Russian Billionaire Acquires a 99 Percent Stake in Nurburgring

Russian billionaire Viktor Kharitonin has purchased an additional 19 percent stake in the German Nürburgring, Autocar reports. With the new transaction, the Russian pharmaceutical businessman now owns 99 percent of the famed race track.

Back in fall of 2014, Kharitonin acquired an 80 percent stake in the Nürburgring when he bought out two-thirds of the company that owned the track. Getspeed, a German performance company, owns the remaining 1 percent of the track now.

Kharitonin’s 2014 investment in the Nürburgring relieved months of uncertainty for the race track after the previous owner, German auto parts company Capricorn Group, fell into financial troubles. It’s likely we’ll see safety upgrades to the track thanks to the extra cash brought on by the new ownership mix. Safety has been a hot topic after a spectator was killed when a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 racecar caught air and went over a fence during the opening round of the VLN series in early 2015. Several other people were injured in the incident.

Additionally, Kharitonin reportedly wants to talk with Bernie Ecclestone about bringing Formula 1 back to the Nürburgring. The Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit was dropped from the race series’ calendar last year.

Source: Autocar

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