Hockenheim Short

The circuit at Hockenheim was built in 1939 by Mercedes-Benz, which wanted somewhere to test its cars for the high-speed Tripoli Grand Prix. The result was a massive sausage-shaped circuit running through the flat woodland close to the Rhine River. It was 7.7 km in length and consisted of two long curling straights with a curve at either end. The western end of the track ran close to the village of Hockenheim and looped around the town cemetery. The track's development stopped before it had really began as war broke out and in the post-war era the Nurburgring was the main venue for racing in West Germany. In 1964 the Germans engaged Dutch circuit designer John Hugenholz and he came up with the modern Hockenheim, 6.8 km in length, including the twisty "Stadium" section, around which vast colorful grandstands were erected. Racing restarted in 1966 but it was not until April 1968 that Hockenheim hit the headlines, for all the wrong reasons, when Jim Clark was killed in an unexplained accident out in the woods during a Formula 2 race. Up until 2002 layout remained almost the same, with the excpetion of 3 chicanes being added on straights. 2002 saw circuit being completely redone, and only "Stadium" section of previous circuit remained. There are 3 layouts possible, Grand Prix, National and Short. Grand Prix layout has 8 right turns and 5 left turns, direction is clockwise. - Enis Dauti