[954Stealth]

The news keeps breaking and no one's fixing it!

To get you up to speed, here's the conversation thus far and then the updates:

and then .... what do you think? Do you believe there is a chance it will be saved? Will F1 race in Germany this year? What will the fate of the 'Ring be?


"Under the terms of the long-standing race share agreement between Germany’s two F1 venues, the Nurburging had been scheduled to return as the host of this year’s event after Hockeheim hosted the 2014 race. However, Ecclestone revealed last week that the race was set to stay at Hockenheim for this year as at the Nurburgring “there’s nobody there”."

Although the F1 supremo did reveal he was meeting with the new owners of the Nurburgring in London later on Wednesday – raising the prospect that their 2015 hopes may not yet be over after all – he conceded that there was a chance that the German race might not take place altogether this year.

He then joked: “But we’ve got one, it’s called Austria.”

“We would do everything to stop them fading away, but in the end the only reason the race won’t happen is because they can’t afford to run the race,” he added.

“Honestly I don’t know [why the event is struggling], it surprises me. Maybe it’s a little bit that the German people were very used to and supported Michael and miss Michael when he wasn’t racing any longer," he added.
-- SkySports.com

***************************

All I can say is SAVE THE RING!! Boo to the Sozialdemokratische Politik fur Rheinland-Pfalz and boo to Capricorn and boo to Georg Sieler and Bernie for not being able to simply changing the dates on the current contract and removing the Nurburgring/Hockenheim alternations piece. Boo to the fans for Hockenheim only attracting 52,000 spectators to the grand prix last year, which means the circuit is also struggling to make ends meet, hence meet financially contract obligations with Bernie.

Originally Posted by 954Stealth

Bernie is saying now that Germany's chances of staying on the 2015 calendar are under 50 percent!

Nurburgring was on the calender and Hockenheim has yet to agree to a contract. So what happened with Nurburgring, you ask?

tl;dr: Capricorn's offices were raided last week by police and prosecutors, alleging fraud and other allegations against Dr. Robertino Wild and Adam Osieka.
Who are they? Here's some background:
Well, The track was having massive financial difficulties until the Nürburgring racetrack in Germany was sold to German automotive and aerospace technology conglomerate, Capricorn Group - led by Dr. Robertino Wild, the owner of Capricorn, and Adam Osieka, who runs GetSpeed, a Nurburgring-based automotive workshop and tuning company - for a figure in excess of €100m (£83m). As part of its bid, the German firm, which manufactures specialist racing car components, agreed to invest another €25 million (US$34.7 million) to develop the racetrack.

Originally Posted by Dackelone

^^an interesting turn of events for the 'Ring horror story.

Keep us updated Stealth.

Originally Posted by Elsabor67

Do you have any insight on the investigation going on against the Capricorn group? Allegedly they were raided by the Rhineland Pfalz Govt. last week and are under investigation for fraud.

Also what sucks worse for the Nurburgring is the "dynamic pricing" they plan to unveil beginning this May for the tourist rides. VLN, RCN, 24Hour race are confirmed as well as DTM but some are still in the air.

The office was raided on suspicion of credit fraud. It is about the double security for the art collection owned by Wild. A total of five objects at the Nürburgring in Koblenz and Dusseldorf were searched.

They bought Nurburgring as I outlined in a previous post. There was supposed to be a second payment but it was delayed until October of 2014 from the original July date. As equity and security against the loan, Wild put up his own art collection. The problem was that this was already handed over to another creditor (allegedly).

The Head Attorney Harald Kruse stressed that the matter was solely about the double security for the art collection and not at the Nürburgring sales process as a whole.

----and here's some updates ---
This is pretty major so it deserves its' own thread



Germany may miss out on hosting Formula One race in 2015
Germany looks unlikely to host a Formula One Grand Prix this year according to the sport's boss, Bernie Ecclestone. The main reasons are a lack of fans and financing issues. But there is still hope, Ecclestone says.

Bernie Ecclestone has called into question whether Germany will host a Formula One race this coming F1 season, following questioning by German media.

Speaking to Germany's "Bild" newspaper on Tuesday, Ecclestone said, "It doesn't look good, but we are trying to rescue it."

On Monday, Ecclestone had told German newspaper "Rhein Zeitung" that no F1 race would be hosted in Germany in 2015 because "the visitor numbers were so poor in recent years that it is not economically viable."

He also confirmed a fax had been sent to the paper in response to a query but denied the matter had been decided.

"Who knows? There are two circuits there. Wait and see," the 84-year-old told news agency Reuters. "It's not looking good. You can say that it (the race) looks unlikely."


F1's boss Bernie Ecclestone has high-level contacts in both politics and business
Currently, no deal has been signed with either Hockenheim or Nürburgring, the two German circuits currently sharing the annual grand prix.

This year's race was due to be held at the Nürburgring in the country's Eifel region on July 19 under an alternation agreement that saw Hockenheim host it last season. This staggered arrangement has been in place for years, beause both circuits say they cannot afford the losses incurred by hosting the race every year. Race organizers - either the circuits, national governments, or a mixture of both - pay Ecclestone's Formula One empire millions each year to host a grand prix; their only revenue source to recoup this money are the tickets sold to fans, which in turn has pushed prices well above other comparable events.

German F1 organizers have struggled with fan numbers for years. Only 45,000 turned out on race day at the Nürburgring in 2013, the season after Michael Schumacher retired.Last year in Hockenheim, 52,000 fans were on hand on the Sunday race day.That compares to some 120,000 for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone - perenially the best attended race on the calendar - and the 80,000 who turned up on race day for F1's return to Austria this season.

With the Formula One season starting in Australia next month, Ecclestone indicated Germany had only a couple of weeks to do a deal and stay on the 19-race calendar. Should the race actually be cancelled, it would be the first time that Germany would miss out on hosting a round in the Formula One season since 1960.

al/apc (dpa, Reuters)

************************************************

and another source:
The 84-year-old Briton was speaking after Germany's Rhein Zeitung newspaper quoted him as saying there would be no race because "the visitor numbers were so poor in recent years that it is not economically viable."

Ecclestone confirmed a fax had been sent to the paper in response to a query but denied the matter had been decided.

"Who knows? There are two places (circuits) there. Wait and see," he said.

"It's not looking good...you can say that it (the race) looks unlikely but we are trying to rescue it. I don't want to lose it, for sure. We are trying our best."

************************************************** ***********





Here's a previous threads on the same subject matter:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1079686