"Following the tragic accident on 28 March 2015, the German motorsport association (DMSB) introduced speed limits for races at the Nürburgring. capricorn NÜRBURGRING GmbH has decided to extend these speed limits to other activities on the Nordschleife, which is why record drives are currently not permitted on the Nürburgring Nordschleife"

Dear Carsten Schumacher, CEO of capricorn NÜRBURGRING GmbH,

Dear Hans Joachim Stuck and Hans-Robert Kreutz of German motorsport association (DMSB – Deutscher Motor Sport Bund e. V.),

Dear Petrolheads,

Motorsport is dangerous, that's a fact. Actually, every sport has an element of danger in it, but isn’t the danger responsible for the attraction? The admiration for those who overcome the fear and do the impossible attract spectators and the desire to come closer to the professionals and distinguish yourself from the rest attract new heroes. But what if you take away the attraction? Take away the lion from the zoo and place a kitten instead?

In fact, these comparisons don’t even make sense because the measures you have taken, dear capricorn NÜRBURGRING GmbH and DMSB, are counter-productive on many levels. I have already stressed out the removal of interest, which will result in lower active participation and therefore lower income for you capricorn NÜRBURGRING GmbH. If you don’t care about financial loss for yourself caused by lower number of race- and “Touristenfahrten” participators as well as spectators, then please think of the surrounding businesses such as various hotels, guesthouses, car workshops and tour agencies: without Nürburgring in its original form their existence will become useless.

Let’s take another closer look at the counter measures and think about them. The first measure of speed limits for races does more harm than good, which is caused by drivers’ distraction as they now have to diverse their attention from the track road to speedometer. During the race, all of the drivers attention should be on the track, there is no way you can justify the distraction and the results that may follow (or already have happened) caused by this rule. Furthermore, if you like to relate the active users of the Nürburgring (the drivers) to those who are dangerous to themselves and others, what will happen if they are not allowed to “take their drug” in a controlled environment? They will take it to the streets where more harm can and will occur. Are the speed limits even necessary in a country with no speed limits on the motorways? In fact, it is a country with one of the lowest death rates on the motorways.

To continue with speaking in ridiculous terms of comparison: How would it look like if other sports would impose their own limits as well? How about a limit for speeds of shots in football and hockey? Because fast-moving projectiles may hurt the players or spectators. How about limits on the height in Olympic sport of high jumps? The athlete may jump too high and hurt himself. Or a distance limit in another Olympic sports where one has to throw a spear or a disc: those may harm or kill the audience.

Speaking of Olympic sports, how would it look like if other sports would ban the records? In fact, any records and Guiness World Records would become an illegal institution? I couldn’t imagine this happening, but with recent developments I am not so sure anymore.

Please, everyone who is involved or cares to be involved: make a change. Don’t let the Nürburgring become a glorious myth like Group B rally. Don’t let the Nürburgring become the topic of how boring it has become due to regulations like Formula 1. But show us reason and support active change involving improvement of track conditions, rather than worsening of track rules.

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