Last year, after a Nissan GT-R killed a spectator at the Nürburgring during an endurance race, track organizers responded by setting speed limits for portions of the famed track. But now, the world is right again, as after several key track safety improvements, those limits have been lifted.
Capricorn Nürburgring GmbH, the group that runs the world’s most famous racetrack, has ditched speed limits imposed last year after a tragic crash that took the life of a spectator.
Manufacturers, race teams and regular Joe-Schmo uses the ‘ring to test cars and set lap-times, so the idea of speed limits on the famous Nordschleife definitely caused a stir. But watch the sobering, fatal Nissan GT-R crash, and you might agree that something had to be done.
The response to the accident was the issuance of three speed limits on the ‘Ring, which racecar driver Robb Holland described in his article. The first two limits were a 124 mph cap at the exit of the Hocheichen section up until Flugplatz, where the limit rose to 155 mph. The last was a 155 mph section at the start of the Döttinger Höhe straightaway.
But those speed limits are a thing of a the past, as the Nürburgring added additional metal fences, restricted access for pedestrians in the Schwedenkreuz section, and re-did 500 meters of track near the Flugplatz and Quiddelbacher Hohe sections.
Those improvements were enough to garner praise from the International Automobile Federation, or FIA, and the German Motor Sport Association, or GMSB. DMSB’S president (and famed racer) Hans-Joachim Stuck said:
We could see for ourselves that the Nordschleife now fully complies with FIA and DMSB regulations. The Nürburgring implemented the jointly agreed catalogue of measures in an exemplary fashion.
Manfred Strack, chief of Nürburgring’s event management, has high hopes for the new improvements, saying:
With these safety measures and the two new licences we have created the prerequisites for an exciting racing season that will hopefully see no accidents, and we are glad that the speed limits are finally a thing of the past.
So the Nürburgring is now speed-limit free. All is right in the world.