The Lausitzring (formally known as the

Dekra Dekra (stylised as DEKRA in its logo) is a vehicle testing and inspecting organisation founded in Berlin, Germany in 1925, although the company is currently headquartered in Stuttgart. Dekra operates 480 branches throughout Germany and carri ...

Lausitzring for ownership reasons) is a

race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also us ...

located near

Klettwitz Klettwitz (; ) is a village in the municipality of Schipkau, in Brandenburg, in eastern Germany, situated in the historical region of Lower Lusatia. History The village was first mentioned in 1370 with the name of ''Cleticz''. In 1815, it became ...

(a civil parish of Schipkau,

Oberspreewald-Lausitz Oberspreewald-Lausitz (, ) is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the southern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Dahme-Spreewald, Spree-Neiße, the districts Bautzen and Meissen in Saxony, and the district ...

district) in the state of

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

in northeast

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, near the borders of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. It was originally named Lausitzring as it is located in the region of

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

, known as ''Lausitz'' in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, but was renamed EuroSpeedway Lausitz for better international communication from 2000 to 2010. The EuroSpeedway has been in use for

motor racing An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...

since 2000. Among other series,

DTM DTM may refer to: Sport * Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, a motor-racing series staged annually in Germany since 2000 * Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, a motor-racing championship staged in Germany from 1984 to 1995 Computing * Data Transfer ...

(German Touring Car Championship) takes place there annually. It also used to host the

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette road racing series based on heavily modified production sports motorcycles. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Champion ...

. 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 The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

and

IndyCar IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis ...

. The

tri-oval A tri-oval is a shape which derives its name from the two other shapes it most resembles, a triangle and an Oval (geometry), oval. Rather than meeting at sharp, definable angles as the sides of a triangle do, in a tri-oval these angles are instea ...

(similar to

Pocono Raceway Pocono Raceway (formerly known as the Pocono International Raceway in early years) is a tri-oval track in Blakeslee, Pennsylvania. The track has held a variety of events since its opening in 1969, including NASCAR, IndyCar Series, and IMSA GT ...

) was used twice in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

by open seater

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...

races named ''German 500'' (won by

Kenny Bräck Per Cenny "Kenny" Bräck (born 21 March 1966) is a Swedish former race car driver. Until his retirement from racing, he competed in the Champ Car, CART, Indy Racing League and the IROC series. He won the 1998 Indy Racing League championship and t ...

and

Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Olivier Bourdais (; born 28 February 1979) is a French professional racing driver who currently races in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Cadillac Hertz Team Jota in the Hypercar category. He is one of the most successful dr ...

), plus a few British SCSA races. In 2005 and 2006, the

German Formula Three Championship The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series had merged with the French Formula Three Championship ...

held races at the oval, with a pole position lap average speed of and a race average of .

History

As far back as 1986, in the former communist

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, it was planned to convert one of the huge open

coal mine Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

pits into a race track. In the late 1990s, this idea was taken up again in order to build a replacement for the

AVUS The ('Automobile traffic and training road'), known as AVUS (), is a public road in Berlin, Germany. Opened in 1921, it was also used as a motor racing circuit until 1998. Today, the AVUS forms the northern part of the Bundesautobahn 115. C ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. 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, but so far this option has been used only for testing and never as part of a major event. There were three serious accidents at the facility in its first year of operation. On 25 April 2001, former

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

driver

Michele Alboreto Michele Alboreto (; 23 December 1956 – 25 April 2001) was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Alboreto was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari, and won five F ...

was killed on the test oval after crashing at high speed due to a tyre failure. Alboreto was testing an

Audi R8 The Audi R8 is a mid-engine, 2-seater sports car, which uses Audi's trademark quattro permanent all-wheel drive system. It was introduced by the German car manufacturer Audi AG in 2006. Production ended in the first quarter of 2024. The car is ...

in preparation of his participation at the

2001 24 Hours of Le Mans The 2001 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 69th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 16 and 17 June 2001. Background Preview The 2001 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 69th edition of the race and took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe road racing ...

. Just over a week later, on 3 May 2001, a

track marshal Motorsport marshals are mainly volunteer workers responsible for the safety of motor racing competitors. They are stationed at various points of danger around race tracks to assist them in case of any collisions, accidents or track problems. Ma ...

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

series to be held in Europe, but it was eventually overshadowed by the accident in which the series' two-time champion

Alex Zanardi Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi (; born 23 October 1966) is an Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist. He won the CART championship in 1997 and 1998, and took 15 wins in the series. He also raced in Formula One from 1991 to 1994 and again ...

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 Alexandre Tagliani (; born October 18, 1973), nicknamed "Tag", is a Canadian professional racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Canada Series, driving the No. 80 Chevrolet Camaro for Dumoulin Compétition. Tagliani has competed in a ...

'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 The Puhdys () were a German rock band formed in Oranienburg, East Germany, in 1969, although by then they had been performing together—with various lineups—as the Puhdys since 1965. Although they are especially popular in their native easte ...

in 2000. The last concert of German hard rock band

Böhse Onkelz Böhse Onkelz (; sensational spelling of (German for "evil uncles")) is a German rock band formed in Frankfurt in 1980. The band reunited in 2014. Despite mass-media criticism concerning their past as skinheads, several of their later records ...

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 A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd. operated as A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themse ...

series on its road course. The fastest lap of the meeting was set by

Nicolas Lapierre Nicolas Camile Bernard Lapierre (born 2 April 1984) is a retired French professional racing driver and team principal. Notable for winning the LMP2 class four times at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Lapierre was a factory driver at Toyota during the ea ...

and was 0.45 seconds slower than the lap record for the circuit held by

Heikki Kovalainen Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (; born 19 October 1981) is a Finnish auto racing, racing and rally driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Kovalainen won the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix with McLaren. In sportscar racing, Kovalainen won Super GT ...

. 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 September 2016 and September 2017. On 1 November 2017, the entire facility was sold to the vehicle inspection company

, 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

File:EuroSpeedway Lausitz tri-oval diagram.svg, Superspeedway layout File:EuroSpeedway GP.png, Grand Prix Circuit layout File:EuroSpeedway GP Oval T1 2.png, Grand Prix Circuit with Oval Turn 1 File:EuroSpeedway DTM Circuit.svg, DTM Sprint Circuit layout File:Lausitz GrandPrix Strecke.png, Motorcycle Circuit layout File:EuroSpeedway Lausitz detailed map.svg, Detailed map of the Lausitzring

Lap records

As of June 2025, the fastest official race lap records at Lausitzring are listed as:

Commercial use

Test site

On 1 November 2017,

acquired the Lausitzring as a test site, especially for

autonomous driving Vehicular automation is using technology to assist or replace the operator of a vehicle such as a car, truck, aircraft, rocket, military vehicle, or boat. Assisted vehicles are ''semi-autonomous'', whereas vehicles that can travel without a ...

. In April 2019 test and verification of communication elements took place on the Lausitzring. Participants were Ford,

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei" sometimes stylized as "HUAWEI"; ; zh, c=华为, p= ) is a Chinese multinational corporationtechnology company in Longgang, Shenzhen, Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong. Its main product lines include teleco ...

LG Electronics LG Electronics Inc. () is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational major appliance and consumer electronics corporation headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea. LG Electronics is a part of LG, LG Corporation, the fourth ...

and others. Topics were communication matters.

Entertainment

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

Events

Complementary racing events, such as

are on the agenda.

Current

* May:

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, commonly abbreviated as the DTM, is a sports car racing series sanctioned by ADAC. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The series currently races a modified version of Group GT3 gra ...

European Truck Racing Championship The FIA European Truck Racing Championship is a motorsport Truck racing, truck road racing series for tractor unit, semi-tractors which is sanctioned to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and is organised by ETRA Promotion GmbH. ...

ADAC GT Masters The ADAC GT Masters is a grand tourer-based auto racing series founded by the international Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and supported by the German ADAC automotive club. Similar to an earlier ADAC GT Cup series in the 1990s, the new GT ...

, Prototype Cup Germany * June: Lausitzring Classic, ESET Cup Series * September: DMV Goodyear Racing Days

Former

* 3000 Pro Series (2005) *

(2005) *

ADAC Formula 4 ADAC Formula 4 () was a racing series regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was the 2015 ADAC Formula 4. It replaced the ADAC Formel Masters, held from 2008 to 2014. History Gerhard Berger and the FIA Single S ...

(2015–2018, 2020, 2022) *

ADAC GT4 Germany The ADAC GT4 Germany is a grand tourer-based auto racing series that is largely held in Germany. The races are held as part of the ADAC GT Masters, and GT4 vehicles are used. The championship took place for the first time in 2019. History On 27 J ...

(2020, 2023–2024) *

ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship The ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series based in Germany. History On 16 September 2015, the German Series was launched by ADAC and Engstler Motorsport, who already run in the International Series. The new categ ...

(2020–2022) *

ASCAR Racing Series ASCAR (Anglo-American Stock Car Racing), was a stock car racing series that raced at circuits around the United Kingdom and Europe from 2001 until 2008. The series went through many guises during its seven year period and was known as the ASCAR M ...

(2002–2003) *

Austria Formula 3 Cup The Austria Formula 3 Cup is an open wheel racing series based in Austria. The series has run since 1982 and regular visits such circuits as the Salzburgring and the Red Bull Ring in Austria, the Autodrom Most and the Masaryk Circuit, Brno Circui ...

(2003–2010, 2012–2013, 2015–2018, 2024) *

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing T ...

** '' German 500'' (2001, 2003) * DTM Trophy (2020–2022) *

EuroBOSS Series The BOSS GP Racing Series is a motor racing series in Europe. The category originated in 1995 as the BOSS Formula series and evolved into the EuroBOSS Series. BOSS is an acronym that stands for Big Open Single Seaters. History The BOSS serie ...

(2004–2005, 2009) *

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

(2000) *

FIA Sportscar Championship The FIA Sportscar Championship was a sports car racing series created by John Mangoletsi and got the approval of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 2001. It was a series similar to the FIA GT Championship, concentrating on tw ...

(2003) * Formula BMW ADAC (2000–2007) *

Formula König Formula König was an open wheel racing series based in Germany and sponsored by German automobile company König Komfort- und Rennsitze GmbH (König comfort and racing seats GmbH). It ran from 1988 to 2004 as a single-seater feeder series. Its m ...

(2001–2004) *

Formula Renault 2.0 Germany In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwe ...

(2001–2005) *

Formula Three Euroseries The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...

(2005–2006, 2009) * Formula Volkswagen Germany (2001–2003) *

Interserie Interserie is the name of a European-based motorsport series started in 1970 that allows for a wide variety of racing cars from various eras and series to compete with less limited rules than in other series. Created in 1970 by German Gerhard Här ...

(2001, 2003–2004) *

Northern Talent Cup The Northern Talent Cup is a one-make European motorcycle racing series. It was created to give young riders from Central and Northern European countries a first stepping stone on the road to MotoGP. The series races on the KTM 250 Standard ...

(2020) *

Porsche Carrera Cup Germany The Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, (currently known as Porsche SIXT Carrera Cup Deutschland; known as Porsche 944 Turbo Cup between 1986–1989) is a one-make racing series by Porsche based in Germany. Champions Circuits * Adria International ...

(2000–2017, 2020, 2022–2023) *

Red Bull Air Race World Championship The World Championship Air Race is a series of air races sanctioned by the World Air Sports Federation (FAI). Originally established in 2003 as the Red Bull Air Race, and created by Red Bull GmbH, the event involves competitors navigating a ...

(2010, 2016–2017) *

Sidecar World Championship FIM Sidecar World Championship is the international sidecar racing championship. It is the only remaining original Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, FIM road racing championship class that started in 1949. It was formerly named Supersi ...

(2001–2002) *

(2001–2002, 2005–2007, 2016–2017) *

Supersport 300 World Championship The Supersport 300 World Championship (or short abbreviated as WorldSSP300) is a motorcycle racing competition on paved surfaces, for production-based motorcycles. Created in 2017, the championship runs as a support class to the Superbike World C ...

(2017) *

Supersport World Championship The Supersport World Championship, abbreviated to WorldSSP, is a motorcycle racing competition on hard-surfaced circuits, based on mid-sized sports motorcycles. Competition machines were originally based on production-based motorcycles with 600& ...

(2001–2002, 2005–2007, 2016–2017) *

Trofeo Maserati The Trofeo Maserati is a single-marque motorsport championship that was started by Maserati Corse in 2003, with the introduction of the Maserati Coupé. Its title is commonly confused as ''Maserati Trofeo'', which in fact refers to the name d ...

(2003) *

V8Star Series The V8Star Series was a touring car racing series based in Germany that ran for three seasons between 2001 and 2003. The series featured privateers racing identical cars that were covered in different silhouette designs to create visual diversi ...

(2001–2003) *

World Series by Nissan The World Series Formula V8 3.5, formerly the World Series by Nissan from 1998 to 2004, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series from 2005 to 2015 and the Formula V8 3.5 in 2016 and 2017, was a motor racing series promoted by RPM Racing (1998–2004) and R ...

(2003–2004)

References

External links

Official website of Lausitzring
{{Authority control A1 Grand Prix circuits Champ Car circuits Motorsport venues in Brandenburg Superbike World Championship circuits Buildings and structures in Oberspreewald-Lausitz Sports venues completed in 2000 2000 establishments in Germany