A1-Ring solution on the horizon?
Might the A1-Ring reverberate to the sound of racing again?
Picture: Toyota F1
Austria's A1-Ring may not be dead and buried after all, if plans by the regional government to revive it come to fruition.
According to a report from Ausria, local politicians are concerned that the economy of the region will suffer if racing does not return to the Styrian Hills area.
Plans by Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz to turn the circuit into a £500 million 'motorsport destination' were scuppered last year by concerns from the environmental lobby, despite having the backing of the regional government.
The hiatus caused Mateschitz to walk away from the project, which would have seen part of the orginial Österreichring course revived. When work on the project came to a halt in December, he was reported as saying that there was "no point in continuing" with the scheme.
"If there is no interest in a race track, then there is no second project for us to submit," he told the Keine Zeitung newspaper.
But now the politicians are looking at more modest plans to restore the circuit back to racing order in the latest twist of the on-off fate of the track.
Ironically, the authorities would have rebuild all of the grandstands and paddock buildings that were torn down in anticipation of the orginial redevelopment.
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