The circuit opened with the final round of the LG Super Racing Weekend in October 2004, which featured concluding rounds of the FIA GT Championship, the European Touring Car Championship, and the 2004 Formula Renault V6 Eurocup season. Its Grade 1 FIA license means the facility meets all the requirements to host a Formula One race, though Grand Prix racing in the UAE has been concentrated at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi since 2009.
Dubai Motor City, the broader development surrounding the circuit, was conceived as an integrated motorsport, residential, and commercial district. The Autodrome sits at its center, with the Dubai Kartdrome — an international-standard karting facility with a 1.2 km track featuring 17 corners — located across the boulevard from the main circuit. The Kartdrome accommodates up to 40 cars simultaneously and has hosted UAE championship karting as well as the Dubai O Plate, considered the biggest karting race in the Middle East.
The Autodrome offers four racing configurations and two additional non-racing sections, all with access to the pit area, plus separate handling course layouts. The circuit's longest configuration hosted the GP2 Asia Series in 2008, with the outright track record of 1:41.220 set by Kamui Kobayashi driving a DAMS entry. The unofficial all-time track record of 1:40.887 was set by Romain Grosjean in qualifying during the same GP2 Asia event.
The circuit hosted the FIA GT Championship from 2004 to 2006, including its inaugural event, and the December 2005 A1 Grand Prix. Since 2006, the Autodrome has been the permanent home of the Dubai 24 Hour, an endurance race open to GT, sports cars, and touring cars for both professional and semi-professional teams. The Dubai 24 Hour is part of the 24H Series and has grown into one of the Middle East's most important endurance motorsport events.
Other series that have visited the circuit include the FIA GT3 European Championship (2007–2008), the GP2 Asia Series (2008), the Formula Regional Asian Championship (2020–2022), TCR Middle East (2017–2019), and various Formula 4 championships. The circuit currently hosts the Asian Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Dubai in February, the Formula Regional Middle East Championship, and the F4 Middle East Championship among its regular annual events.
The Dubai Autodrome was among the first purpose-built international-standard circuits to open in the Middle East, predating the Yas Marina Circuit by five years. Its role in hosting the FIA GT Championship in 2004 and the A1 Grand Prix in 2005 demonstrated that the region could support top-tier international motorsport. The circuit's enduring role as the home of the Dubai 24 Hour has given it a stable identity within international sportscar racing, and the accompanying Kartdrome has developed a strong presence at the grassroots and club level across the region.