CART’s German venue drawing raves

Roy Kammerer

Thursday, Aug. 31, 2000 | 10:17 a.m.

SENFTENBERG, Germany - When Bryan Herta took a spin around the new EuroSpeedway oval, he was accompanied by the nonstop roar of 80,000 spectators.

No race or qualifying was taking place at the 1,500-acre complex - just opening ceremonies earlier this month. But German fans were clearly delighted to watch a Champ car race around the two-mile oval for the first time.

"It's going to be spectacular," said Herta, who made the trip to Germany as a favor to CART team owner Derrick Walker. "The track is very wide and I think passing should be good.

"The interest from the fans was enormous. They kept telling me over and over, 'Thank you for coming."'

EuroSpeedway, a $112 million complex about 60 miles southeast of Berlin, is the first in Europe to combine both the oval track used on many American circuits with a road course, like the ones favored by Formula One.

The first official event at the track was a motorcycle road race Sunday.

A CART race is scheduled in September 2001, followed a week later by a stop at the new oval being built in Rockingham, England.

CART, which will hold eight of 22 events outside the United States next season, is being welcomed by both EuroSpeedway's ambitious management and practically everybody else that hasn't fled the region known as the Lausitz.

The area, once communist East Germany's coal region, has become a desolate place since strip mining was shut down following German unification 10 years ago.

The city nearest the track, Senftenberg, is plagued by one of the highest unemployment rates in Germany. Officially it's 25 percent, with another 10 percent in job or training programs, while countless former mine workers have been forced into early retirement to get them off the unemployment rolls.

Senftenberg dates back to the 13th century, but can't escape its recent past. Huge coal craters butt up against every side of the city. Paving over one of them for the track has raised the hopes of locals.

"We'll have to wait and see, but everybody's enthusiastic," said Susann Noatmik. "At least the city won't be dying. Maybe it will even get modern."

Taxi driver Gottfried Pauzlud called the EuroSpeedway fantastic.

"It was depressing every time something else closed," he said. "We can't all leave - we need some jobs here."

Although the track will employ only about 70 people full time, EuroSpeedway's big plans could mean the need for more hotels, restaurants and other businesses in the service industry.

"We want to be the world's first speedway to host the four major motor racing events: Formula One, Champ Car, NASCAR and the Motorcycle World Championship," said business manager Hans-Joerg Fischer.

By all reports, the EuroSpeedway's design could make it the continent's most complete stage for auto racing.

"It's just really well thought out, the layout, the grandstands," said CART spokesman Ron Richards. "You have a circuit that really does set the standards for many circuits around the world."

Linked to the oval track is a test track for both driving teams and companies like BMW and Daimler-Chrysler to test passenger cars. Next to that is a testing, research and development center.

CART, which has struggled with poor TV ratings and attendance problems at some of its tracks since the rival Indy Racing League began competing in 1996, hopes that American-style oval racing will appeal to European fans.

"There's a pretty strong following for our sport in that area of the world," Richards said. "It's very exciting, very high speed. It's something people in Europe haven't seen before."

But if EuroSpeedway is ever to become the biggest and best in Europe, it's going to have to land a Formula One race - still the biggest game on this side of the Atlantic. But the F1 events in Germany are already locked up by other tracks for the next few years.

"Formula One is on my mind every day," Fischer said. "It's my job to find out how to get one."

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On the net:

EuroSpeedway: http://www.eurospeedway.com