Action guaranteed: The NGK chicane

The NGK chicane always guarantees action and excitement: The demanding left-right combination invites racing drivers to undertake all types of sudden braking manoeuvres, because immediately after the fast Hatzenbachbogen – at which the Formula 1 speed is over 300 kilometres per hour – abrupt deceleration is absolutely essential to get down to 100 km/h even in a Formula 1 race.

In the 1995 season Michael Schumacher

surprised Jean Alesi there with a sudden attack, that victory taking him one step closer to winning his second World Championship title. Five years later Schumacher achieved a similar result against Mika Häkkinen in a McLaren- Mercedes and on his way to winning his third world champion title reconfirming the supremity of the current Ferrari era.

In addition to the brilliant manoeuvres which took place in the chicane in front of the finish bend there were also some amusing episodes. For instance when the German Touring Car Championship (DTM)

„old fox“ Harald Becker turned his BMW on the roof following a skid, his team retained its sense of humour - despite the car being heavily damaged - and placed sponsors' logos on the underbody just in case this manoeuvre was repeated.