The mighty Sachsenring and a trip to Birmingham for the drivers of GT Legends this week, are you ready for it.
On Tuesday we go to the Sachsenring in the VW Scirocco Series. This track has it all, tight turn sweeping bends bumps and dips all there to test us to our limits.
The first race was held on 26 May 1927 on an 8.7 km layout on public roads, running also through the village of Hohenstein-Ernstthal itself. It was dubbed "Sachsenring" in 1937. The East German motorcycle Grand Prix was held there from 1962 to 1971. The local two stroke MZ bikes of Zschopau were competitive during this time. The quickest lap was achieved by 15 time World Champion Giacomo Agostini on aMV Agusta with a 180 km/h average. After West German Dieter Braun won in 1971 and the East German fans sang the West German National Anthem in celebration (as is the case in sport, the winner's National Anthem is played after the event), the event was limited to East European entrants for political reasons. In 1990, with faster Western machinery now available, racing through the village became too dangerous with some fatalities (this can be compared with the Isle of Man TT). To accelerate redevelopment of eastern Germany in the new unified Germany, a 2.9 km (1.8 mi) short track at the westernmost Queckenberg corner was built in the 1990s to bring international motorsport to the newly freed eastern part of Germany. In 1996, IDM motorcycle racing and the ADAC Super Tourenwagen Cup resumed racing here. The DTM raced here in 2000, with Klaus Ludwig winning at age 51, but the DTM did not return, preferring international venues. Since 1998, the German motorcycle Grand Prix moved to the Sachsenring from Nürburgring. In recent years, the track has been made faster and longer again, with the length now being 3670m. Event details can be found
here
As we roll on to Thursday we have a welcome return of the lotus elite we have shipped 30 of them over to Birmingham USA for a drive round this great track, The Americans have muscle cars, the Brits have a lightweight sport car agile and nimble that can turn on a dial. Let see how it will cope with this track. Making its debut at the 1957 London Motor Car Show, Earls Court, the Elite had spent a year in development, aided by "carefully selected racing customers", before going on sale. The Elite's most distinctive feature was its highly innovative fiberglass monocoque construction, in which a stressed-skin unibody replaced the previously separate chassis and body components. Unlike the contemporary Chevrolet Corvette, which used fiberglass for only exterior bodywork, the Elite also used this glass-reinforced plastic material for the entire load-bearing structure of the car, though the front of the monocoque incorporated a steel subframe supporting the engine and front suspension, and there was a hoop at the windscreen for mounting door hinges and jacking the car up. The first 250 body units were made by Maximar Mouldings at Pulborough, Sussex. The body construction caused numerous early problems, until manufacture was handed over to Bristol Aeroplane Company. Details of the event can be found
here
GT Legends is a sports car racing simulator developed by Simbin for the PC. It is based on the 2005 FIA Historic Racing Championships for GTC and TC cars of the 1960s and 1970s but supports an extensive range of modding making this classic game a must have for online racing fans. Check out our
GT Legends forum for ongoing support, mods and quality online racing with gentleman driving standards
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