The Norisring is an odd place. As a circuit, its layout is not up to much. As a place, one could write books…
From the start, there’s a curving straight leading to a tight first gear hairpin, the a short chute into a quick right/left chicane, followed by another long curving straight, a 2nd hairpin and then brief blast to the line.
At just over 2km, it is easily the shortest track on the European F3 calendar. Its bumpiness – visible from the suspension travel from quite a long way away – makes it one of the more remarkable courses on a season packed with historic names and venues of significance within the culture of motorsport.
But one cannot avoid the history of this area, of the whole city; for the city – Nuremberg – was where Germany’s National Socialist Party – the Nazi Party – began to gain a foothold in the 1920s.
The tribune, which now hosts the grandstand on the start/finish straight was at one time where Adolf Hitler delivered many a pronouncement. This too is also the site of the infamous Nuremberg Rallies and a catalyst for the nightmares that followed.
These structures remain as a reminder and a warning of the dangers of what can happen when totalitarian regime takes hold. It’s probably still happening today around the world, only with fewer outlandish monuments, but with just as much will to coerce, destroy and control.
