MARCH 16, 2007

Heidfeld to run BMW at the old Ring

Nick Heidfeld is going to run a BMW F1.07 around the old Nurburgring next month. The 14-mile track has not been used for Formula 1 since Niki Lauda's accident in 1976. A shortened version of the track is used for the European Grand Prix but the Nordschleife has long been considered way too dangerous for modern F1. It will be interesting to see how Heidfeld will deal with some of the more dramatic sections of track, including the banked Karrussel corner and the two famous jumps at Pflanzgarten and into Schwalbenschwanz.

The Formula 1 lap record stands to the late Clay Regazzoni, who lapped the track in 1975 in 7m5secs. The track layouts have varied slightly since then but the outright record stands to Stefan Bellof who set the fastest lap in the 1983 Nurburgring 1000km at 6m25.91s. His pole pole position for the event was a startling 6m11.13s in a Porsche 956 sports car.