1984: Senna beats Lauda and Reutemann

All these men have won at least one race on the fabulous, tortuous old Nurburgring - starting with von Brauchitsch's victory in the 1934 Eifel race - and all these men (and several other famous drivers) were present last Saturday when the new, 4.5kms Nurburgring was officially opened.

Anyone with fond memories of the old, 22kms circuit (which made so many reputations and un-made a few others), who might be hoping that the new circuit would retain some of the real 'Ring's characteristics had better stay at home. The new one is a brilliantly executed, ultra-modern racing plant which, when it has had time to settle down and smooth over, the rough edges, will doubtless provide a maximum of 150,000 people with some excellent racing in comfort and safety.

But in the view of one racing driver at least, it is "incredibly dull and completely lacking in surprises!" Today's racers may feel that with the speeds their cars are going they have their hands quite full enough without having to look out for surprises, but the words are those of one of the greatest of all 'Ringmeisters - Stirling Moss. "It's a wonderful facility," he went on, "but all the corners are of constant radius, there are none of the marvellous swoops and climbs that were such a feature of the old circuit and while I'm sure it's as safe as houses, I found it very boring."

Phil Hill - another 'Ringmeister - had more or less the same opinion, but then Phil won't even drive round the old 'Ring these days, preferring to remember the circuit as it was when he raced on it before it was 'cosmeticised' in 1970. Just what the modern Fl driver thinks of it I can't say, as at the end of the day I couldn't find one to speak to!

The opening was not so much a race meeting, more a jamboree, with parades of cars, marching bands, motorcycle acrobatics and a parachute drop. Unfortunately, the Eifel weather was foul and although there was no heavy rain the circuit was always wet and the wind was freezing!

There was one race, and that was laid on by Mercedes-Benz who, earlier in the week, had introduced their new, 16-valve 190 saloon to the press at the circuit. Twenty of these cars were now assembled for many of the world's best drivers to hurl round 12 laps in the hope that the race would not develop into a Destruction Derby!

Among the aces strapped into these bolides were such moderns as Lauda, Watson, Rosberg, Prost, Laffite, de Angelis and Senna; such not-quite-so-moderns as Hunt and Scheckter; and such pilotes anciens (if they'll pardon the expression) as Moss, Brabham, Hill, Hulme, Surtees and Hermann.

Everyone behaved for at least one lap, but then it was discovered that the Ess-bend after the pit straight was much more fun if you drove across it rather than round it! Several people adopted this wheeze, some accidentally and others 'accidentally'. It was all great fun and there was surprisingly little nerfing going on.

Reutemann was an early leader, then Alan Jones, but he had to retire after three laps. Ayrton Senna then took up the challenge and went into the lead, which he held until the end, despite a determined challenge form Lauda, Watson and Scheckter. Unfortunately, all the cars were either grey or black and on a day that was both, the machines seemed to merge into the murk at times.

However, thanks to a serious blunder by Mercedes (which, if not checked, could lead us back into motor racing's bad old days) all the cars had large, easily-read numbers on them. Worse, each driver's name was writ large down the side of his car, so the public could tell at once who was in which. Clearly, FOCA must stamp on this ruthlessly and at once, before spectators and viewers start thinking they ought to get this kind of service in F1 - the very idea!

Senna ran out a good winner, nearly 2.5secs ahead of Lauda, with Reutemann third, Rosberg fourth and Watson fifth. Last man to complete the 12 laps was Hans Hermann, nearly 2mins behind the winner. His tardiness was later explained by Frau Hermann, who revealed that her ever-loving was hoping to buy the car after the race and so wanted to keep it out of the traffic and in good nick!

Almost before the cooling-off lap was completed a procession of Mercedes-Benz cars was out on the track, including three of the fabulous, pre-war GP machines driven by none other than Hermann Lang (1939 3-litre), Manfred von Brauchitsch (1937 5.6-litre) and Rudi Uhlenhaut (1939Tripoli 1.5-litre). The sight of these beautiful cars was, in a word, sensational. And the noise! Half an hour earlier they had been warmed up in the Mercedes pit garage and everyone within 20yards had fingers in ears - even Uhlenhaut. I say that because, as he said, "I'm pretty deaf, but I can still feel the pain!"

Also on view earlier in the day was a quartet of German GP cars, namely a 1954 Mercedes, a 1962 Porsche, a 1984 ATS and the Deutsche Museum's stunning V-16 Auto Union. They were all sponsored by a German magazine which was dumb enough to attach a huge flagpole and advertising flag to each car. They did three laps like this, so anyone who wanted to photograph them had to picture the flag, too. One lap would have made the point, but three was stupid and unnecessary.

And so the new Nurburgring was duly opened, even if the timetable was torn to shreds by the wind and rain. A large vote of thanks must go to Daimler-Benz who gathered together what must surely be the greatest array of driving talent - spanning 50 years - ever seen in one place. In addition to those mentioned, Rene Dreyfus, Hans Geier and John Fitch were also present, as were the sons of two of Auto Union's most famous names - Bernd Rosemeyer Jr and Christoph Eberan-Eberhorst watched the proceedings from the Audi VIP lounge above the pits.

The 'Ring is dead. Long live the 'Ring!