Bilster Berg Drive Resort - Tilke's Masterpiece for Exclusive Racers
Bilster Berg Drive Resort is a motorsport business facility that features state-of-the-art 4.2-km long race track plus additional off-road track and training ground. Bilster Berg, designed by a famous racetrack designer Hermann Tilke, was opened in 2013 as a country club-style facility for internal use, track days and tests, product launches and presentations, not for racing competitions.
The main circuit is 4.2 kilometers long and it can be divided into 2.4-km long Östschleife and 1.8-km long Westschleife. With nineteen curves, 44 crests/dips and 26 percent slopes, located in the Teutoburg forest, Bilster Berg looks like Nurburgring Nordschleife, which is why it’s called a ‘little Nordschleife’ by many.
Aerial view on the Bilster Berg Drive Resort
Race track instead of military depot
The history of today’s Bilster Berg Drive Resort started in the 1970s when the British Army built an ammunition depot at Pömbsen. In 1993, the British Army closed down the depot and returned it to the Federal Republic of Germany. After that, the original landowner Johann Friedrich Baron von der Borch bought the land.
The next milestone event happened in 2004 when Baron von der Borch and his friend Marcus Count of Oeynhausen-Sierstorpff was cycling across that land. The Count of Oeynhausen-Sierstorpff, who is a known racing enthusiast, recognized the potential of that location as the race track. The Baron and the Count persuaded Hermann Tilke to visit the site and included him into a project. The next who joined a project was the world’s famous racer and a two-time WRC champion Walter Röhrl, who was a good friend of Count.
You can see a variety of cars at Bilster Berg
Bilster Berg opened its doors in Spring 2013
The project was developing slowly, with many bureaucratic obstacles, but the construction finally had begun in August 2011. After less than two years, in April 2013, the track was fully operational. On May 31, the grand opening ceremony took part at Bilster Berg Drive Resort.
The Teutoburg forest around the facility provides an additional value for Bilster Berg, but it is also a burden because environmentalists filed numerous objections during construction. However, all problems with environmental activists, courts, local authorities and financial institutions were resolved, so Bilster Berg Drive Resort was opened in Spring 2013 as an exclusive country club for shareholders primarily.
Turn One restaurant
Luxurious facility for driving business
The facilities are luxurious, with a clubhouse on the western loop and the operational building on the eastern loop, meanwhile, houses the track’s control center, management offices, seminar rooms and the „Turn One“ restaurant on the first floor. Many storage halls are located all around the track and are used by club members to store their vehicles.
Besides having events opened exclusively for members, Bilster Berg Driver Resort built a driving business strategy with a variety of events for clients from all over the world, such as guided tours and driving experience, product launches and presentations, track days and testing events.
Lots of crests and dips at Bilster Berg circuit
Fantastic race track recognized as ‘little Nordschleife’
Above all that, the biggest value is the race track itself. It’s a masterpiece when it comes to racetrack design, with nineteen turns that form an outstandings combination of high-speed stretches, blind corners, drops and climbs. From the steepest 26-percent slope to the steepest 21-percent incline, the race track has 70 meters elevation difference and a cumulative 200 meters of elevation variance.
Bilster Berg Drive Resort is located north of the spa town of Bad Driburg in the Höxter district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The nearest major airport (45 min) is Paderborn Lippstadt Airport, that offers domestic and international flights.
Video : Onboard lap around Bilster Berg
Address: Bilster Berg Drive Resort GmbH &Co. KG, Bilster Berg 1, 33014 Bad Driburg, Germany
Phone: +49 5253 9739001
Official website: www.bilster-berg.de
Photos: bilster-berg.de, racingcircuit.info, racetrack4you.de,
