A reportagem da revista Top Gear sobre a venda do Nürburgring Nordschleife

Jackie Siewart 'Gitlin went the 'Ping in MS - prohnbly the ;loran,: GP 
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1 PLANET TOPGEAR 441.- *we' _ : — — • ,„ nI ft., The niters:3.M GT and PS ase also papal there. 
.• • •• - .• Man the banters open for session of Turn up... few isps,then t • st ra 14k sesr rxzwrd„, 
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stossppessdtchdbllblootc shock it back into business, 
• SO WHO'S SELLING? The regional Rhineland-Palatinate government. It owns 90 per ocnt of dm business (the remaining bit is owned by the subOistriet of Bad Neuenahr Alinveiler),and has appointed Rao blokes mlied lens Limes ond 0,01 01 Or Thomas B Schmidr - a mulcidoctori - as administrators. It's their job to find investors and brokemhe sale. 
• 100 MILLION SEEMS A BIT CHEAP... liked ass, considering how much the redevOopment cost ill file first place. Officially, it was a MO million project, 
• CAN IPUT IN A CHEEKY OFFER, THEN? Vol can Ey. But whoever they might soy, he Inpidgms will he after their on. higher price will net Mem mare profir. And if you're chinking 01 516103 a punt, you'd better act fast - the sale shot Id begin at the end of April. 
• CAN ANYONE BUY IT? In [Iwo, yes. Rut there arc scams arguments going on. and thc terms of mle mein to be open to negotiation. Soule say mugse.,e the public. Others soy it num simply IcY for 
• EXACTLY WHAT ARE THEY SELLING? Two trmks (the NordschIcifc and the CP circuit). the new buildings, the hotels, and the wilco:woe, 'The Wilrbargring may be sold either as a whole or in individual pans - such as ffie bowls - as a separate entity from the racetracks, tests m several ink:rested ponies,. mys Pielf0 N tivoll Ili. a spokesman for TM admit. istramm. 
bur 1.,Lisyeari Criinsiission is, in fact, investigating a set of government aid measures worth a massive 02.4 miffion. As yet, there's no explanation for sellers the missing UM in may ham gone. 
itself and claw hack lost public money hammer it ma. Ultimately these decisions toss with the authorities. 'There are no criteria for exclusion,' mys sir Nuvolini. 1Vhich sounds like ,scud mouse for an offiec whip-round, if 0105 005 us. 
• WHO'S MOST LIKELY TO BUY IT? Over', Mr agmin.'So fag ihrix GT, heen apprnximately.10 expressions of interest. Itommen no concrete discussions or negotiations have taken place since the loliipgproosc,ltilioltotilhutotollpltitl by a repulable auditing company. This has not started yet!' Rumours suggest interested panics arc so far sheikh-km. which would mercifully nde out the promorm of the 'Ring beminim a playboy's 00u5100 0100 
• SO I'LL STILL BE ABLE TO DRIVE MY CAR THERE? slh yes, the Touristenfahnen. 'Mu tam 5510 00€ your E.26 and off you so. This is allowed because the Nordschleife is owned by the government, which operates public roads, of which the North Loop is one. The liquidators say the), keen to maintain tids, but if it is in private hands Mat might be wore di fficult. AgIlo it's up to Me politicians co push rhe righcbuscons. 
'DID TOPGEAR KILL THE NORBURGRING? WELL, JAMES MAY'S MANY RANTS WERE PERHAPS UNHELPFUL...' 
• DID TOPGEAR KILL IT? lawics klay's rants core perhaps unhelpful. But he was talking specifically about carmakets' obsemion with testing new products Mere, 'which tended to miss car's behaviour on normal roads. Perhaps more darn*, was thc massive hike in prices for manufacturer testing, implemented when Richter and Lindner were fa charge. 'This caused many eannakers To abandon Me Ming and find new Me lahoratorics elsewhere. 
• WHAT ABOUT THE GP? Currently, IN still on for 1 fitly 2011. after Bernie Fcciemone agreed a deal Mch Me 'Ring's moms people at the mid of lanumy 2013. But we know how a few months can change thffigs in Formula One. vffixiestone and IMO Eche 'Ring busiaMal agreed 
n 1607 work began on a leisure mrk at the Niirburgring. Up went the sausage emporiums and posh hocels and a rollermaster. wouM be. said the ba.ckers, a magical place for the whole IffiiroLlisney Ill the ntisty mountains. It eve. bad a mole in the middle, 09 001 deeseyed government invested, but wheri much- needed primte funds didn't anive, the local authorities - or rather, a state- owned bank - was formd to pump in more cash to keep the dream alive. So instead of the Ringplcv landing in risme hands. it remained in che government's custody. Then the rollereeoster crashed. Ticice. Mc Maims remained °neaten and horels unoccupied bemuse. really, Mc people who visited this remote comer of Gennany ...S. came for one thing onB) motor racing. 5 The Nordwebleifc. The Grand MX. The 0 grassroots motorspon that had nourished L.) the place since is opened in 1927. They never asked for shopping boulevards a aimed at ladies Mth quilted handbags. s,..' But in dstea of being over to sOnseone who understood what people g really wanted, rfic 'Ring Ann renTed two blokes linked so the theme park's 
not to disclose conficausl deeffits or 
thc annsaction,' says Prof Br Dr Schmidt, who's idpo in charge of restructuring the businew. 111 other ' words, watch this moce... 
birth: ICA Richter and Jigs Lindner, who mndnued to run things their way until eventually their comma was terminated iII February 0012. The reasms for this are mill unclear. What we do know is On: in 2011, the local prosecutor began an investigation into the former 1000 and orient MU of the Nfirborgring. Poll i icians ham 1011,1554. Ills RE is investigni, whether che leisure pork at the 'Ring... an appropriate use of its state funds. Eventually, t he gove nvnent declared the Ring banknum late last year. Slaw-appoinced administrators took over. and on 28 FM 2013 icwas announced they would be the place. Vol ffist over 100 million quid. MI of which raises a few questions... 
• WHY DID THEY BUILD NURODISNEY ANYWAY? The 'Ring was failing. 0,0110 51 Out back as the early Nineties. ffie management was making questionable deelsiom (its published visitor numbers did nb rally with actual burns on scats). Eannabcri were paying peanuts for development laps and motormon wasn't pitying 515011. Come 2009, Germans were staying away from mown-mon after Schumacher hung aphis helmet and mem fishing. So the new park P 
• IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO? Local bloke Alike Nom has been runnins Ills Sam the Ming imminent since 2010. 'We stancd se fight Wore my digger moved in,. he 1T, '555 nobody wanted to Mom.' Within signs of Martins his campaign, his petition had 20,/132 signaturos one for eve's' men, of the Nordsohleife. Supporters can stin sign it, and Om his stickers co Meir rear bumper, but hes even limner for them 11 1101 behind a man called Otto Minim... 
• WHO'S HE? Flinfin saved this place before. 50 130 early Eighties, he pushed fce a new GP circuit lobe built aloagside the Nordschicife, which no longer held p0555111 01st mem after Laurie's cmsh in SAVE 1071,1-Ws now lobbying che government 771E. to sell it to the rigffit people. and his PAW followers recently held a protest about :09 macs away from the 'king in the Isms'il of Mainz, on the dcors,cp of , regional pofiticians, reminding them 11,11 130 little comer of the forest is mirth fighting for. 
• WHAT ELSE? Eason red.. ids now all allow putting pressure on the politicians. sok, find that the protesters need some c influential backing...dm drivers ,114 L, talk of their steel halls,' says Mike. .BliksIG ...ere are Mese balls now, It's timc to use Mem. We nccd the big names. Michael Schumacher. PeOple need tO put slooM meMagea into small minds.. 
404 
TEN-MINIITENCHIE 
Slaving speir many 0575 rs learning the cirri/it on his PlayStation, Jeremy set off in a diesel Jaguar 5-Type M. the aim of going around the Nordschliefe in under 10 minutes. On his first fcur gees he's miles off the time. The next day. after a spin and some swearing. Pe finally. a time of minutes.. seconM. On a wet track. too. But his celebrations were Shortened when legendary 'Ring maiden Sabine Schmitz, wbo - naving mood bin, - then mocked his time and claimed she could go quicker. In a son.. fest she had a go in Me SType. Her time?, minutes and 12 seconds... some M seconds faster Man Clarkson. In the nest 11,110, 21, took op Mr man challenge and set off in a diesel Transit van with Richard Hammond on board. waS later shit,. out for ceaSOM 10 40 with weight mons. The Ian waS taped op.. improve wrflow. A Weir Viper Gas cffiven in front ro create a slipstream. And Sabine set her Mstest time, 10 minutes, eight seconM. She's good, that ffirl... 
ELANET TOPGEAR 
German circuit. Several previous owners. 12.9 miles. Light crash damage. 1100 million ONO. Call 0-800-DAS-RING  
OlIPPW■ir 
Irlq- 4-7 
OR SALE 
VIORI:Si Med MAD 
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Tee ffingsvert entertainment complex has become a ghost town since opening in 2009. Gunning nnxt to the GP onek, the rouerecomes was supposed no be Me worlffia Meson. Rot ir crashad twice in testing,. ea Isn't' operational, making It the second-moss danger.. hyM19 Mins iv the area 
1,71,1,12.001,9 . MAV 2011 
JUN 
SABINE 
TOPGEAR.COM I 5550 05150 111E1
Os recentes fatos sobre a falência da empresa que geria o antigo circuito de Nürburgring, e a posterior disposição da pista à venda, geraram furor em várias mídias, principalmente a internet.

Agora, a revista Top Gear fez um especial de meia página sobre o circuito, com fotos históricas de eventos como a Fórmula 1 e as 24 Horas de Nürburgring, além de track days, shows, inclusive do próprio programa Top Gear.

São imagens dos episódios em que Jeremy Clarkson tenta ser rápido em um Jaguar S-Type movido a diesel, e de Richard Hammond tentando fazer um tempo abaixo de dez minutos correndo com um... Ford Transit a diesel!

Quer ler a reportagem completa? Então clique na imagem para visualizá-la em maior resolução.

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