Hockenheim seeks Ecclestone concession

Hockenheim's Formula One future now appears to rest on a last-ditch effort by local government officials to try and get Bernie Ecclestone to reduce the race fee

Jonathan Noble Dec 16, 2008, 4:42 PM

Following meetings between local officials in Stuttgart on Tuesday, all efforts to secure fresh backing for the event appear to have failed.

The local province of Baden-Wuerttemberg had already said that it would no longer provide financial support, and a request to the national government for help has fallen on deaf ears.

However, the provincial governor of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Guenther Oettinger, has said he wants to meet with Ecclestone to discuss the race's future.

Speaking at a press conference in Stuttgart on Tuesday, Oettinger was reported by German news agency SID as saying that he hoped Ecclestone would agree to discounting the race fee in a final effort to save the race.

With projected losses of six million Euros if the race goes ahead under the current terms, Karl-Josef Schmidt, CEO of the Hockenheimring GmbH company that runs the circuit, said the track may have no choice but to withdraw from its 2010 contract to host the event.