"Conditions were really tough, " said Rossi, who will start on pole at Sachsenring for the first time.

BBC: Rossi leaves it late to take pole

Despite the recent job losses, Sachsenring still employs 1, 100 people in Zwickau, compared with the 285 it took on in 1993.

ECONOMIST: Industry in eastern Germany

That site is now owned by Sachsenring Automobilienwerk, an automotive-systems company.

ECONOMIST: Industry in eastern Germany

That Pedrosa incident is a good contender for the worst attempt at a pass but I'll go for one that happened here at Sachsenring in 2002.

BBC: Valentino Rossi

For now, however, the closest relative of a Trabant on the road is arguably an armoured Mercedes limousine, customised by Trasco, a subsidiary of Sachsenring in Bremen.

ECONOMIST: Industry in eastern Germany

Luckily, with the factory came a stack of Trabi spare parts, which Sachsenring sold at a huge mark-up in order to bring in cash during a hard first year.

ECONOMIST: Industry in eastern Germany

Ulf Rittinghaus, Sachsenring's chief executive, says that he became interested in the Trabant site after a chance meeting, and persuaded his brother Ernst, an engineer, to join him in buying it for DM10m in 1993.

ECONOMIST: Industry in eastern Germany