After the exciting San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, the F1 circus now moves to the Eifel mountains in Germany and the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.

The Nürburgring is one of the most classic names in international motorsport. It all started back in the 1920s when unemployment was high in the Eifel area, and the local government decided to build a racing circuit to create new jobs. The first track variant was opened back in the summer of 1927 with the start and finish next to the village of Nürburg (“burg” means castle in German, and there is an old castle next to the circuit and the village). Even by the standards of the 1920s, the Nürburgring was VERY long, and there are actually a couple of villages in the infield of the circuit!

The Nürburgring quickly became the home of German motor racing, and when the FIA Formula One World Championship was created in 1950, the “Ring” was the obvious choice for the German Grand Prix. Germany was not included in the 1950 calendar but Nürburgring hosted the German Grand Prix in 1951. Only in 1959 did the German Grand Prix leave the Eifel for a short visit to Berlin´s Avus circuit (incidentally the only F1 World Championship Grand Prix ever intentionally run in two parts). In the late 1960s the Grand Prix Drivers Association did not like the safety of the Nürburgring - it was not really possible to cover the circuit´s more than 22 kilometres with proper armco barriers or an adequate number of emergency posts. In 1970, the German Grand Prix moved to Hockenheim, but it returned to a Nürburgring with improved safety in 1971. But after a few years, safety measures at the “Ring” was once again overtaken by the ever-faster F1 cars, and the when reigning champion Niki Lauda chrashed badly in the 1976 German Grand Prix, it was the end of the original Nürburgring as an F1 venue. Hockenheim took over, but the local government decided to fund a brand new Nürburgring next to the original circuit.

The new “Nürburgring Grand Prix Strecke” was inaugurated in May 1984 and a few months later, the new circuit hosted the European Grand Prix. The following year the German Grand Prix was back in the Eifel mountains, but since then the race has found a permanent home in Hockenheim. Still, with interest in F1 running high in Germany (there is even a name for it - “Schumania”!) a new Grand Prix was invented for the Nürburgring - in 1995-96 it was called the “European Grand Prix” but in 1997-98 it was the “Luxembourg Grand Prix”. From 1999 the race returned to the “European” name and in 2002 the Nürburgring was changed once again; this time adding the “Mercedes Arena” - a stadium-like section that extended the course by some 600 metres.

Today, the Nürburgring has the full mixture of slow through to high-speed corners - from the revised first turn, hairpin and chicane to the double medium-speed S-bends and the very high-speed “S” after the hairpin. It also features quite a few undulations changes, which is unusual for most modern circuits, so even though the new Nürburgring is decidedly tame by comparison to the old circuit, it is still OK.

What may not be OK at this time of the year is the weather. Rain is likely - and the locals tell me it can actually SNOW in the Eifel at this time of the year!

Panasonic Toyota Racing come to the Ring after a test at France´s Paul Ricard circuit this week, and Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli can expect a lot of support, as the Nürburgring is close to the team H.Q. in Cologne and many employees will attend the race.

The first day of practice for Sunday´s European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring saw Alexander Wurz post fastest time in both sessions. In the final session, Wurz was in front of World Champions Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher with Panasonic Toyota Racing´s Ralf Schumacher in sixth place. The second Panasonic Toyota driver Jarno Trulli is at the bottom of the time sheet; not completing a full lap in the second session.

In last week´s preview to the European Grand Prix I told you about the history of the Nurburgring. Today, I will tell you about the ´Ring today. In eight decades the Nurburgring has developed into a fascinating brand; outshining all other circuits in Europe. In fact, the Nurburgring organisers claim that the circuit is known by almost 90 percent of the population!

The reason the Nurburgring is so well known is also closely connected to the fact that it is close to Europe´s biggest urban area, the Ruhr Valley: For about 28 million people, the Nurburgring can be reached in under two hours.

And today the Nurburgring is much more than a motor racing circuit - it offers a unique combination of sports, events and entertainment: Formula 1, the hugely popular Truck Grand Prix, the “Rock am Ring” concerts, the Oldtimer Grand Prix - there is a long list of mega-events at the modern Nurburgring. Plus: On the old >Nordschleife< tourists can drive around in their own car (which can be a hairy experience: A certain diary editor once crashed his car there - but that is another story...)

If you don´t want to do a lap of the old circuit (I don´t - but again: That IS another story!) there is a centre for safe driving and the Nurburgring also hosts several racing schools. Almost next door to the circuit there is a off-road track, where lucky journalists were invited into the codriver´s seat in one of VW Motorsport´s Dakar cars yesterday. And the list goes on: BikeWorld, indoor gokart circuit, a museum, the old Nurburg castle - there is something for everyone at the Nurburgring!

But it doesn´t stop there. Many of the facilities at and around the Nurburgring will be developed in the coming years. The plan is to convert the Nurburgring into one of Germany´s leading holiday and business centres, the so-called “Erlebnisregion Nurburgring” (which can be translated into “a region to be experienced”).

A new hotel, brand worlds of the car and accessory manufacturers, and an arena measuring about 4000 square metres has been planned. This will become an important platform for spectators´ events like motocross, indoor trials and even concerts.

The Nurburgring is already a great success with more than two million people visiting per year. That will increase significantly when the new facilities are ready (construction begins in late 2007), so there is no doubt that the famous Nurburgring will be in a good conditions when it reaches its first 100 years in 2227!

Qualifying for the European Grand Prix here at the Nurburgring produced an exciting grid with Fernando Alonso on pole position ahead of Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa. Panasonic Toyota Racing driver Jarno Trulli took a strong seventh position while his team-mate Ralf Schumacher was just outside the top-10; setting 11th. fastest time after a small spin during qualifying.

This is a home race for Ralf and he won here back in 2003. BUT - for the last couple of years he did not finish the European Grand Prix, so what are his feelings about the Nurburgring?

“They did a lot of changes to the good, it’s very safe, it’s a nice circuit, especially for the drivers. I’ve known it since my first steps in motor sport, so it’s also great to be here,” he says.

Talking about “first steps in motor sport” and all the steps that follows: The race tomorrow will be Ralf´s 150th. Grand Prix, but when he was asked to comment on this “jubilee”, he just smiled: “Don’t remind me!” he joked.

Does that mean he is somehow frustrated about his F1 career today? On a more serious note, Ralf said: “Well, certainly, it’s pretty clear that I’ve not achieved what I was targeting when I started in Formula One. Still, it’s amazing how quickly time goes by. At the same time, I hope I still have a few seasons to go to put it right.”

A new Panasonic Toyota could help him “put it right”. The new TF106B was tested last week at Paul Ricard, and initial impressions were encouraging. The TF106B features a new monocoque (the team actually considered naming it “TF107”) but despite the promising test at Paul Ricard, it is not likely to make its debut until the Monaco Grand Prix in three weeks time.

“It’s another step but we knew that it would be a few tests before we launch it for its first race - that’s the plan,” Ralf said of the new car. “Certainly as a race driver you always tend to want to have the newest machinery as quickly as possible but it’s not possible and I must say that there are some steps, some improvements have been made with the new car but still, for this circuit, I don’t see any problem at all. We will continue with the package we achieved a few good positions on and so I think we’re on for another good one,” he went on.

And finally: There has been a few changes in the team recently with technical director (chassis) Mike Gascoyne leaving the team a few weeks ago. Did that have a big influence on the team?

“Not really,” Ralf says. “The structure has been very good, it has been developed with Mike as well anyway. It’s a very strong team and there are good people in there, so it hasn’t affected the team in any way,”” he went on.

I will be back with my final diary chapter from the Nurbrugring tomorrow.

The European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring saw Michael Schumacher take a highly popular win in front of his countrymen with Fernando Alonso second. Panasonic Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher had a strong race and looked destined to score points until here retired a few laps from the finish. His team-mate Jarno Trulli finished 9th.

The next Grand Prix takes place at the Circuit de Catalunya outside Barcelona in Spain on Sunday, which means everybody in the paddock are now busy packing up, and tonight most of the “circus” leaves Nurburg and head for Barcelona, where the paddock will be up and running again in a few days time.

I am sure the Panasonic Toyota Racing motorhome will also be ready when I arrive at the Circuit da Catalunya. As I told you in one of my “diaries” from Imola, there is a >motorhome war< going on in F1 with some teams fighting hard to have the biggest >facility< in the paddock (you cannot really say the Red Bull “Energy Station” or the McLaren “Communication Centre” is a motorhome anymore - “facility” is a much better word!)

What Panasonic Toyota Racing have is still a “motorhome”. Or - it is actually two motorhomes; both with a large covered area outside. One part is reserved for the team while the other part is for the media and this is where I usually have breakfast. And lunch sometimes. And now I have also had dinner there. On Friday, Panasonic Toyota Racing organised a media dinner and I was fortunate enough to be invited.

It was on Friday evening Panasonic Toyota Racing invited me to one of their media dinners. In addition to a handful of lucky journalists, Jarno Trulli, team principal Tsutomu Tomita and team manager Richard Cregan was there and I was seated next to Richard.

He told me about how the Panasonic Toyota Racing motorhome(s) are run. “For the motorhomes we have four chefs and four hostesses who look after the guests, serve the food and so on. But the motorhome crew are actually not employed by us: They work for Karl-Heinz Zimmermann - who is contracted by us to run the motorhomes,” Richard said.

Karl-Heinz Zimmermann is a bit of a legend in Formula One. He is in charge of Bernie Ecclestone´s “VIP motorhome” where royalties, rock stars and other VIP are entertained when they visit Grands Prix, but Zimmermann also “run” other motorhomes including Panasonic Toyota Racing´s.

“And the “Zimmermann people are fantastic”,” Richard Cregan told me. “They work very hard: They are here before everybody else to prepare breakfast for both team members and the media - and they are the last to leave at night. AND - the food is fantastic: Every night, team members have the choice of three of four courses and it is all up to a very high standard. For me, this is a five-star restaurant!”

Having now tried breakfast, lunch and dinner in the Panasonic Toyota Racing motorhome, I can only agree. On the flight up to Copenhagen tonight I will have the usual dry sandwich but at least I can look forward to another five-star meal next Thursday. In the Panasonic Toyota Racing five-star mobile restaurant!