14/11/2012
NEWS STORY
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With the 2013 New Jersey race having been delayed until 2014, thereby reducing next year's calendar to 19 races, there is serious concern as to whether the German race will go ahead.
With the Nurburgring insolvent, Hockenheim is currently scheduled to host next year's German Grand Prix, at least according to the calendar issued by the World Motor Sport Council in late September.
However, earlier today, it was revealed that despite being on the calendar, organisers at Hockenheim have not held formal talks with Bernie Ecclestone about staging the event.
"It is the case that we are, of course, in constant contact but it has never led to negotiations on a Formula One event in Hockenheim in 2013," Hockenheim mayor Dieter Gummer told the DPA (Deutsche Presse Agentur).
"Before a grand prix in Germany goes we would in any case be prepared to talk, but priority has in any case Nurburgring," he added.
However, the DPA subsequently reported that numerous German publications, including in the daily Rhein and Allgemeine newspapers, claim that negotiations between the existing management at the Nurburgring and the managers of the insolvency have broken down.
Indeed, a spokesman for the Nurburgring told DPA that there will be "no more formula one" at the Nurburgring, as talks with Bernie Ecclestone had also ended.
Pietro Nuvolini, spokesman for the financial recovery experts in charge of the Nurburgring, said: "If the tenants want to return to the negotiating table, our door is not closed."
Time would appear to be running out, and as one important market for the car manufacturers returns to the F1 calendar, another could soon be lost.