NMK Drammen, the Norwegian organiser of no less than 25 ERC rounds since 1980, informed the press that their track Lyngås Motorbane is due to be closed for good.

“We herewith announce that it is very likely that the Lyngås Motorbane will be abolished in 2014. The landowner has notified to us his new plans for the venue. The plan is to convert it into a recycling plant. This information was also published recently, in the newspaper ‘Drammens Tidende’ of May 8. For us this will mean that the club must lay down its activity on the track, which has a huge effect on our team as well as on whole Norwegian motorsport. However, our club will appoint a task force now that will work to find solutions and other options for the club. We are also working towards a worthy ending for the venue that has been for many a year Norway’s race track Number 1. We are in the initial phase of planning one more Rallycross race for the last weekend in coming September. For this event we are going to invite former heroes of the sport as well as new and upcoming talents,” stated a spokesman of Norsk Motor Klubb Drammen to the press.

The Lyngås Motorbane, also known as Lyngåsbane or just Lyngås, is situated in a quarry near the village of Tranby i Lier, about 30kms south-west of Oslo. The track has been opened in 1972 and saw its first ever European Rallycross Championship round in 1980. From 1980 till 2004 NMK Drammen hosted a total of 25 consecutive ERC rounds at Lyngås, some of them were attended by 20,000+ spectators. After 2004 the venue lost its international importance and was mainly used for rounds of the Norwegian Rallycross Championship and Crosskart races since. Sixfold European Rallycross Champion Martin Schanche, who has scored some of his most important victories at Lyngås, while being questioned by ‘Drammens Tidende’ about the expected closing: “I’m really amazed that it still exists. As with many other plants in Europe, bulldozers have shovelled away race courses, while buildings in the surrounding areas have been set up. That is exactly what happens around Lyngåsbanen. That’s the way is goes, there is no tree that grows to heaven.”