Norisring, Street Circuit

The Norisring is a temporary street circuit laid out each year through the Dutzendteich district in the south-east of Nuremberg, Bavaria, and ranks among the most striking settings in motor racing. Its lap runs around the Steintribüne, a vast stone grandstand built by the Nazi Party as a parade-ground podium, repurposed since the war into a 25,000-seat stand overlooking the track. The first race was held on 18 May 1947, drawing 60,000 spectators with fuel supplied by the US occupying forces, and early competition was dominated by motorcycles before sports cars took over from the late 1960s. The circuit took its name in 1950 from Noris, an old poetic name for the city, partly to avoid confusion with the more famous Nürburgring. A succession of layouts was tried over the decades, including an underpass in 1949, before the present short and fast configuration was settled in 1972 to cut speeds at the spot where Pedro Rodriguez had been killed the previous year. The lap pairs wide flat-out straights with tight stadium hairpins, producing close, hard-braking action. After hosting German DRM sportscars and World Endurance rounds, the venue switched allegiance to the DTM, for which its event is the blue-riband weekend, regularly drawing crowds well in excess of 100,000.

Operated by: MCN MotorSportClub Nürnberg (temporary, assembled annually)