EuroSpeedway Lausitz

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EuroSpeedway Lausitz
EuroSpeedway Lausitz map.svg
LocationKlettwitz
(Brandenburg, Germany)
Coordinates51°32′0″N 13°55′10″E / 51.53333°N 13.91944°E / 51.53333; 13.91944Coordinates: 51°32′0″N 13°55′10″E / 51.53333°N 13.91944°E / 51.53333; 13.91944
Capacity120,000
OwnerDEKRA Automobil GmbH
OperatorEuroSpeedway Verwaltungs GmbH
Opened2000
Major eventsA1GP, ASCAR Racing Series, DTM, Champ Car, F3 Euroseries, WSBK
Superspeedway
Length3.256 km (2.023 mi)
Turns3
Race lap record0:34.747 (Brazil Tony Kanaan, Mo Nunn Racing Reynard 01i, 2001, Champ Car)
Grand Prix Circuit
Length4.345 km (2.700 mi)
Turns14
Race lap record1:32:210 (Finland Heikki Kovalainen, Pons Racing, 2004, Nissan World Series)
Grand Prix Circuit with Banked Turn 1
Length4.562 km (2.835 mi)
Turns10
Race lap record1:32.116 (South Africa Kelvin van der Linde, Abt Sportsline, 2021, DTM)
Motorcycle Circuit
Length4.297 km (2.670 mi)
Turns14
Race lap record1:36.634 (United Kingdom Chaz Davies, Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Ducati Panigale R, 2017, WSBK)
Sprint Circuit
Length3.478 km (2.161 mi)
Turns12
Race lap record1:15.576 (Japan Kazuki Nakajima, Manor Motorsport, 2006, Formula 3)
Websitewww.eurospeedway.de
Grandstands on the front stretch.

The EuroSpeedway Lausitz is a race track located near Klettwitz (a civil parish of Schipkau, Oberspreewald-Lausitz district) in the state of Brandenburg in northeast Germany, near the borders of Poland and the Czech Republic. It was originally named Lausitzring as it is located in the region the Germans call Lausitz (Lusatia), but was renamed "EuroSpeedway Lausitz" for better international communication. The EuroSpeedway has been in use for motor racing since 2000. Among other series, DTM (German Touring Car Championship) and Superbike World Championship take place there annually.

The EuroSpeedway has a feature which is unique in continental Europe: a high-speed oval race track, as used in the United States by NASCAR and IndyCar. The 3.2 km (2 mi) tri-oval (similar to Pocono Raceway) was used twice in 2001 and 2003 by open seater CART races named German 500 (won by Kenny Bräck and Sébastien Bourdais), plus a few British SCSA races. In 2005 and 2006, the German Formula Three Championship held races at the oval,[1][2] with a pole position lap average speed of 251.761 km/h[3] and a race average of 228.931 km/h.[4]

History[]

Detailed map of EuroSpeedway Lausitz

As far back as 1986, in the former communist East Germany, it was planned to convert one of the huge open coal mine pits into a race track. In the late 1990s, this idea was taken up again in order to build a replacement for the AVUS in Berlin. The construction of the EuroSpeedway Lausitz began on 17 June 1998 and the facility was officially opened in August 2000.

Winding in the infield of the high-speed tri-oval, there is a regular road race track for automobile and motorbike racing, using various track configurations up to roughly 4,500 m. The stands around the tri-oval have a capacity of 120,000, while the huge main grandstands have 25,000 seats, and unlike many circuits, the entire circuit can be seen from the main grandstand. Next to the racing facility, there is a test oval with two long straights connecting two steeply banked U-shaped corners. The test oval has a total length of 5,800 m, with each of its two straights measuring about 2,500 m in length. All tracks can be connected to form an 11 km long endurance racing course, but so far this option has been used only for testing and never as part of a major event.

Like all modern tracks, the EuroSpeedway was built to the highest possible safety standards. However, there were three serious accidents at the facility in its first year of operation. On 25 April 2001, former Formula One driver Michele Alboreto was killed on the test oval after crashing at high speed due to a tyre failure. Alboreto was testing an Audi R8 in preparation of his participation at the 2001 24 Hours of Le Mans. Just over a week later, on 3 May 2001, a track marshal was killed when he was hit by a touring car during a test session.

The third serious accident occurred on 15 September 2001, when the venue's tri-oval hosted the 2001 American Memorial. It was the first race of the American CART series to be held in Europe, but it was eventually overshadowed by the accident in which the series' two-time champion Alex Zanardi was involved. Zanardi lost control of his car at the pit exit following a late stop for fuel and the car slid onto the tri-oval, where it was hit from the side by Alex Tagliani's car at full speed. The impact split the front of Zanardi's car from the rest of it and caused the driver to suffer a traumatic amputation of both of his legs. Tagliani was not seriously injured, having suffered some bruising as a result of the crash.

The official EuroSpeedway anthem "Speed Kings" was recorded by the veteran East German band Puhdys in 2000.

The last concert of German hard rock band Böhse Onkelz took place on 17 and 18 June 2005 at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz under the name Vaya Con Tioz, in front of approximately 120,000. It was the biggest open air show by a German band ever.

On 9 October 2005, the EuroSpeedway played host to the A1 Grand Prix series on its road course. The fastest lap of the meeting was set by Nicolas Lapierre and was 0.45 seconds slower than the lap record for the 4.345 km circuit held by Heikki Kovalainen.

The EuroSpeedway played host to Round 6 of the 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship. As the last two events of the 2010 Championship (Rounds 7 and 8) were cancelled, the 2011 series was cancelled as well. The series then suffered an overall three-year hiatus before finally returning in late February 2014, September 2016 and September 2017.[5]

On 1 November 2017, the entire facility was sold to the vehicle inspection company Dekra, which announced plans to modernize it and use it as a proving ground for road car innovations.[6] Amid fears that the purchase would mark the end of public racing events at the circuit, Dekra announced that it would not organize such events, but other companies would remain welcome to organize them and Dekra would rent the circuit to them for the purpose.[7] The DTM has continued to organize races at the circuit ever since.

Grand Prix Circuit layout
DTM Sprint Circuit layout
Panorama shot of the speedway from the grandstands.

Lap times[]

The lap records at EuroSpeedway Lausitz are listed as:

Category Time Driver Vehicle Date
Grand Prix Circuit: 4.345 km (2000-present)
World Series by Nissan 1:32.210 Heikki Kovalainen Dallara SN01 2004 World Series by Nissan Lausitzring round
A1 GP 1:34.736 Nelson Piquet Jr. Lola B05/52 2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Germany
DTM 1:37.897[8] Philipp Eng BMW M4 Turbo DTM 2019 2019 Lausitzring DTM round
SR1 1:38.353[9] Beppe Gabbiani Dome S101 2003 FIA Sportscar Championship Lausitz
SR2 1:43.082[9] Lucchini SR2002 2003 FIA Sportscar Championship Lausitz
GT1 1:43.830[10] Julian Bailey Lister Storm GT 2000 FIA GT Lausitzring 500km
GT3 1:44.739[11] BMW Alpina B6 GT3 2012 Lausitzring ADAC GT Masters round
Formula 4 1:46.485[12] Charles Weerts Tatuus F4-T014 2018 Lausitzring ADAC Formula 4 round
N-GT 1:48.219[10] Patrick Huisman Porsche 911(996) GT3-R 2000 FIA GT Lausitzring 500km
GT4 1:55.120[13] Tim Heinemann Mercedes-AMG GT4 2020 Lausitzring DTM Trophy round
TCR Touring Car 2:10.126[14] Honda Civic Type R TCR (FK8) 2020 1st Lausitzring ADAC TCR Germany round
Motorcycle Circuit: 4.297 km (2000-present)
World SBK 1:36.634[15] Chaz Davies Ducati Panigale R 2017 Lausitzring Superbike World SBK round
World SSP 1:41.035[16] Niki Tuuli Yamaha YZF-R6 2016 Lausitzring World SSP round
Supersport 300 1:56.174[17] Marc García Yamaha YZF-R3 2017 Lausitzring Supersport 300 round
Grand Prix Circuit with Banked Turn 1: 4.562 km (2021-present)
DTM 1:32.116[18] Kelvin van der Linde Audi R8 LMS Evo 2021 Lausitzring DTM round
GT4 1:42.423[13] Mercedes-AMG GT4 2021 Lausitzring DTM Trophy round
Sprint Circuit: 3.478 km (2004-present)
Formula 3 1:15.576[19] Kazuki Nakajima Dallara F305 2006 Lausitzring F3 Euro Series round
DTM 1:16.992[20] Robin Frijns Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 2020 1st Lausitzring DTM round
GT3 1:20.629[21] Kelvin van der Linde Audi R8 LMS ultra 2014 Lausitzring ADAC GT Masters round
Formula 4 1:21.759[22] Robert Schwartzman Tatuus F4-T014 2015 Lausitzring ADAC Formula 4 round
TCR Touring Car 1:29.986[23] Hyundai i30 N TCR 2020 1st Lausitzring ADAC TCR Germany round
Superspeedway: 3.256 km (2000-present)
CART 34.747 Tony Kanaan Reynard 01i 2001 American Memorial

Commercial use[]

Test site[]

On November 1, 2017 the DEKRA acquired the EuroSpeedway Lausitz as a test site, especially for autonomous driving.[24] In April 2019 test and verification of communication elements took place on the EuroSpeedway Lausitz. Participants were Ford, Samsung, Vodafone, Huawei, LG Electronics and others. Topics were communication matters.[25]

Entertainment[]

DEKRA organised also an Open-air festival, that took place in May 2019[26]

Sports[]

Complementary racing events, such as DTM are on the agenda.[26]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Sensationelle Rennen im Trioval - August 29, 2005 (in German)
  2. ^ Cindy - Liebling der Fans - July 31, 2006 (in German)
  3. ^ ADAC Eastside 100 - Practice 2 - August 29, 2005 (in German)
  4. ^ ADAC Eastside 100 - Race 2 - August 29, 2005 (in German)
  5. ^ "Red Bull Air Race wieder auf dem Lausitzring". Lausitzer Rundschau (in German). Cottbus, Brandenburg. 16 December 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-16.
  6. ^ "DTM and former Champ Car venue Lausitzring to close to public". autosport.com. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
  7. ^ Wittemeier, Roman (17 July 2017). "Dekra übernimmt Lausitzring: DTM könnte bleiben". Motorsport-Total.com (in German). Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  8. ^ "2019 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Lausitzring Session Facts". Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b "FIA Sportscar Championship Lausitzring 2003". Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b "FIA GT Championship Lausitzring 2000". Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  11. ^ "ADAC GT Masters Lausitzring 2012 Race 2 Results" (PDF). Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  12. ^ "2018 ADAC Formula 4 Lausitzring Session Facts". Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b "DTM Trophy Results". Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  14. ^ "2020 ADAC TCR Germany Lausitzring Race 2 Results - 1 November 2020" (PDF). Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  15. ^ "2017 Superbike World Championship Lausitzring Session Facts". Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  16. ^ "2016 Supersport World Championship German Round World Supersport - Best Laps & Speeds" (PDF). Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  17. ^ "German Round, 18-19-20 August 2017 World Supersport 300 - Results Race" (PDF). Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  18. ^ "2021 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Lausitzring Session Facts". Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  19. ^ "2006 Formula 3 Euro Series Lausitzring Session Facts". Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  20. ^ "2020 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Lausitzring Session Facts". Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  21. ^ "ADAC GT Masters Lausitzring 2014". Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  22. ^ "2015 ADAC Formula 4 Lausitzring Session Facts". Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  23. ^ "2020 ADAC TCR Germany Lausitzring Race 1 Results - 2 August 2020" (PDF). Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  24. ^ "DEKRA und der Lausitzring - DEKRA übernimmt den Lausitzring" (in German). Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  25. ^ "Weltkonzerne freuen sich über Meilenstein auf Lausitzring" (in German). April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  26. ^ Jump up to: a b "Saisonkalender 2019 und neue Website für DEKRA Lausitzring" (in German). Retrieved April 18, 2019.

External links[]

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