Lausitzring
 | |
| Location | Klettwitz (Brandenburg, Germany) |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°32′0″N 13°55′10″E / 51.53333°N 13.91944°E |
| Capacity | 120,000 |
| Owner | Förderverein Lausitzring e.V. |
| Operator | EuroSpeedway Lausitz GmbH |
| Opened | 2000 |
| Major events | A1GP, DTM, Champ Car, F3 Euroseries, WSBK |
| Website | http://www.eurospeedway.de/ |
| Superspeedway | |
| Length | 3.256 km (2.023 miles) |
| Turns | 3 |
| Race lap record | 0:34.62[1] (Tony Kanaan, Mo Nunn Racing Reynard 01i, 2001, Champ Car) |
| Grand Prix Circuit | |
| Length | 4.345 km (2.700 miles) |
| Turns | 14 |
| Race lap record | 1:32:21 (Heikki Kovalainen, Pons Racing, 2004, Nissan World Series) |
| Motorcycle Circuit | |
| Length | 4.297 km (2.670 miles) |
| Turns | 13 |
| Race lap record | 1'38.622 (Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha Motor Italia Yamaha YZF-R1, 2007, WSBK) |
The EuroSpeedway Lausitz is a race track located near Klettwitz (a civil parish of Schipkau, Oberspreewald-Lausitz district) in the state of Brandenburg in Eastern 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,[2][3] with a pole position lap average speed of 251.761 km/h[4] and a race average of 228.931 km/h.[5]
History
As far back as 1986, in the former socialist 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.
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. Also a test oval with long straights and steeply banked corners is located next to the track. All tracks can be connected to form an 11 km long endurance racing course, but this option was not yet used for a major event, but as a test track capability.
Like all modern tracks, the EuroSpeedway was built to the highest possible safety standards. However, in its first year of operation there were three serious accidents at the track. On 26 April 2001 former Formula One driver Michele Alboreto was killed while testing an Audi R8 Le Mans Prototype racecar. On 3 May the same year an inexperienced track marshal was killed when he was hit by a touring car during a test session. Finally, on 15 September 2001 Alex Zanardi, two-time champion of the American CART series, lost both his legs in an accident on the venue's oval.
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 EuroSpeedway played host to the A1 Grand Prix series on its road course. Interestingly the fastest lap of the meeting by Frenchman Nicolas Lapierre was 0.45 seconds slower than the lap record for the 4.345 km circuit held by Heikki Kovalainen.
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 3-year hiatus before finally returning in late February 2014 and will return to EuroSpeedway in September 2016.[6]
References
- ^ http://www.eurospeedway.de/en_racing_areal.asp?mid=83&uid=0&iid=237
- ^ Sensationelle Rennen im Trioval - August 29, 2005 (in German)
- ^ Cindy - Liebling der Fans - July 31, 2006 (in German)
- ^ ADAC Eastside 100 - Practice 2 - August 29, 2005 (in German)
- ^ ADAC Eastside 100 - Race 2 - August 29, 2005 (in German)
- ^ "Red Bull Air Race wieder auf dem Lausitzring". Lausitzer Rundschau (in German). Cottbus, Brandenburg. 16 December 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-16.