"I feel very sorry for all the team at EuroSpeedway Lausitz," said Grace. "I know from our own experience just how hard they will have worked to try to make the race a success. It is a tragedy that the German government officials were unable to offer financial support to this a world-class event. On the brighter side, as the sole venue in Europe this year, for the fastest racing in the world, we are already making plans with CART and EuroSpeedway to be able to welcome many of the German race fans to Rockingham instead."

Last year over 42,000 fans witnessed the fastest race in Europe around the 1.5-mile oval near Corby and the signs are that there will be a similarly strong presence at the track this year. Over half the seats in one of the track's biggest grandstands were allocated in the past fortnight alone and less than a dozen of the track's 58 corporate hospitality suites are remaining.