Automotive: Two people killed testing Goodyear tires at Nurburgring

On Thursday, two drivers were killed after being ejected from a car during a Goodyear Tire test drive at the Nurburgring.

Police have launched an investigation into the accident, which took place at the motorsports complex.

“A vehicle taking part in the test drives had a single-car accident in the Tiergarten section of the track,” a spokesman for the Nürburgring said on Thursday.

A statement from the Nürburgring said emergency crews responded to the crash, but that they had been unable to save the two people involved.

Officials at the Nürburgring, a venue popular with both amateur and professional drivers, canceled all tourist drives on the publicly accessible Nordschleife section in the accident’s wake.

Testing by tire firm

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry of the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where the Nürburgring is located, said the vehicle was being commercially tested when it crashed.

The tire manufacturer Goodyear confirmed on Thursday that the two drivers involved in the accident had worked for the company in nearby Luxembourg.

The two Goodyear associates were based in Luxembourg. Sources say that 39-year-old driver Christian Franck, a popular member of the tire testing community and title-winning motorsport driver from Luxembourg, is one of those killed.

A statement from the firm said staff were “deeply affected,” and extended sympathy to the families and friends of the two employees.

Police said there was no initial indication of what had gone wrong and whether a test tire exploded.