EuroSpeedway Lausitz (Lausitzring), Racing Circuit

The Lausitzring, properly the DEKRA Lausitzring, is a vast racing and testing complex near Klettwitz in Brandenburg, eastern Germany, raised on the reclaimed ground of the former Meuro open-cast coal mine. Conceived in part as a replacement for Berlin's ageing AVUS street circuit, it was built at a cost of 158 million euros and officially opened before 80,000 spectators on 20 August 2000 under the name EuroSpeedway Lausitz. At its heart lies a two-mile tri-oval superspeedway, reminiscent of Pocono and the only oval of its kind in continental Europe, wrapped around an infield road course that has proved the more enduring venue for top-level racing. A separate long test oval can be joined to the infield to form a 7.5-mile 'langstrecke'. The oval first hosted CART Champ Cars, but its early years were marked by tragedy, most infamously the September 2001 crash in which Alex Zanardi lost both legs after spinning at the pit exit and being struck at full speed by Alex Tagliani. The DTM and the IDM superbike championship have been mainstays since the opening season, and a tighter Turn 1 hairpin was added in 2007 to improve overtaking and reduce first-corner incidents. After a 2002 insolvency the circuit recovered, and in 2017 the automotive testing giant DEKRA bought the entire facility, renaming it and developing it into one of Europe's largest vehicle-testing sites while still hiring the track out for racing.

Operated by: ADAC