German MotoGP at Sachsenring Contract
Since 1999, Sachsenring has hosted the German round of MotoGP. The circuit, built in 1996 and redesigned in 2001, is one of the shorter tracks in MotoGP, containing just 13 corners in a tight 2.28-mile layout.
The circuit creates some close finishes, making it a favorite for many on the MotoGP grid. And those riders will be happy that Sachsenring will remain on the MotoGP calendar through 2021 – especially Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez, who has won the past seven races across all classes there from the pole.
The news arrived Thursday after Sachsenring Management GmbH and the ADAC signed a new five-year contract to host the Germany Grand Prix, which has attracted an average of more than 200,000 fans during the entire race weekend over recent years.
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“The Sachsenring is certainly the most ideal venue for a German motorcycle Grand Prix,” explained ADAC Sport President Hermann Tomczyk. “I am therefore very pleased that it will now be hosting a world championship race for the next years. The event has been a huge success ever since 1998. Thanks to the dedicated work of all those involved, we can now look forward to celebrating the 20th anniversary of the German Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Sachsenring next year. My thanks also to Dorna Sports for their patience during the negotiations over the past months and to all the people on our side who have dedicated themselves to securing the future of the German world championship race.”
“The German Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Sachsenring is a spectacular event with great fans and is an important fixture on the MotoGP calendar,” said Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of MotoGP rights holders Dorna Sports. “We welcome the announcement that the German Motorcycle Grand Prix will continue to take place at the Sachsenring in the coming years.”
“I am delighted that, for the next five years, the historic Sachsenring will continue in its present role as host to such a high-caliber motorsport event as the Motorcycle Grand Prix of Germany,” said Saxony’s Prime Minister Stanislaw Tillich. “Recent years have shown just how capable Hohenstein-Ernstthal is of staging an internationally prestigious event with a high media profile, managing to achieve spectator numbers that rival any other venue around the world. The Saxon State Government explicitly supports all efforts by the various stakeholders to retain this crowd-puller and driver of the local economy in the Free State of Saxony.”
Wolfgang Streubel, CEO of Sachsenring-Rennstrecken-Management GmbH, commented: “Here at SRM, we are very pleased that our hard work over the past five years has not been in vain. The battle to secure the Motorcycle Grand Prix for the Sachsenring has been worth all the effort, and Germany’s largest motorsport event will now stay with us for another five years. We are relieved and also grateful to everyone who supported us and put their faith in us.
“We look forward with confidence to fulfilling our role as organizers of the only motorcycle world championship race hosted in Germany. In this regard, we express our gratitude to the numerous fans and visitors to the Sachsenring who have this year once again demonstrated their affection for this grand old track. Over the next five years, we will continue to rely on the support of our partners and visitors. In 2017, we will be celebrating not only 20 years of the Motorcycle World Championship at Sachsenring but also the 90th anniversary of the Sachsenring itself.”
Photo by Luciano Bianchetto
