Red Bull Founder Dietrich Mateschitz "will buy a second racetrack in Austria," according to Michael Pichler of the KRONEN ZEITUNG. After buying the track in Spielberg -- now known as Red Bull Ring -- Mateschitz will purchase the Salzburgring through his company Distribution & Marketing GmbH. The office of government official Christian Stöckl said, "Currently we are working on finalizing the contract details. There are a number of things such as road and various usage rights which have to be considered, it is very time consuming legally." The contract "is expected to be signed in the next several weeks." The racetrack will have a price tag of €3M ($3.2M). The Salzburgring's current tenants, the Int'l Motor Racing Club Salzburg, and its President Alexander Rainer "will continue to run the track's day-to-day operation." It is also expected that all other agreements with the state of Salzburg will remain in place until '25 (KRONEN ZEITUNG, 1/20). MOTORSPORT's Stefan Ziegler reported in the longer term, the Salzburgring "is bound to change." Mateschitz "could very well modify the circuit in order for it to be able to host motorcycle races once again."
He has made no secret of the fact that "he wants to see MotoGP return to the historic venue."
However, after a 19-year hiatus, MotoGP "is already returning to Austria this year" -- but to the Red Bull Ring.
Provided the Salzburgring track "is altered at a certain spot -- motorcycles would need a chicane in front of the infamous Paddock bend -- and provided the aged infrastructure of the track is renewed, MotoGP could indeed switch from the Red Bull Ring to Salzburgring in the near future" (MOTORSPORT, 1/21).
