in this Circuits of the past video, I'll
tell you about the history of the Red
Bull Ring, home of the Austrian Formula
One Grand Prix. The original name of the
circuit we knew today is the Red Bull
Ring is actually called the Österreichring.
It all started in 1958 with races
on an airfield in Zeltweg. In 1961 and
in 1963 the inaugural Formula One races
were held here, but it wasn't until 1964
that there was an official Austrian
Grand Prix that actually counted for the
championship. However, the airfield track
was very bumpy and it caused lots of
suspension failures. So after three races
the track was found no longer suitable
for Formula One. Magny Cours it certainly
was not. Not far from Zeltweg, they
started to built a new permanent race
track. It opened in 1969 under the name
Österreichring. The Österreichring was a
very challenging track with fast corners
and huge elevation changes. It hosted the
Formula one Austrian Grand Prix from
1970 right the way through to 1987.
Because of its challenging character it
was also one of the most popular tracks
on the F1 calendar. But as usual
beautiful tracks are often dangerous
tracks too. When in 1975 Mark Donohue
died, the fast first corner was modified
for the 1976 Grand Prix. The year later
that corner became a chicane. However,
after the 1987 Austrian Grand Prix the
Österreichring was removed from the F1
calendar altogether.
In the 1990s the track was modernized.
The new version opened in 1996 under the
name A1-Ring, after the telecom
provider who financed the reconstruction.
But the natural flow of the circuit was
destroyed in this new layout. Actually it
was much more now a stop-and-go circuit.
And when Formula One signaled its return,
many initial thought that the circuit
would be too easy and it came to a point
and squirt go-kart track.
From 1997 through to 2003 the new
A1-Ring hosted the Formula One Austrian
Grand Prix a game providing good racing
and controversy in equal measure. A year
later, in 2004 the old Österreichring was
brought up by Red Bull owner Dietrich
Mateschitz. He had ambitious plans to
rebuild the racetrack and expand it with
a hotel, kart track, racing school and so
much more. Also the lost part of the
original Österreichring would be reconnected
to the new track. Assuming that all the
permissions had been granted already,
they started to demolish the old
buildings. This triggered protests from
the nearby home owners, and the Austrian
Environmental Council had to step in.
They didn't agree to the planning
permissions and said the building works
had to be stopped immediately.
Negotiating contracts is much harder
when you don't have everyone under
contract in the first place. What
remained was a half demolished racetrack.
Similar to Herman's carnage on the night
out so I've been told.
So now at least the iconic Österreichring
seemed to be gone for good! Years
past and after years of abandonment and
loggerheads, finally planning permission
to rebuild the track was given. But then
another problem happened and raised the
head. Investors withdrew from the project.
Nevertheless, in 2008 the building could
finally begin again. But because of the
withdrawl of the investors, the project had
had to be shrunk in size. As there was
less money they could only rebuilt the
track of the recent A1 configuration.
When it reopened the name was changed to
the Red Bull Ring, and in 2014 Formula
One finally returned back to Austria.
Officially there are still plans to
expand the track and reconnect the
abandoned Western Loop. In the spring of
2016, photos of a new connection to the
abandoned Western Loop appeared on the
Internet.
Several media outlets speculated about a
possible revival of the old section.
However, the operators of the Red Bull
Ring have remained silent all along. When
Herman visited the Red Bull Ring in the
summer of 2017, the old Western Loop was
still abandoned. Why they've rebuilt
those connections and why it's still not
progressed currently remain a mystery!
Before the section will ever be used
again they'll have a tough battle to get
permission because of noise complaints
from local residents. Why you would move
next to a racetrack and then complain
about the noise is completely beyond me!
But until something changes, the project
will remain in status. So that's it for the
history so far of the Red Bull Ring. If
you want to know more about it check out
the article on the website
www.circuitsofthepast.com. There you can
also download a free ebook about seven
abandoned race tracks that you can visit
legally.
For now, they thank you so much for
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