The Hockenheim circuit was constructed in 1939 by Mercedes-Benz as a test track. Dominated by two long sweeping straights, the track ran through the woodland close to the Rhine River. The German government funded a track upgrade in the 1960's, Dutch circuit designer John Hugenholz coming up with the revised layout which incorporated the twisting 'stadium section'. The circuit made sad headlines in 1968, with the unexplained accident & subsequent death of Jim Clark during the course of an F2 race. Happier memories followed two years later as the track hosted its first F1 GP, won by Jochen Rindt, with the Nurburgring being deemed too unsafe for use. Once the Nurburgring had been upgraded however, the race returned there, leaving Hockenheim to hold Formula 2 and German national races. Niki Lauda's accident at the Nurburgring in 1976 prompted a return to Hockenheim, again on safety grounds, and this time the German GP would remain there. Ironically, it was Lauda who won the first race back at Hockenheim in 1977. 1980 saw the sad death of Patrick Depailler during testing at the track, leading to the addition of a chicane at the previously challenging Ostkurve. Pironi suffered a serious accident in the rain in 1982, when his Ferrari hit another car through a cloud of spray. Michael Schumacher's rise to fame guaranteed a party atmosphere every year for home fans, notably in 1995 when he won the race. A major reconstruction took place in 2000 to resolve problems of crowd capacity and race costs. The track character changed completely with the removal of its long high speed sections, but it was judged a success by most when it held its first F1 GP in 2002.