Norisring: surrounded by History

A track known by few, for years the milestone of DTM, a dark past behind, the Norisring the Monte Carlo of Germany.

When it comes to the Norisring track, few immediately recognise the unique German street circuit.

A track that has always been synonymous with DTM, the German tourism championship par excellence.      The few curves, just 8, give it a very particular and unique shape. A bit like the history of this track, or rather the history of what surrounds and is part of this track.

The time machine we've been in has got to go back a long time. It's 1935 in Germany and sadly in power since 1933 the National Socialist Workers Party. Their leader Adolf Hitler, for some reason, chooses Nuremberg as the annual venue for the gatherings of this mass of people in brown shirts.

He, therefore, commissioned the architect Albert Speer to erect buildings that could house these delusions of protagonism. The young architect work hard and between 1933 and 1938 built an entire dedicated area; among which stands the Zeppelinfeld, a gigantic marble tribune, dedicated to hosting the offices of the State.

The war looms and Germany has been defeated again, everything about or reminiscent of the old regime is demolished, and everything except the huge central grandstand, which is now without its colonnade becomes the focus of a new form of entertainment: Motorsport.

In 1948, it was held on the newly defined Nuremberg Street Circuit, the first motorcycle race. From there a succession of two and four-wheel competitions: The Norisring was officially born.

The track, in particular, is unchanged since 1972 and has the starting straight that is in front of the large grandstand, which leads to a slight bend to the right followed by a U-bend near the Grundig Tower, and then another slight bend, this time to the left, behind the Steintribüne, where the right-left chicane Schöller-S leads to the straight opposite to the finish line.

The annual mid-July event Norisringrennen is considered one of the flagship races of the DTM series, also because of its proximity to Lake Dutzendteich and its setting in a large city, the track and the event are compared to the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Here great champions like Stefan Bellof have won, but we have lost the lives of drivers like Pedro Rodriguez both enchanted by the magic and the history of a place that has no equal in the Motorsport scene.