Over the years, the Nürburgring was modified several times at the behest of the drivers. However, the 1976 event was one that was to go down in history. Lauda, the reigning world champion, was dissatisfied with the safety arrangements of the mammoth circuit and attempted to organise a boycott the race during a meeting at the third race of the season in Long Beach, California in the United States. Formula One in the 1970s was the beginning towards a safer kind of motor racing and the Nürburgring was considered to be something of an anachronism at that time. However, by its very nature, the Nürburgring was almost impossible to be made safe in its old configuration. It did not have enough marshals and medical support to ensure the circuit's safety- it needed five to six times the marshals and medical staff that a typical F1 race needed at the time, but Huschke von Hanstein and the German organizers were unwilling and possibly unable to provide them- it was extremely expensive; and the spectators viewing the race in the countryside would get into the track for free. In addition to the considerable expense of providing adequate support to the drivers, its geography made the modifications demanded by both the drivers and FIA also prohibitively expensive. There were several parts that were nearly inaccessible to the marshals- there were a number of places where run-off areas could not be built because they were not flat enough, there were parts that were too narrow because there was a cliff face on one side and a drop-off on another, etc. However, the Nürburgring's organizers had a three-year contract with Formula One starting with the 1974 race which included making the track safer. Lauda was outvoted by other drivers because most of them felt that they should complete the contract so as to avoid any legal difficulties; the 1976 race was the last race on that contract. Although the contract included making the circuit safer over those years (and the organizers did that) it had already been decided that the 1976 race would be the last race at the Nordschleife. In addition to safety issues, the increasing commercialisation of Formula One was a factor as well. The extraordinary length of the Nordschleife made it all but impossible for any broadcasting organisation to effectively cover a race there.