A fitting location for the authentic Porsche experience: The world’s seventh Porsche Experience Centre is currently being built directly within the confines of the Grand Prix track at Germany’s Hockenheimring.

The foundation stone was laid on Monday, with the centre scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2019. The new Hockenheimring Porsche Experience Centre will cover a total area of 160,000 square metres.

“Porsche is inextricably linked to sports cars. Our new Hockenheimring Experience Centre will demonstrate this bond perfectly,” states Alexander Pollich, CEO at Porsche Deutschland GmbH. “Located just 100 or so kilometres from the brand’s headquarters in the Zuffenhausen area of Stuttgart, the centre will give customers and fans the chance to feel the thrill of driving our sports cars on challenging on-road and off-road tracks,” he adds.

The first Porsche Experience Centre opened on the factory grounds in Leipzig back in 2002. It was followed by Silverstone (UK, 2008), Atlanta (USA, 2015), Le Mans (France, 2015), and Los Angeles (USA, 2016). A new centre in Shanghai (China) was added in April 2018. The project at Hockenheimring will include multiple tracks and areas for a wide range of training programmes. A demanding 2.7-kilometre handling track will give drivers the chance to get to grips with vehicle dynamics. The track will be complemented by dynamic modules, such as water zones, a skid simulator and three roundabouts. A 5,200-square-metre off-road park containing 16 separate modules will comprise features typical of tricky off-road terrain, inclines of up to 70 percent, slopes, boulders, ditches, and tree trunks lying at different angles.

The three-storey central building will feature boxes in which new vehicles are handed over to customers, a restaurant, a café, conference rooms and venues for events.