As part of a wider-ranging chat Sabine Schmitz has revealed she really isn't happy that
the Nurburgring
has been sold lock, stock to a Russian billionaire. An early figurehead for the Save The Ring campaign, set up to protest at the costly and controversial developments a few years back, she's no less vociferous in her opposition to
the Capricorn group
that eventually took control. Nor, seemingly, is she much of a fan of the news Capricorn's owner, Russian billionaire Viktor Kharitonin, has reportedly
raised his stake
to 99 per cent from 80 per cent.
"It's not my dream, but we can't change anything," she told us. As many 'ring regulars will know, Schmitz grew up in Nurburg and still helps run the family's Hotel am Tiergarten, on top of a motorsport business she runs with her boyfriend.
Her continued beef with the owners is that they channel business to the Lindner hotels in the area, an accusation levelled from the very start of the massive redevelopment that opened in 2011. "If you rent the track you have to rent their hotels too, and that was a big disaster for the families who lived there since 80, 90 years, everybody was very upset about it," she says.
The Nurburgring has been a key German tourist destination since it was opened in 1927, but in recent years it has lurched from one financial disaster to another, despite the input of millions of euros of state aid. "They made some big mistakes, like cancelling Rock am Ring, the big rock concert. It meant missing out on a lot of money during the summer," Schmitz says.
In Capricorn's defence it does seem to be making a go of things outside of the track. The StrongmanRun last weekend attracted 10,528 participants the company said, and it has added a professional element to the Rad am Ring cycling event on the last weekend in July. It's cashing in on the track by adding advertising hoarding round the track, and has signed a new partner for the Ring Taxi that helped propel Schmitz into the limelight.