Lausitzring

The concept dates to 1986 in former communist East Germany, where plans were made to convert a large open coal mine pit into a race track. The idea was revisited in the late 1990s as a replacement for the AVUS in Berlin, which faced increased traffic after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Construction of the EuroSpeedway Lausitz began on 17 June 1998, and the facility officially opened on 20 August 2000.

The Lausitzring's defining feature is a 3.256 km (2.023 mi) high-speed tri-oval, unique in continental Europe and similar in design to Pocono Raceway. Winding within the tri-oval's infield is a road course for automobile and motorbike racing with configurations up to approximately 4.562 km (2.835 mi). The spectator stands around the oval hold 120,000 people; the main grandstand seats 25,000 and offers a view of the entire circuit.

Adjacent to the racing facility is a separate test oval with two straights of approximately 2.500 km (1.553 mi) each, connected by steeply banked U-shaped corners, giving a total length of 5.800 km (3.604 mi). All tracks can be combined into a 12.030 km (7.475 mi) endurance course, though this configuration has been used only for testing and never for a major event.

The facility's first year of operation was marked by three serious accidents. On 25 April 2001, former Formula One driver Michele Alboreto was killed on the test oval after a high-speed crash caused by a tyre failure while testing an Audi R8 in preparation for the 2001 24 Hours of Le Mans. Just over a week later, on 3 May 2001, a track marshal was killed when struck by a touring car during a test session.

The third incident occurred on 15 September 2001, when the tri-oval hosted the 2001 American Memorial — the first CART race held in Europe. Two-time CART champion Alex Zanardi lost control at the pit exit following a late fuel stop and slid onto the oval, where his car was struck at full speed by Alex Tagliani's car. The impact split the front of Zanardi's car and caused the driver to suffer a traumatic amputation of both legs; Tagliani was not seriously injured.

The tri-oval hosted two CART open-wheel races in total, both named the German 500: the September 2001 American Memorial, won by Kenny Bräck, and the May 2003 German 500, won by Sébastien Bourdais. British SCSA Stock cars races also used the oval. In 2005 and 2006, the German Formula Three Championship held races at the oval, recording a pole position lap average of 251.761 km/h (156.437 mph) and a race average of 228.931 km/h (142.251 mph).

On 9 October 2005, the circuit hosted a round of the A1 Grand Prix series. The fastest lap was set by Nicolas Lapierre, 0.45 seconds slower than the 4.345 km (2.700 mi) circuit lap record held by Heikki Kovalainen.

In June 2005, the German hard rock band Böhse Onkelz performed their final concert at the Lausitzring under the name Vaya Con Tioz, before approximately 120,000 people — described in the corpus as the largest open-air show ever by a German band.

The Lausitzring hosted Round 6 of the 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship. After the final two rounds of the 2010 championship were cancelled, the 2011 series was also cancelled. The championship returned in September 2016 and September 2017.

On 1 November 2017, the facility was sold to Dekra, which announced plans to modernise it as a proving ground for road car innovations including autonomous driving. Dekra stated it would not organise public racing events itself but would rent the circuit to other organisers. In April 2019, communication technology testing took place at the circuit with participants including Ford, Samsung, Vodafone, Huawei, and LG Electronics. The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters has continued to hold races at the circuit.

Current regular events include the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, and ADAC GT Masters (June), and the DMV Goodyear Racing Days (September).

Former events have included: 3000 Pro Series (2005), A1 Grand Prix (2005), ADAC Formula 4 (2015–2018, 2020, 2022), 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 / 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), Porsche Sprint Challenge Suisse (2021), 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), and World Series by Nissan (2003–2004).

This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.