 Although the "Nordschleife" had very little in the way of run-off areas, the "Südschleife" seems to have had none at all, which was likely to have been a factor in the choice of circuit for major events.In 1938 a small section of new track (the "Stichstraße") was laid which allowed drivers nearing the end of the "Südschleife" to bypass the start/finish straights and take a right turn which led back to the start of the downhill twists.This shortened a lap to around .