So you've ridden a few hundred miles to Saxony, or flown out on RyanAir to Altenburg airport (or landing strip and shed, to be more accurate) and made your way in to where you think the circuit is. What now?
Getting there:
First and foremost, the easiest way in to the circuit is on the E40, turning off at the B180. Follow the route south-east for a couple of KMs and you'll see the large temporary grandstanding looming high up to your left. Bear in mind that while the track and pits are a permanent facility, the rest of what you see is built up specially for the race - quite amazing!
Arriving at the circuit:
Take the opportunity at the traffic lights to turn left into the small industrial estate, head straightup the hill, bearing left through what will be the temporary security station and turnstiles on race-day, and at the top you will be able to see the paddock in full swing. If you arrive on Thursday you'll see the whole place setting up, and the ADACS marshalls (German version of the AA but more tough looking, like they could invade Luxembourg maybe), and the security staff won't have set up all the view-blocking banners, so there's some rider-spotting to be done!
Camping:
From the paddock entrance you can ride downhill, bearing left at the first curve, and follow it to a T junction, with a fun-fair being built on your left. The camp site will be ahead, staggered to the left but it aint the way in for bikes!
Turn left and follow past the pub on the right, and when the road curves left under the railway, head right up August-Bebel Strasse, and right again up Siedlungsweg. This will lead upward to the campsite, which is absolutely enormous! Make sure you have a stand-puck with you and try to arrange your bike to be parked behind the tent, and far enough so if it topples you won't get crushed by it - it's rare but drunken wanderers have been known to tip bikes over by accident. Then try and make sure you're not right next to a main route through so you don't become a toilet-stop for the Italian or British fans.
The foot-route back to the circuit is basically line of sight toward the fairground which is now way below, down a steep path. It's a real hike up and down so if you have difficulties with mobility, speak to the ADACS camping security to get sited near the quad-taxi that runs most nights up and down the embankment.
Hotels:
Assuming you've pre-booked somewhere otherwise there's not a cat in hell's chance - Hohenstein Ernstthal is to the north east of the circuit - follow the directions for camping but go under the railway bridge and past the station.
For Oberlungwitz follow above to the fairground, but turn right, to the junction and left and keep going along the B173. There's a supermarket tucked away on the right along Neue Welt, which sells everything you'll need for food and drink over the weekend, and a small Turkish kebab shop quite a way further out on the left - but nothing like British kebab shops, these are something special! And there's a chance you will meet a rider or three in there on Thursday or Friday!
If you're staying further out in Chemnitz, Zwickau or even Dresden, then there is a good train service in to Hohenstein Ernstthal that isn't too expensive, but there is plenty of bike parking in the area on race day.
Food and drink:
If you're camping, forget cooking for yourself - it's more expensive than eating out, and there's so much to choose from you'll almost certainly be catered for.
Near the paddock there's some sausage stalls, noodle carts, pizza barrows and so on snaking their way toward the fairground - and in the fairground itself there's so much more with everything from vegetarian asian cuisine to a spitroasted hog, and most things in between.
The prices are set by the local authorities so they should be the same or similar for any given item no matter which stall you go to. Alcohol is of course plentiful and consumed in vast quantities by all, but you will soon see it is served in a plastic 'glass' and charged €1 extra, and you are given a token at the same time. If you return your 'glass' and the token you get the €1 back. If you throw the glass away then it's tough luck, and someone will bend your ear about littering too. It all works very well!
The food stalls are also up in the campsite, and just as much choice.
Merchandise:
Less expensive than at many other circuits so far this season, and the majority of stalls line the steep pathway from the fairground up to the camping and entertainment.
Entertainment:
It'd be easier to say what ISN'T there than what is!
There's the fair at the bottom of the hill, along with a warehouse which is converted into a discotheque for the weekend with the local Chemnitz FM DJs on the wheels of steel. Expect mainstream pop with some rock.
In the campsite, at the top of the hill there are more fairground rides, and many entertainment tents - I'll outline what has been there the last few seasons.
There's usually one with stippers and lapdancing, but you have to push through so many sweaty moustachiod denim-wearing men to get a good view that it's hardly worth it. Get in early if that is what you want. Mostly strip-club type dance music played in there, and the drinks are more expensive there.
There's a dance and techno tent, and a rock tent. They tend to compete with their sound systems but once you're in one tent you can't really hear the other anyway. The rock tent usually has a good German act or two on, and some gyrating bints who don't actually do much apart from wiggle and look bored while the bands get refreshed for the next stint. The acts tend to perform a little bit of their own stuff and loads of English language cover-songs so the international make-up of the fans is entertained. It's hard to do the whole thing justice in words, it's simply the best set-up for entertaining the fans and best value of any European round in the season.
Places to go:
If you want to explore the surrounding area, there's plenty of good roads to roam on, but note the police are plentiful over the GP weekend, they don't tollerate bad riding or taking the mickey with speed, and the fines are immediate and heavy. Be sensible, keep a low profile, and you'll be fine and still have fun on some of Europe's most beautiful countryside roads. Saxony is astounding.
For a day out there's always Dresden. If going by train from near the circuit you'l arrive at the station on Wiener Platz (there's 2 or 3 stations in Dresden so it can be confusing). The city has lots of lovely Italian style cafes lining waterfront at Bruhlsche Terrace (near Augustusbrucke) and the road leading from there to Der Dom (cathedral) called Munzgasse. The cathedral is an amazing building that was rebuilt after the city was razed by Bomber Command in WWII. They used what they could of the old structure, and left the new stone looking clean instead of weathering it so you can see the contrast. An old piece of masonry from the dome stands in the square too. There's many little markets on near the old town (altstadt) and you can get some of the touristy nicknacks like handmade wooden nutcrackers from there. There's river cruises and all the usual stuff you expect in a middle-sized river-cities.
Prague and Berlin are both possible as daytrips at 2.5-3hrs each way to either place, but it's best if you stop overnight or half your day is gone travelling. Munich is a bit too far at 4 hours each way.
Watching the race:
If you have a grandstand ticket, as most are, then it's sit where the ticket says or you'll be relocated to your seats as soon as someone complains - which they will. The limited infield viewing is reasonable, but the circuit's undulating nature means if you're on foot you need to pick a corner and stick with it. The tight right-handers of 3 & 4 give you good viewing time and is Rossi's favoured area for riding inside and outside where nobody else seems able to, but you'll only see the underside of the bikes as they're banked over and cornering all the way round them. There's a few bits worth viewing from on the hill behind the pit complex but other than that, it's just loitering on the footpath between the grandstands and safety fencing. There's next to no open viewing at the circuit nowadays.
Check it out:
The circuit can be found on Google Earth in decent quality, and you can see the roads in and out, and where the campsite is (a mass of earth red lines in a field) and the small towns around it. It'll give you an idea of how far stuff is from one another, and the circuit lay-out and how it limits viewing on foot. Just type in Chemnitz on the search bar, and follow south-west halfway to Zwickau, looking for Hohenstein-Ernsttal. View the two images accompanying this article to see what is where.
