Today in motorcycle history, May 22, 1966

 

 

 

  On May 22, 1966, the German Transport Minister, Dr. Hans-Christoph Seebohm, opened the new Motodrom for the German Motorcycle Grand Prix.

 

   In 1930 Ernst Christ, then a young assistant timekeeper, came up with a plan to build a racetrack in his home town of Hockenheim.  The town's mayor, Philipp Klein, supported the project, and, on Christmas Day, 1931, the town council unanimously approved the plans for the new circuit.  The building work began on March 23, 1932, and only two months later, on May 25, a dream came true when the first motorcycle race in Hockenheim got under way.  For this small town, it marked the beginning of an era that would make its name famous throughout the world.

 

 Nearly 30 years later, in 1961, Ernst Christ came up with the spectator-friendly Motodrom concept and in 1965, when the new Autobahn A6 , (Mannheim-Walldorf motorway), separated the village from the main part of the track a new version of Hockenheim circuit was built, with the "Motodrom" stadium section. 

 

 After Jim Clark was killed on April 7, 1968 in a Formula 2 racing accident, two chicanes were added and in 1970 the track was lined with crash barriers.  In 1982, another chicane was added at the Ostkurve (east curve). 

 

  Hockenheimring now has the capacity to hold 120,000 race-hungry fans.