-siffert/siffert-tinguely
Brands was special, that walk from the paddock through the infield over to the pits, that huge crowd of cars on South Bank. Almost like the walk out onto the grid at Indy race day. RIP Seppi, hard to forget the silence that came over the place, everybody just got up and left, truly sad. Thanks, B. I need to call you. Any Jobs? LOL, just kidding!
I remember when the German Grand Prix moved to the Hockenheimring from the Nuerburgring. The headline was "Mickey Mouse meets Super Rat." Niki blitzed the race, IIRC, but the real story was the ridiculously simple Hockenheim circuit in comparison to the Nuerburgring Nordschleife. In the intervening years, the cars grew into the Hockenheimring, and it became a unique and interesting race. Changing the circuit was a real shame.
