Russian Billionaire Buys Nurburgring Race Track

Viktor Kharitonin, chairman of Moscow-based Pharmstandard OJSC, has agreed to buy control of Germany's famed Nurburgring race track. The price was not revealed.

The Nurburgring had been owned by Nurburgring GmbH, a company backed by the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The company filed for bankruptcy two years ago with a reported €413 million in debt.

The company collapsed as it struggled to maintain an elaborate entertainment complex opened at the track in 2009 that included multiple restaurants, two hotels and a roller coaster, mall, casino and concert venue.

In March Dusseldorf-based auto parts supplier Capricorn Automotive GmbH agreed to buy the track in March for €125 million, according to reports at the time. But the deal collapsed, and Kharitonin stepped in.

The 87-year-old Nurburgring has hosted 30 Formula One races and is considered the ultimate test track for high-performance production vehicles. The facility consists of two circuits: a 5-km F1 track and a 21-km loop. The latter "north ring" features 154 turns, nearly 1,000 feet elevation changes and a straightway that is nearly two kilometers long.