Hockenheimring, July 28th. From the highly successful British Grand Prix at Silverstone the "circus" moved across to Germany, to the very fast but unspectacular Hockenheimring, with its vast stadium containing a Mickey Mouse section of twists and turns, with an outward curving leg interrupted by two artificial chicanes to the far away Ostkurve, with another very fast straight back to the Stadium, with a third chicane in its length. In spite of the Mickey Mouse bit in the stadium, and the three chicanes, the lap record average speed is near to 150 mph. Fast but dull is the best way to sum up the Hockenheimring, but the simple fact of the matter is that there is nowhere else to hold the German Grand Prix.
The once majestic and fearsome Nürburgring has been replaced by a modern facility that nobody seems very interested in, and if you have ever been to the old Nürburgring you will know why.
Before the "circus" spread itself over the vast paddock area there had been some tyre-test sessions, during which the Williams-Renault team showed clearly that their performance at Silverstone was not a flash-in-the-pan. McLaren-Honda had another setback when Ayrton Senna had a monumental accident when a rear tyre burst. The car was a virtual write-off but the Brazilian got away unscathed.
