The layout is described as smooth and fast, with its flat contours allowing sustained high speeds through much of a lap. The end of the main straight is the fastest section of the circuit. A chicane at the McDonald's corner offers flexibility in racing lines but punishes overaggression with broken suspension. The first corner, modified from a rounded entry into a sharp 90-degree left turn, is a notorious accident flashpoint, particularly on opening laps when cars are closely bunched. The corner drew a well-known critical comment from former British Touring Car Championship driver and commentator John Cleland, who stated that the designer of the corner deserved to be taken into a dark room.
The circuit opened on 25 July 1997 under the name Motopark Oschersleben, making it Germany's fourth permanent racing facility after the Nürburgring, Hockenheimring, and Sachsenring. In its first year it already hosted the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany. The International Formula 3000 visited in 1998, the circuit's second year of operation, and the Superbike World Championship began a run of appearances in 2000 that would extend through 2004.
The circuit's highest-profile period came through its association with international touring car racing. It hosted the FIA European Touring Car Championship from 2002 to 2004, and when that series was reconstituted as the World Touring Car Championship, Oschersleben continued as a venue under the title of the FIA WTCC Race of Germany from 2005 to 2011. The circuit thus hosted a continuous run of European or world-level touring car championship rounds spanning a decade. During this period it also attracted the FIA GT Championship on multiple occasions between 1998 and 2009.
The circuit has a strong tradition in motorcycle endurance racing. The 8 Hours of Oschersleben, counting towards the FIM Endurance World Championship, was held at the circuit from 1999 to 2009 and again from 2012 to 2019, giving the venue one of the longer unbroken histories of endurance motorcycle racing of any German circuit. The IDM Superbike Championship continues to hold rounds at Oschersleben.
The circuit hosted a wide variety of single-seater series over the years. The ADAC Formel Masters ran at Oschersleben from 2008 to 2014, followed by the ADAC Formula 4 from 2015 to 2020. The FIA Formula Two Championship held rounds at the circuit in 2009 and 2010. Formula Three European Series rounds were held in 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2010. The ATS Formel 3 Cup used the venue regularly from 1998 to 2014, making Oschersleben one of the most consistent Formula Three venues in Germany during that era.
Oschersleben remains an active racing venue. Regular events on the contemporary calendar include rounds of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, the ADAC GT Masters, and the IDM Superbike Championship. The NASCAR Euro Series has held the NASCAR GP Germany at the circuit in 2023, 2024, and 2025, bringing American-style stock car racing to the German calendar. The Sidecar World Championship holds an annual festival event at the circuit. The 8 Hours of Oschersleben endurance format, which ran for many years under FIM sanction, established Oschersleben as a key venue in European motorcycle endurance competition, and the circuit continues to attract significant entries from the sidecar racing community.