Sachsenring - a long way from home.

In 1937, a Scotsman was killed while plying his dangerous trade a long way from home on a stretch of road deep in the heart of a German forest near the border with Czechoslovakia - the people of Stollberg and the surrounding villages have never forgotten that Scotsman.

Sixty four years after he lost his life, they still place flowers on a small memorial in a forest clearing next to the old Sachsenring road circuit.

Jimmy Guthrie was part of that unique band of brave men who were nicknamed 'the Continental Circus'. Before the start of the official world championship in 1949, they travelled throughout Europe to race motorcycles at circuits that were usually everyday roads. They haggled over start and prize money with organisers before entertaining millions of fans at venues such as the Isle of Man, Brno, Opatija, Spa and Solitude. Sadly they often paid the ultimate price for their bravery, just as Jimmy Guthrie did while leading the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring circuit in 1937.

Grand Prix motorcycle racing has come a long way since those days, and the new 3.074km Sachsenring could not provide a greater contrast to the old road circuit that staged the official East German Grand Prix between 1961 and 1972. It's short sharp and safe, compared to long and dangerous.

Tracks and championships may change but peoples' passion for motorcycle racing and their respect for the riders has never diminished in places such as the Sachsenring and just across the border at Brno in the Czech Republic. Often the arrival of the Continental Circus was the highlight of a tough hard working existence while, after the second world war, it was their only contact with the western world, albeit for a short grand prix weekend.

In 1961, a young Rhodesian Gary Hocking won the very first 500cc East German Grand Prix, riding the Italian MV Augusta machine in ahead of the Norton of a certain Mike Hailwood. For the next eleven years, the daunting 8.731km road circuit was the venue for the East German Grand Prix and some classic battles between legends Hailwood and Giacomo Agostini.

Crowds often topped a quarter of a million. Cars were a rarity so most people simply walked or cycled to the track, or arrived by bus from further afield. Viewing places were scarce and so the most industrious fans built their own tiny grandstand seats perched high on the top of poles stuck into the ground.

Veteran British journalist John Brown was a frequent visitor to the Sachsenring and, on one occasion, remembers arriving at the circuit with eight times world champion Phil Read - in a Rolls-Royce.

''I don't think anybody had seen a Rolls-Royce before, and it created a terrific stir when we drove round the town the night before the race,'' he recalled, ''There were hardly any cars and so you can imagine the fuss a Rolls-Royce created - especially being driven by a world champion. Everybody seemed to walk to the circuit and it took hours and hours for them to leave on foot. They were so enthusiastic and knowledgeable about grand prix racing. Many came from just over the border in Czechoslovakia, and I think a few were allowed in from West Germany.''

It was also not an easy task for a British journalist to travel deep into communist-controlled Germany.

''I used to fly to Nurnberg in West Germany and then drive across the border to Karl-Marx-Stad, which is now called Chemnitz, where everybody had to stay,'' Brown explained, ''We were only allowed to follow certain designated routes from the hotel to the circuit and we had to check in with the police at the circuit to show we had arrived.

''The best part of the whole trip was always the party after the race. Because the East German money was virtually worthless, when you got back over the border the riders used to spend all their prize money on the night after the race at one big party.''

The daunting circuit produced some memorable races and poignant moments for the vast crowds.

''It was a typical road circuit surrounded by houses, trees and walls, and it produced some great races,'' Brown said, ''I'll never forget in 1971 when Dieter Braun won the 250cc race and they had to play the West German national anthem for the podium ceremony. The crowd went absolutely wild.

''The MZ factory was just up the road from the circuit, and they were, of course, the pioneers of the two stroke racing engine. You can imagine how the crowd celebrated in 1963 when Mike Hailwood and Alan Shepherd finished first and second in the 250cc
race beating the mighty Hondas of Jim Redman and Luigi Taveri.''

The long-awaited revision of safety standards brought about the demise of the road circuits that had been the backbone of the world championships. In 1972, the Sachsenring road circuit staged its last East German Grand Prix, fittingly won by Giacomo Agostini, who'd won the last five 500cc races at the track.

It seemed that grand prix racing would never return to this isolated part of Europe - but unification changed all that.

In 1998, the new Sachsenring circuit once again echoed to the sound of highly tuned grand prix motorcycle engines. This time, it was the high revving two-strokes of Michael Doohan and Tetsuya Harada who replaced the screaming four-strokes of Hailwood and Agostini. Grand prix racing had returned to one of its ancestral homes, and the crowds flocked to the new track free from the restrictions that had made travelling so difficult in the Sixties and Seventies.

Victories followed for Kenny Roberts and Honda Pons star Alex Barros last year, in a memorable race in which the first five riders were separated by just over one-and-a-half seconds. Those heroes from the Continental Circus would have approved of such racing.

Two miles from the new circuit on the road to the motorway, in a tiny forest clearing, the fresh cut flowers on Jimmy Guthrie's memorial paid tribute to a rider who's pioneering spirit and bravery paved the way for modern grand prix racing.