16/01/2014
NEWS STORY
Taking time out from his various legal issues, Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that he is making a bid to buy the Nurburgring.
The company which owns the circuit, which currently hosts the German Grand Prix on an alternating basis with Hockenheim, has gone into administration, allegedly with debts equivalent to fifty years of profit. Consequently, in a bid to keep F1 in Germany, Ecclestone has submitted an offer for the circuit.
The bid relates not merely to the circuit used for last year's German Grand Prix but the legendary Nordschleife, which hosted the Grand Prix up until (1976) the year of Niki Lauda's notorious accident, and the adjacent amusement park.
"We have made an offer and now we wait to learn whether it will be accepted," he told Handeslblatt. "We believe that we can do more for the race track than anyone else. An agreement could be reached as soon as the next few weeks."
However, Ecclestone, who could find himself spending more of his time in Germany, insists that he will not be drawn into a bidding war, a nod to claims that a number of German car manufacturers are eager to purchase the historic facility.
"If the offer is rejected we would talk to Hockenheim," he said. "We want to make sure there is a Formula One race in Germany every year in the future.
“There are one or two other interested parties. But we will only pay what we believe the Nurburgring is worth," he added, an ironic comment considering some of the other things going on in his life at present.
"We do not comment on any specific bidders," a spokesperson for the administrators subsequently told Reuters. "But everybody who has an interesting offer is warmly welcome. We're in the final stages of the process and want to conclude it in Q1, so that the new owner(s) can start the season in April."
It is understood that if successful, Ecclestone still wants to see the German Grand Prix alternate between the two current host circuits.
Chris Balfe