The Schottenring was a
motorsport race track
A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...
situated near
Schotten
Schotten is a town in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Larger towns nearby include Alsfeld in the north, Fulda in the east, Friedberg in the south and Gießen in the west.
Geography
Location
The officially recognised climatic spa lies between 168 m ...
in the
Vogelsbergkreis
The Vogelsbergkreis is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Schwalm-Eder, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Fulda, Main-Kinzig, Wetteraukreis, Gießen and Marburg-Biedenkopf.
History
The district was created in ...
of
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...
, between
Fulda and
Gießen
Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...
. After
Nürburgring,
Schleizer Dreieck,
Solituderennen
The ''Solituderennen'' (eng: ''Solitude race'') motorsport events are held on the 11.4 km ''Solitudering'' race track near Stuttgart. The event and the track were named after the nearby Castle Solitude. Motorsports events were held there from ...
and
AVUS
The Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße ('Automobile traffic and training road'), known as AVUS, is a public road in Berlin, Germany. Opened in 1921, it was also used as a motor racing circuit until 1998. Today, the AVUS forms the northern p ...
, it was one of
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
's oldest race tracks, inaugurated on 22 July 1925.
The track was popular for club events, and had attracted 90,000 spectators to its first post war event in 1947.
In 1953, partially as the result of a compromise between Germany's two controlling bodies, the
DMV and the
ADAC
ADAC, officially the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (), is Europe's largest motoring association. ADAC is the largest club (Verein) in Germany with around 21 million members. It would be more aptly described today as an individual mo ...
,
it was selected to host the
German motorcycle Grand Prix. Even by the standards of the day, the track had never been regarded as particularly safe,
and after an inspection made before practice had begun, the factory teams from
AJS,
Norton Norton may refer to:
Places
Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada
* Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan
*Norton Parish, New Brunswick
**Norton, New Brunswick, a ...
,
Gilera
Gilera is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded in Arcore in 1909 by Giuseppe Gilera (1887–1971). In 1969, the company was purchased by Piaggio.
History
In 1935, Gilera acquired rights to the Rondine four-cylinder engine. It was, at th ...
and
Moto Guzzi
Moto Guzzi is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer and the oldest European manufacturer in continuous motorcycle production.
Established in 1921 in Mandello del Lario, Italy, the company is noted for its historic role in Italy's motorcycling ma ...
decided unanimously that the track was too narrow for "modern" 350s and 500s to race.
Bordered on many fast corners by trees and with a track surface so slippery at the most dangerous points that it would be disastrous to run a championship event there. With the unprecedented departure of the majority of major teams even before racing was due to begin, officials from the
FIM decided that the only way to proceed at such short notice was to allow the event to continue, but that only the smaller 125cc and 250cc races would count towards the
World Championship
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
.
Racing was discontinued after 1956, but rallies and classic bikes events are still held on a shortened version.
References
External links
*
Schottenring Website*
Defunct motorsport venues in Germany
Grand Prix motorcycle circuits
Sports venues in Hesse
Vogelsbergkreis
{{Hesse-struct-stub