German state fronts $312 million to the Nürburgring to keep the famous track alive

The Nürburgring racing facility is located in the village of Nürburg in the Northern German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The Rhineland-Palatinate state budget and finance committee held a special meeting to discuss the future of the massive piece of land and at the end of that meeting – the state government had agreed upon helping the Nürburgring management to the tune of 254 million Euros or $312 million US Dollars. This money will allow track management to cover a large portion of the 330 million Euro loan that they received a few years back which will in turn allow the track to stay open beyond the end of the 2012 racing season.

This financial help from the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, combined with F1 boss Bernie Eccelstone’s promise that he will do whatever he can could be enough for the troubled race course to keep the gates open to hopeful races from around the world. The ongoing success of the Nürburgring is likely dependant on the management’s ability to book major money making events which will likely include an F1 race. Eccelstone stated that he would waive the massive booking fee required to most tracks to have the F1 crews come out to race – a move which could save the track millions of dollars while helping to bring in millions more.

The bad news is that the Nürburgring is still run by the same management group who thought that it would be a good idea to force the company to the verge of bankruptcy by borrowing money from the European Union to built features like a shopping center and an amusement park. Portions of the amusement park have been ruled to be unsafe and the shopping center is often empty so those features, which should have been obvious things that the track did not need, have proven to be incredibly bad decisions. This injection of money from the local government should be enough to allow the Nürburgring to keep the track going into the 2013 season but if the track management continues to make stupid decisions – the ‘Ring may be doomed to keep heading down the same debt-filled road.

There have also been rumors that Bernie Eccelstone may just buy the Nürburgring outright and based on the decisions made by the current track management – having a successful businessman like Eccelstone could be the best move to help save the Nürburgring on a long term basis. Unfortunately, this 254 million Euro assistance will only cover a small chunk of the money owed by the track to various banks around Europe. Click here for more on the track's financial troubles.

Source: Deutsche Welle