Anyone who has ever driven to Switzerland with a motorcycle will have a hard time talking about it afterwards. From the beautiful views over the ever impressive mountain passes to the pricey speeding fines…
But unlike its neighbors, Switzerland has banned racing and motorsport in general for nearly seven decades.
While the four surrounding countries host various racing events every year, circuit racing in Switzerland has been banned since 1955.
In 1955 Mercedes driver Pierre Levegh and 84 spectators were killed and at least 120 others were injured during the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1955.
The disaster would go down in history as the worst racing accident ever.This was the highest casualty rate in racing history.
The spectators' deaths were blamed on the track's inadequate safety measures, which led to motorsport being banned in France, Switzerland, Germany and other countries until the tracks were upgraded to a higher safety standard.
In its aftermath, Switzerland acted swiftly and decisively and banned racing for the foreseeable future.
Despite the legal backlash, there have been attempts to bring racing back to Switzerland.
For example, the all-electric Formula E series persuaded the Swiss government to lift the specific ban on electric vehicles in 2015, resulting in a demonstration of Formula E vehicles on the streets of Geneva and a full-fledged Formula E race in Zurich in 2018.
Fast forward to 2022, when the Transport Committee of the National Council approves an amendment to the Road Traffic Act. This means that the Commission's proposal to lift the racing ban has been approved.
The National Council approved this in the spring and the Council of States decided on it at the end of May 2022. Both Houses voted to lift the ban, thereby revoking the statute.
The most compelling point was that vehicle and track safety has improved tremendously in 67 years and continues to improve, meaning racing is much safer than it was decades ago.
While this is certainly good news for motorsport enthusiasts in Switzerland, there will be no racing activities for the time being. In a country where racing has been banned for more than half a century, there are of course no fully-fledged racing facilities yet.
It may therefore take some time before popular racing series such as MotoGP, WSBK and Formula 1 include Switzerland in their racing calendar.
The Swiss Supermoto Championship, previously hosted in several European countries, may well be held in Switzerland.