The red part is the Südschleife.
You can call the Südschleife the forgotten part of
the old Nürburgring. The Südschleife (South-loop) was a part of the
original circuit as it was at the opening in 1927. Till 1931 races
where held at the 28 km long combination of the Nordschleife, Start
und Ziel Schleife and the Südschleife.
Some parts are still there. Can you imagine this was a racetrack?
At the end of the Second World War
the facilities of the circuit where used as headquarter of the
allied forces. With their tanks they drove at the circuit and
damaged the surface. After the war the Südschleife was first
repaired with financial help from the French government, and in
August 1947 there has been raced again. Two years later the
Nordschleife was repaired.
This part of the Südschleife is now the entrance to the parking.
The last official race at the
Südschleife was a Formula 3 race on the 17th of october 1971. Till
1975 the Südschleife was used for Tourist Rides in combination with
the Nordschleife. And some unofficial races have been held where
they used the so called Stichstrasse. The Stichstrasse (Shortcut
Road) was a connection, constructed in 1938, between two parts of
the Südschleife to make it possible to use the Südschleife even when
the combination of the Nordschleife and the Start un Ziel Schleife
was used.
The Rassrück section.
After Nikki Lauda's grave accident in 1976, when the Nürburgring
lost the German Grand Prix, plans where made to build a brand new circuit. The
Start und Ziel Schleife and a part of the Südschleife where demolished to make
place for the new Grand Prix Strecke (Grand Prix Circuit). The Nordschleife, who
survived the modernisation, was connected with the new track to make a
combination of both circuits possible. But this was definitely the end of the
Südschleife!
The name of this corner is Sharfer Kopf. Here ends the
last remained part of the Südschleife!
The first part of the Südschleife is
now the public road from Nürburg to Müllenbach. An average tourist
will not expect that this was once a part of the worlds most
exciting race track! Another part has been neglected and looks more
like a path trough the woods now. The best conserved part of the
Südschleife is now used as the entrance road to the parking during
events.
Here the public road has the same shape as the circuit once.
After this corner the Südschleife was connected with the Start und Ziel
Schleife.
An old telephone post from the Marshalls is now leaved on the
public road.
