Lausitzring

The Lausitzring (formally known as the Dekra Lausitzring for ownership reasons) is a race track and test track located near Klettwitz in the state of Brandenburg in northeast Germany, about north of Dresden, near the borders of Poland and the Czech Republic. It was originally named Lausitzring as it is located in the region of Lusatia, known as Lausitz in German, but was renamed EuroSpeedway Lausitz for better international communication from 2000 to 2010. Lausitzring has been in use for motor racing since 2000. Among other series, DTM (German Touring Car Championship) takes place there annually. It also used to host the Superbike World Championship.

The Lausitzring 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 tri-oval (similar to Pocono Raceway) was used twice by open seater CART races named German 500 (the September 2001 American Memorial won by Kenny Bräck, and the May 2003 German 500 by Sébastien Bourdais), plus a few British SCSA Stock cars races. In 2005 and 2006, the German Formula Three Championship held races at the oval,Sensationelle Rennen im Trioval - August 29, 2005 (in German)Cindy - Liebling der Fans - July 31, 2006 (in German) with a pole position lap average speed of ADAC Eastside 100 - Practice 2 - August 29, 2005 (in German) and a race average of .ADAC Eastside 100 - Race 2 - August 29, 2005 (in German)

History

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, which after the fall of the Berlin Wall had more traffic than before. The construction of the EuroSpeedway Lausitz began on 17 June 1998. The facility was officially opened during a public ceremony on 20 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 . 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 , with each of its two straights measuring about in length. All tracks can be connected to form a long endurance racing course.

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 last concert of German hard rock band Böhse Onkelz took place on 17 and 18 June 2005 at the Lausitzring 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, Lausitzring 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 circuit held by Heikki Kovalainen.

Lausitzring 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 September 2016 and September 2017.

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. 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. The DTM has continued to organize races at the circuit ever since.

Layout configurations

Lap records

As of June 2026, the fastest official race lap records at Lausitzring are listed as:

CategoryTimeDriverVehicleEvent Grand Prix Circuit (2000–present): EuroBOSS 1:32.059 Scott Mansell Benetton B197 2004 Lausitzring EuroBOSS round Formula Nissan 1:32.215 Heikki Kovalainen Dallara SN01 2004 Lausitzring World Series by Nissan round A1GP 1:34.736 Nelson Piquet Jr. Lola A1GP 2005 Lausitzring A1GP round F3000 1:34.877 Robbie Kerr Lola B99/50 2005 Lausitzring 3000 Pro round Formula Three 1:36.854 Markus Winkelhock Dallara F301 2001 Lausitzring German F3 round Class 1 Touring Cars 1:37.897 Philipp Eng BMW M4 Turbo DTM 2019 2019 Lausitzring DTM round LMP900 1:38.353 Beppe Gabbiani Dome S101 2003 FIA Sportscar Championship Lausitz DTM 1:39.395 Marco Wittmann BMW M4 DTM 2018 Lausitzring DTM round GT3 1:41.945 Max Hesse BMW M4 GT3 Evo 2025 Lausitzring GT Cup Series round LMP675 1:43.082 Mirko Savoldi Lucchini SR2002 2003 FIA Sportscar Championship Lausitz Formula Volkswagen 1:43.662 Sven Barth Reynard Formula Volkswagen 2002 2nd Lausitzring Formula Volkswagen Germany round GT1 (GTS) 1:43.830 Julian Bailey Lister Storm GT 2000 FIA GT Lausitzring 500km Formula Renault 2.0 1:45.303 Tatuus FR2000 2004 Lausitzring Formula Renault 2000 Germany round Formula 4 1:46.485 Charles Weerts Tatuus F4-T014 2018 Lausitzring ADAC F4 round N-GT 1:48.219 Patrick Huisman Porsche 911 (996) GT3-R 2000 FIA GT Lausitzring 500km ADAC Formel Masters 1:48.366 Florian Herzog Dallara Formulino 2012 Lausitzring ADAC Formel Masters round Formula BMW 1:48.761 Sebastian Vettel Mygale FB02 2004 Lausitzring Formula BMW ADAC round V8Star Series 1:50.105 Thomas Mutsch V8Star car 2001 2nd Lausitzring V8Star round GT4 1:55.120 Tim Heinemann Mercedes-AMG GT4 2020 Lausitzring DTM Trophy round Porsche Carrera Cup 1:59.394 Leon Köhler Porsche 911 (991 II) GT3 Cup 2020 Lausitzring Porsche Carrera Cup Germany round TCR Touring Car 2:10.126 Dominik Fugel Honda Civic Type R TCR (FK8) 2020 2nd Lausitzring ADAC TCR Germany round Motorcycle Circuit (2000–present): World SBK 1:36.634 Chaz Davies Ducati Panigale R 2017 Lausitzring Superbike World SBK round Formula Three 1:39.852 Philipp Regensperger Dallara F305 2017 Lausitzring Remus F3 Cup round World SSP 1:41.035 Niki Tuuli Yamaha YZF-R6 2016 Lausitzring World SSP round Supersport 300 1:52.866 Rick Dunnik Yamaha YZF-R3 2020 Lausitzring IDM Supersport 300 round 250cc 1:52.909 Freddie Heinrich KTM 250 FRR 2020 Lausitzring Northern Talent Cup round Grand Prix Circuit with Banked Turn 1 (2021–present): GT3 1:32.085 Maro Engel Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 2022 Lausitzring DTM round GT4 1:42.039 Audi R8 LMS GT4 Evo 2022 Lausitzring DTM Trophy round Sprint Circuit (2004–present): EuroBOSS/F1 1:13.100 Patrick d'Aubreby Benetton B192 2005 1st Lausitzring EuroBOSS round Formula Three 1:15.109 Markus Pommer Dallara F311 2014 1st Lausitzring German F3 round Class 1 Touring Cars 1:16.992 Robin Frijns Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 2020 1st Lausitzring DTM round DTM 1:17.098 René Rast Audi RS5 DTM 2017 Lausitzring DTM round LMP3 1:20.012 Danny Soufi Ligier JS P320 2025 Lausitzring Prototype Cup Germany round GT3 1:20.423 Arjun Maini Ford Mustang GT3 Evo 2026 Lausitzring DTM round Formula Renault 2.0 1:21.264 Atte Mustonen Tatuus FR2000 2005 Lausitzring Formula Renault 2.0 Germany round Formula 4 1:21.759 Robert Shwartzman Tatuus F4-T014 2015 Lausitzring ADAC F4 round Porsche Carrera Cup 1:22.857 Chester Kieffer Porsche 911 (992 II) Cup 2026 Lausitzring Porsche Carrera Cup Germany round ADAC Formel Masters 1:23.602 Marvin Dienst Dallara Formulino 2014 Lausitzring ADAC Formel Masters round Formula BMW 1:24.312 Sébastien Buemi Mygale FB02 2005 Lausitzring Formula BMW ADAC round GT4 1:28.559 Denis Bulatov Mercedes-AMG GT4 2023 Lausitzring ADAC GT4 Germany round TCR Touring Car 1:29.986 Hyundai i30 N TCR 2020 1st Lausitzring ADAC TCR Germany round Truck racing 1:47.627 Norbert Kiss MAN TGS 2025 Lausitzring ETRC round Superspeedway (2000–present): CART 0:34.747 Tony Kanaan Reynard 01I 2001 American Memorial Formula Three 0:46.664 Ronny Wechselberger Dallara F302 2005 Eastside 100 Stock car racing 0:49.026 Ben Collins Chevrolet Monte Carlo 2003 2nd Lausitzring ASCAR round

Commercial use

Test site On 1 November 2017, Dekra acquired the Lausitzring as a test site, especially for autonomous driving. In April 2019 test and verification of communication elements took place on the Lausitzring. Participants were Ford, Samsung, Vodafone, Huawei, LG Electronics and others. Topics were communication matters.

Entertainment Dekra organised also an Open-air festival, that took place in May 2019.

Television The Lausitzring also appeared in the Top Gear Germany Special where The Stig's German cousin sets laptimes in their £5,000 everyday second-hand sports saloons. Jeremy Clarkson in a Ford Sapphire Sierra RS Cosworth with James May in Mercedes-Benz 190E Cosworth and Richard Hammond in the BMW M3. The trio later filmed a YouTube video where May "got lost" and Hammond "forgot to put the camera on" and Clarkson had a Welsh accent.

Events

Current

June: Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, ADAC GT Masters September: DMV Goodyear Racing Days

Future

F4 Germany Championship (2015–2018, 2020, 2022, 2027)

Former

3000 Pro Series (2005) A1 Grand Prix (2005) ADAC GT4 Germany (2020, 2023–2024) ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship (2020–2022) ASCAR Racing Series (2002–2003) Austria Formula 3 Cup (2003–2010, 2012–2013, 2015–2018, 2024) Champ Car World Series German 500 (2001, 2003) DTM Trophy (2020–2022) EuroBOSS Series (2004–2005, 2009) European Truck Racing Championship (2001–2002, 2025) FIA GT Championship (2000) FIA Sportscar Championship (2003) Formula BMW ADAC (2000–2007) Formula König (2001–2004) Formula Renault 2.0 Germany (2001–2005) Formula Three Euroseries (2005–2006, 2009) Formula Volkswagen Germany (2001–2003) Interserie (2001, 2003–2004) Northern Talent Cup (2020) Prototype Cup Germany (2022, 2024–2025) Red Bull Air Race World Championship (2010, 2016–2017) Sidecar World Championship (2001–2002) Superbike World Championship (2001–2002, 2005–2007, 2016–2017) Supersport 300 World Championship (2017) Supersport World Championship (2001–2002, 2005–2007, 2016–2017) Trofeo Maserati (2003) V8Star Series (2001–2003) World Series by Nissan (2003–2004)

Lausitzring

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