Armin Hahne took an unexpected victory in the first heat for Honda, while Emanuele Pirro won for Audi in the second. The highway is located in the south-western districts of Berlin, linking the Stadtring at the Funkturm junction in Charlottenburg with Nikolassee. Also, chicanes were added to reduce entry speed into the North Curve. The Automobil Verkehrs and Übungs-Straße, to give it its full name, was conceived as early as 1907 by the Kaiserlicher Automobilclub (KAC) association, as fee-financed test and racing track for the burgeoning motor industry. To reduce speeds the straights where shortened again and the South corner was just a gap in the guardrail to turn.
The car of John Winter hit a barrier and exploded into a fireball in North Curve, which he survived. The following day the bulldozers moved in to begin the demolition. From the top of this tower, one can see that the AVUS is not perfectly straight. The German GP was held twice at AVUS, with Rudolf Caracciola's private Mercedes winning the inaugural event in 1926 and Tony Brooks succeeding in 1959. AVUS or Automobil-Verkehrs-und Übungsstrasse, is a public road in the city of Berlin that was opened in 1921 and it was used as a racing circuit until 1998. The following events were won by Achille Varzi (1933) and Guy Moll (1934), to the great annoyance of the new Nazi rulers, who declared the victory of German drivers and cars a matter of national pride. After just one year, the project shut down because of World War I, but Russian prisoners of war were employed to construct a temporary road along the route for military use.
The administration building and race control tower, complete with its Bosch and Mercedes-Benz signage, now functions as a truck-stop restaurant and motel, while the grandstand tribunes are currently undergoing renovation.
Finally, the new loop was ready by 1971 and racing could return in ernest, just in time to celebrate the circuit’s 50th birthday.
This race weekend also saw the death of French driver Jean Behra in a supporting sports car race, as his Porsche RSK flew over the top of the north turn banking, as there was no wall or fence. From that moment the track was criticised more and more. At the end of the war the southern end of the original circuit ran into the Soviet zone, so a new South curve was built cutting the circuit in half. AVUS continued to host non-championship races, along with motorcycle races and speed record attempts. The AVUS circuit was located in the Hallensee and Grunewald areas of Berlin, Germany. Germany’s most prestigious championships also started to return, including the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft in 1978, won by Toine Hezemans in a Porsche. However, before it could be completed war had once again broken out in Europe, and construction fell silent. For this the Südkurve was demolished. These records would stand for more than three decades! From 1975 on, the AVUS was just twice a year closed for racing. In 1995, the race 2 of DTM had to be cancelled, after a multi-car pileup blocked the circuit; later that September, British driver Kieth O'dor was killed in a Super Touring Car event when his car spun and was rammed sideways.[4]. Nothing from this site may get copied and published without written permission of the copyright holders. Track with a length of 19 km It was probably the most unusual racing track in the world and it was so simple, with only two long straights and two hairpin corners at each end. The layout for the circuit in the Grunewald district of Berlin was simple – two straights joined by a slightly banked corner at Charlottenburg and a hairpin six miles south at Nikolasse. In 1935 Luigi Fagioli won the race in a Mercedes-Benz W25; however, the track was no longer adequate for cars reaching average race speeds of far over 200 km/h (124 mph). If you do have a question though, please get in touch. And during the weekend there could be organized race events.
And also the old control tower with the former office building are still on the AVUS Parking. The first of numerous supposed ‘last’ events took place in 1967, when the touring cars bid farewell to the banking in June and then Manne Loth won the final ever race to use the brick loop when he triumphed in the 125cc motorcycle race on a very wet track in September. Both were also tragic affairs however. The round race control tower (with prominent Mercedes-Benz and Bosch sponsorship) still remains at the north end, and is used as a public restaurant and motel. Due to tire wear concerns, the race was run in two heats, the only modern Formula One race to do so. It is a remnant of the old AVUS, a street circuit on the freeway between Berlin and Wannsee. Brooklands in England was banked, as was Monza in Italy and Montlhéry in France. He slid on the banked Nordkurve, flew over the top and crashed into the remains of the foundation of an anti-aircraft gun from the Second World War.
Finally AVUS hosted its only world championship Formula One race with the 1959 German Grand Prix on 2 August, won by Tony Brooks. The event race was run in two heats; during qualifying for the second, Luigi Fagioli stuck his Auto Union Type C on pole position, with a time of 4 minutes and 8.2 seconds, lapping at an average speed of 280 km/h (174 mph). The following year saw Manfred von Brauchitsch triumph, after Caracciola had switched to Alfa Romeo.
High-banking doesn’t really do the new brick construction justice: the incline of 43° is the steepest ever used on a racing circuit and meant the corner could be taken virtually flat out. It spelt the end of the course as a venue for major international events and indeed there were no further car races for three years as shocked authorities worked out what to do. The fourth Ferrari, driven by Cliff Allison, suffered a broken clutch on lap 2. [1] It became dubbed the "Wall of Death," especially as it had no retaining barrier so cars that missed the turn easily flew off it. (A second banked curve was planned for a little bit beyond the southwest end, near the Großer Wannsee, but the accelerating war effort precluded that.). The Nordkurve was a brick surfaced, 43° banked corner that turned the cars more than 180°. While the flat Nordschleife loop remains, it is largely now an access road for an interior car park, with larger container units blocking access to some parts. This race was run in 2 heats; during qualifying for the second heat, Luigi Fagioli stuck his Auto Union Type C on pole position, with a time of 4 minutes and 8.2 seconds at an average speed of 284.31 km/h (176.7 mph)- which was the fastest motor racing lap in history until this time was bettered by Tony Bettenhausen in qualifying for the 1957 Race of Two Worlds at Monza. AVUS was shortened for a second time in 1987, with a new, tighter, Südkurve hairpin being built closer to the pits than before.
Currently the track is a segment of Bundesautobahn 115, a major link in the transport network of the area. In state of a long loop, the Southern turning point was now a flat corner which looked like a bus stop. Plans were afoot to to build a new banked southern loop, offset to the right of the course in the Grunewald Forest. While the original layout was 19 km (12 mi) long, the southern turn was moved several times, to shorten the track to 8.3 km (5.2 mi), then 8.1 km (5.0 mi) without the banking, 4.8 km (3.0 mi) and finally 2.6 km (1.6 mi). During the Grand Prix on Sunday everything went well and both heats where won by the British driver Tony Brooks in his Ferrari. Which made that the circuit was driven anticlockwise. [2] The Silver Arrows raced only once on the banked version, in 1937.
After this, the autobahns of south west Berlin reverberated to the sound of racing engines no more.
Due to the Great Depression annual auto races were not resumed until 1931, when Caracciola again won in a Mercedes-Benz SSK, succeeded by Manfred von Brauchitsch in the next year, after Caracciola had switched to Alfa Romeo. A new chicane was added at roughly the spot of the Odor collision in 1996 and the STW Cup made one final visit, but the writing was definitely on the wall. Opened in 1921, it is the oldest controlled-access highway in Europe. From 1927 the German Grand Prix was relocated to the new and more secure Nürburgring circuit in the Western German Eifel range, while the AVUS received a new asphalt surface and served as an experimental track for rocket cars. The AVUS circuit was located in the Hallensee and Grunewald areas of Berlin, Germany. On 11 July 1926 the track played host to the first international German Grand Prix for sports cars, organised by the Automobilclub von Deutschland, the former KAC.
It will be hard to imagine a more simple race track design than the lay-out of the AVUS. Furthermore, it was to be connected to the growing Reichsautobahn network in 1940 by extending it south towards the Berliner Ring, therefore the original hairpin at Nikolassee was demolished and replaced by a junction. The old grandstand tribunes also remain, protected as a historic monument, though decaying badly. When track events resumed in 1937, drivers and fans alike were shocked at what they saw. The length of the race track was 19,573 km (12.160 Miles). The 1921 roadway turned out to be insufficient: already in the training two days before the young Italian driver Enrico Platé (not to be confused with the Argentinian driver and team owner of the same name) had been in a car crash, whereby his mechanic was killed.
Armin Hahne took an unexpected victory in the first heat for Honda, while Emanuele Pirro won for Audi in the second. The highway is located in the south-western districts of Berlin, linking the Stadtring at the Funkturm junction in Charlottenburg with Nikolassee. Also, chicanes were added to reduce entry speed into the North Curve. The Automobil Verkehrs and Übungs-Straße, to give it its full name, was conceived as early as 1907 by the Kaiserlicher Automobilclub (KAC) association, as fee-financed test and racing track for the burgeoning motor industry. To reduce speeds the straights where shortened again and the South corner was just a gap in the guardrail to turn.
The car of John Winter hit a barrier and exploded into a fireball in North Curve, which he survived. The following day the bulldozers moved in to begin the demolition. From the top of this tower, one can see that the AVUS is not perfectly straight. The German GP was held twice at AVUS, with Rudolf Caracciola's private Mercedes winning the inaugural event in 1926 and Tony Brooks succeeding in 1959. AVUS or Automobil-Verkehrs-und Übungsstrasse, is a public road in the city of Berlin that was opened in 1921 and it was used as a racing circuit until 1998. The following events were won by Achille Varzi (1933) and Guy Moll (1934), to the great annoyance of the new Nazi rulers, who declared the victory of German drivers and cars a matter of national pride. After just one year, the project shut down because of World War I, but Russian prisoners of war were employed to construct a temporary road along the route for military use.
The administration building and race control tower, complete with its Bosch and Mercedes-Benz signage, now functions as a truck-stop restaurant and motel, while the grandstand tribunes are currently undergoing renovation.
Finally, the new loop was ready by 1971 and racing could return in ernest, just in time to celebrate the circuit’s 50th birthday.
This race weekend also saw the death of French driver Jean Behra in a supporting sports car race, as his Porsche RSK flew over the top of the north turn banking, as there was no wall or fence. From that moment the track was criticised more and more. At the end of the war the southern end of the original circuit ran into the Soviet zone, so a new South curve was built cutting the circuit in half. AVUS continued to host non-championship races, along with motorcycle races and speed record attempts. The AVUS circuit was located in the Hallensee and Grunewald areas of Berlin, Germany. Germany’s most prestigious championships also started to return, including the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft in 1978, won by Toine Hezemans in a Porsche. However, before it could be completed war had once again broken out in Europe, and construction fell silent. For this the Südkurve was demolished. These records would stand for more than three decades! From 1975 on, the AVUS was just twice a year closed for racing. In 1995, the race 2 of DTM had to be cancelled, after a multi-car pileup blocked the circuit; later that September, British driver Kieth O'dor was killed in a Super Touring Car event when his car spun and was rammed sideways.[4]. Nothing from this site may get copied and published without written permission of the copyright holders. Track with a length of 19 km It was probably the most unusual racing track in the world and it was so simple, with only two long straights and two hairpin corners at each end. The layout for the circuit in the Grunewald district of Berlin was simple – two straights joined by a slightly banked corner at Charlottenburg and a hairpin six miles south at Nikolasse. In 1935 Luigi Fagioli won the race in a Mercedes-Benz W25; however, the track was no longer adequate for cars reaching average race speeds of far over 200 km/h (124 mph). If you do have a question though, please get in touch. And during the weekend there could be organized race events.
And also the old control tower with the former office building are still on the AVUS Parking. The first of numerous supposed ‘last’ events took place in 1967, when the touring cars bid farewell to the banking in June and then Manne Loth won the final ever race to use the brick loop when he triumphed in the 125cc motorcycle race on a very wet track in September. Both were also tragic affairs however. The round race control tower (with prominent Mercedes-Benz and Bosch sponsorship) still remains at the north end, and is used as a public restaurant and motel. Due to tire wear concerns, the race was run in two heats, the only modern Formula One race to do so. It is a remnant of the old AVUS, a street circuit on the freeway between Berlin and Wannsee. Brooklands in England was banked, as was Monza in Italy and Montlhéry in France. He slid on the banked Nordkurve, flew over the top and crashed into the remains of the foundation of an anti-aircraft gun from the Second World War.
Finally AVUS hosted its only world championship Formula One race with the 1959 German Grand Prix on 2 August, won by Tony Brooks. The event race was run in two heats; during qualifying for the second, Luigi Fagioli stuck his Auto Union Type C on pole position, with a time of 4 minutes and 8.2 seconds, lapping at an average speed of 280 km/h (174 mph). The following year saw Manfred von Brauchitsch triumph, after Caracciola had switched to Alfa Romeo.
High-banking doesn’t really do the new brick construction justice: the incline of 43° is the steepest ever used on a racing circuit and meant the corner could be taken virtually flat out. It spelt the end of the course as a venue for major international events and indeed there were no further car races for three years as shocked authorities worked out what to do. The fourth Ferrari, driven by Cliff Allison, suffered a broken clutch on lap 2. [1] It became dubbed the "Wall of Death," especially as it had no retaining barrier so cars that missed the turn easily flew off it. (A second banked curve was planned for a little bit beyond the southwest end, near the Großer Wannsee, but the accelerating war effort precluded that.). The Nordkurve was a brick surfaced, 43° banked corner that turned the cars more than 180°. While the flat Nordschleife loop remains, it is largely now an access road for an interior car park, with larger container units blocking access to some parts. This race was run in 2 heats; during qualifying for the second heat, Luigi Fagioli stuck his Auto Union Type C on pole position, with a time of 4 minutes and 8.2 seconds at an average speed of 284.31 km/h (176.7 mph)- which was the fastest motor racing lap in history until this time was bettered by Tony Bettenhausen in qualifying for the 1957 Race of Two Worlds at Monza. AVUS was shortened for a second time in 1987, with a new, tighter, Südkurve hairpin being built closer to the pits than before.
Currently the track is a segment of Bundesautobahn 115, a major link in the transport network of the area. In state of a long loop, the Southern turning point was now a flat corner which looked like a bus stop. Plans were afoot to to build a new banked southern loop, offset to the right of the course in the Grunewald Forest. While the original layout was 19 km (12 mi) long, the southern turn was moved several times, to shorten the track to 8.3 km (5.2 mi), then 8.1 km (5.0 mi) without the banking, 4.8 km (3.0 mi) and finally 2.6 km (1.6 mi). During the Grand Prix on Sunday everything went well and both heats where won by the British driver Tony Brooks in his Ferrari. Which made that the circuit was driven anticlockwise. [2] The Silver Arrows raced only once on the banked version, in 1937.
After this, the autobahns of south west Berlin reverberated to the sound of racing engines no more.
Due to the Great Depression annual auto races were not resumed until 1931, when Caracciola again won in a Mercedes-Benz SSK, succeeded by Manfred von Brauchitsch in the next year, after Caracciola had switched to Alfa Romeo. A new chicane was added at roughly the spot of the Odor collision in 1996 and the STW Cup made one final visit, but the writing was definitely on the wall. Opened in 1921, it is the oldest controlled-access highway in Europe. From 1927 the German Grand Prix was relocated to the new and more secure Nürburgring circuit in the Western German Eifel range, while the AVUS received a new asphalt surface and served as an experimental track for rocket cars. The AVUS circuit was located in the Hallensee and Grunewald areas of Berlin, Germany. On 11 July 1926 the track played host to the first international German Grand Prix for sports cars, organised by the Automobilclub von Deutschland, the former KAC.
It will be hard to imagine a more simple race track design than the lay-out of the AVUS. Furthermore, it was to be connected to the growing Reichsautobahn network in 1940 by extending it south towards the Berliner Ring, therefore the original hairpin at Nikolassee was demolished and replaced by a junction. The old grandstand tribunes also remain, protected as a historic monument, though decaying badly. When track events resumed in 1937, drivers and fans alike were shocked at what they saw. The length of the race track was 19,573 km (12.160 Miles). The 1921 roadway turned out to be insufficient: already in the training two days before the young Italian driver Enrico Platé (not to be confused with the Argentinian driver and team owner of the same name) had been in a car crash, whereby his mechanic was killed.
Armin Hahne took an unexpected victory in the first heat for Honda, while Emanuele Pirro won for Audi in the second. The highway is located in the south-western districts of Berlin, linking the Stadtring at the Funkturm junction in Charlottenburg with Nikolassee. Also, chicanes were added to reduce entry speed into the North Curve. The Automobil Verkehrs and Übungs-Straße, to give it its full name, was conceived as early as 1907 by the Kaiserlicher Automobilclub (KAC) association, as fee-financed test and racing track for the burgeoning motor industry. To reduce speeds the straights where shortened again and the South corner was just a gap in the guardrail to turn.
The car of John Winter hit a barrier and exploded into a fireball in North Curve, which he survived. The following day the bulldozers moved in to begin the demolition. From the top of this tower, one can see that the AVUS is not perfectly straight. The German GP was held twice at AVUS, with Rudolf Caracciola's private Mercedes winning the inaugural event in 1926 and Tony Brooks succeeding in 1959. AVUS or Automobil-Verkehrs-und Übungsstrasse, is a public road in the city of Berlin that was opened in 1921 and it was used as a racing circuit until 1998. The following events were won by Achille Varzi (1933) and Guy Moll (1934), to the great annoyance of the new Nazi rulers, who declared the victory of German drivers and cars a matter of national pride. After just one year, the project shut down because of World War I, but Russian prisoners of war were employed to construct a temporary road along the route for military use.
The administration building and race control tower, complete with its Bosch and Mercedes-Benz signage, now functions as a truck-stop restaurant and motel, while the grandstand tribunes are currently undergoing renovation.
Finally, the new loop was ready by 1971 and racing could return in ernest, just in time to celebrate the circuit’s 50th birthday.
This race weekend also saw the death of French driver Jean Behra in a supporting sports car race, as his Porsche RSK flew over the top of the north turn banking, as there was no wall or fence. From that moment the track was criticised more and more. At the end of the war the southern end of the original circuit ran into the Soviet zone, so a new South curve was built cutting the circuit in half. AVUS continued to host non-championship races, along with motorcycle races and speed record attempts. The AVUS circuit was located in the Hallensee and Grunewald areas of Berlin, Germany. Germany’s most prestigious championships also started to return, including the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft in 1978, won by Toine Hezemans in a Porsche. However, before it could be completed war had once again broken out in Europe, and construction fell silent. For this the Südkurve was demolished. These records would stand for more than three decades! From 1975 on, the AVUS was just twice a year closed for racing. In 1995, the race 2 of DTM had to be cancelled, after a multi-car pileup blocked the circuit; later that September, British driver Kieth O'dor was killed in a Super Touring Car event when his car spun and was rammed sideways.[4]. Nothing from this site may get copied and published without written permission of the copyright holders. Track with a length of 19 km It was probably the most unusual racing track in the world and it was so simple, with only two long straights and two hairpin corners at each end. The layout for the circuit in the Grunewald district of Berlin was simple – two straights joined by a slightly banked corner at Charlottenburg and a hairpin six miles south at Nikolasse. In 1935 Luigi Fagioli won the race in a Mercedes-Benz W25; however, the track was no longer adequate for cars reaching average race speeds of far over 200 km/h (124 mph). If you do have a question though, please get in touch. And during the weekend there could be organized race events.
And also the old control tower with the former office building are still on the AVUS Parking. The first of numerous supposed ‘last’ events took place in 1967, when the touring cars bid farewell to the banking in June and then Manne Loth won the final ever race to use the brick loop when he triumphed in the 125cc motorcycle race on a very wet track in September. Both were also tragic affairs however. The round race control tower (with prominent Mercedes-Benz and Bosch sponsorship) still remains at the north end, and is used as a public restaurant and motel. Due to tire wear concerns, the race was run in two heats, the only modern Formula One race to do so. It is a remnant of the old AVUS, a street circuit on the freeway between Berlin and Wannsee. Brooklands in England was banked, as was Monza in Italy and Montlhéry in France. He slid on the banked Nordkurve, flew over the top and crashed into the remains of the foundation of an anti-aircraft gun from the Second World War.
Finally AVUS hosted its only world championship Formula One race with the 1959 German Grand Prix on 2 August, won by Tony Brooks. The event race was run in two heats; during qualifying for the second, Luigi Fagioli stuck his Auto Union Type C on pole position, with a time of 4 minutes and 8.2 seconds, lapping at an average speed of 280 km/h (174 mph). The following year saw Manfred von Brauchitsch triumph, after Caracciola had switched to Alfa Romeo.
High-banking doesn’t really do the new brick construction justice: the incline of 43° is the steepest ever used on a racing circuit and meant the corner could be taken virtually flat out. It spelt the end of the course as a venue for major international events and indeed there were no further car races for three years as shocked authorities worked out what to do. The fourth Ferrari, driven by Cliff Allison, suffered a broken clutch on lap 2. [1] It became dubbed the "Wall of Death," especially as it had no retaining barrier so cars that missed the turn easily flew off it. (A second banked curve was planned for a little bit beyond the southwest end, near the Großer Wannsee, but the accelerating war effort precluded that.). The Nordkurve was a brick surfaced, 43° banked corner that turned the cars more than 180°. While the flat Nordschleife loop remains, it is largely now an access road for an interior car park, with larger container units blocking access to some parts. This race was run in 2 heats; during qualifying for the second heat, Luigi Fagioli stuck his Auto Union Type C on pole position, with a time of 4 minutes and 8.2 seconds at an average speed of 284.31 km/h (176.7 mph)- which was the fastest motor racing lap in history until this time was bettered by Tony Bettenhausen in qualifying for the 1957 Race of Two Worlds at Monza. AVUS was shortened for a second time in 1987, with a new, tighter, Südkurve hairpin being built closer to the pits than before.
Currently the track is a segment of Bundesautobahn 115, a major link in the transport network of the area. In state of a long loop, the Southern turning point was now a flat corner which looked like a bus stop. Plans were afoot to to build a new banked southern loop, offset to the right of the course in the Grunewald Forest. While the original layout was 19 km (12 mi) long, the southern turn was moved several times, to shorten the track to 8.3 km (5.2 mi), then 8.1 km (5.0 mi) without the banking, 4.8 km (3.0 mi) and finally 2.6 km (1.6 mi). During the Grand Prix on Sunday everything went well and both heats where won by the British driver Tony Brooks in his Ferrari. Which made that the circuit was driven anticlockwise. [2] The Silver Arrows raced only once on the banked version, in 1937.
After this, the autobahns of south west Berlin reverberated to the sound of racing engines no more.
Due to the Great Depression annual auto races were not resumed until 1931, when Caracciola again won in a Mercedes-Benz SSK, succeeded by Manfred von Brauchitsch in the next year, after Caracciola had switched to Alfa Romeo. A new chicane was added at roughly the spot of the Odor collision in 1996 and the STW Cup made one final visit, but the writing was definitely on the wall. Opened in 1921, it is the oldest controlled-access highway in Europe. From 1927 the German Grand Prix was relocated to the new and more secure Nürburgring circuit in the Western German Eifel range, while the AVUS received a new asphalt surface and served as an experimental track for rocket cars. The AVUS circuit was located in the Hallensee and Grunewald areas of Berlin, Germany. On 11 July 1926 the track played host to the first international German Grand Prix for sports cars, organised by the Automobilclub von Deutschland, the former KAC.
It will be hard to imagine a more simple race track design than the lay-out of the AVUS. Furthermore, it was to be connected to the growing Reichsautobahn network in 1940 by extending it south towards the Berliner Ring, therefore the original hairpin at Nikolassee was demolished and replaced by a junction. The old grandstand tribunes also remain, protected as a historic monument, though decaying badly. When track events resumed in 1937, drivers and fans alike were shocked at what they saw. The length of the race track was 19,573 km (12.160 Miles). The 1921 roadway turned out to be insufficient: already in the training two days before the young Italian driver Enrico Platé (not to be confused with the Argentinian driver and team owner of the same name) had been in a car crash, whereby his mechanic was killed.
But the end of the AVUS street circuit came closer when a new permanent race track was built not far from Berlin. Valencia Street Circuit – Track Visit 2017, Deutschlandring Germany – Track Visit 2016, AVUS Berlin: A most remarkable street circuit, Cadwell Park, England – The Mini Nürburgring, Oulton Park Circuit, England – Track Visit. It was also bettered by 4 drivers during the 1971 Indianapolis 500. Also a new office building (Now the AVUS motel) and an new main grandstand where built. On 23 May 1928 Fritz von Opel ("Rocket Fritz") achieved a speed record of 238 km/h (148 mph) in an Opel RAK2. The AVUS (Automobil-Verkehrs-und-Übungs-Straße) was a temporary circuit, set up using a section of the Autobahn in southwestern Berlin. "1986 Indianapolis 500". https://f1.fandom.com/wiki/AVUS?oldid=88135. The French ace flipped his privateer Porsche over the top edge of the banking, sadly giving the nickname the 'wall of death' unwanted resonance. The AVUS suffered poorly during the conflict: the administration and toll building was heavily damaged and was torn down after the war. It only hosted modern Formula One once, the 1959 German Grand Prix, won by Tony Brooks in a Ferrari.
Armin Hahne took an unexpected victory in the first heat for Honda, while Emanuele Pirro won for Audi in the second. The highway is located in the south-western districts of Berlin, linking the Stadtring at the Funkturm junction in Charlottenburg with Nikolassee. Also, chicanes were added to reduce entry speed into the North Curve. The Automobil Verkehrs and Übungs-Straße, to give it its full name, was conceived as early as 1907 by the Kaiserlicher Automobilclub (KAC) association, as fee-financed test and racing track for the burgeoning motor industry. To reduce speeds the straights where shortened again and the South corner was just a gap in the guardrail to turn.
The car of John Winter hit a barrier and exploded into a fireball in North Curve, which he survived. The following day the bulldozers moved in to begin the demolition. From the top of this tower, one can see that the AVUS is not perfectly straight. The German GP was held twice at AVUS, with Rudolf Caracciola's private Mercedes winning the inaugural event in 1926 and Tony Brooks succeeding in 1959. AVUS or Automobil-Verkehrs-und Übungsstrasse, is a public road in the city of Berlin that was opened in 1921 and it was used as a racing circuit until 1998. The following events were won by Achille Varzi (1933) and Guy Moll (1934), to the great annoyance of the new Nazi rulers, who declared the victory of German drivers and cars a matter of national pride. After just one year, the project shut down because of World War I, but Russian prisoners of war were employed to construct a temporary road along the route for military use.
The administration building and race control tower, complete with its Bosch and Mercedes-Benz signage, now functions as a truck-stop restaurant and motel, while the grandstand tribunes are currently undergoing renovation.
Finally, the new loop was ready by 1971 and racing could return in ernest, just in time to celebrate the circuit’s 50th birthday.
This race weekend also saw the death of French driver Jean Behra in a supporting sports car race, as his Porsche RSK flew over the top of the north turn banking, as there was no wall or fence. From that moment the track was criticised more and more. At the end of the war the southern end of the original circuit ran into the Soviet zone, so a new South curve was built cutting the circuit in half. AVUS continued to host non-championship races, along with motorcycle races and speed record attempts. The AVUS circuit was located in the Hallensee and Grunewald areas of Berlin, Germany. Germany’s most prestigious championships also started to return, including the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft in 1978, won by Toine Hezemans in a Porsche. However, before it could be completed war had once again broken out in Europe, and construction fell silent. For this the Südkurve was demolished. These records would stand for more than three decades! From 1975 on, the AVUS was just twice a year closed for racing. In 1995, the race 2 of DTM had to be cancelled, after a multi-car pileup blocked the circuit; later that September, British driver Kieth O'dor was killed in a Super Touring Car event when his car spun and was rammed sideways.[4]. Nothing from this site may get copied and published without written permission of the copyright holders. Track with a length of 19 km It was probably the most unusual racing track in the world and it was so simple, with only two long straights and two hairpin corners at each end. The layout for the circuit in the Grunewald district of Berlin was simple – two straights joined by a slightly banked corner at Charlottenburg and a hairpin six miles south at Nikolasse. In 1935 Luigi Fagioli won the race in a Mercedes-Benz W25; however, the track was no longer adequate for cars reaching average race speeds of far over 200 km/h (124 mph). If you do have a question though, please get in touch. And during the weekend there could be organized race events.
And also the old control tower with the former office building are still on the AVUS Parking. The first of numerous supposed ‘last’ events took place in 1967, when the touring cars bid farewell to the banking in June and then Manne Loth won the final ever race to use the brick loop when he triumphed in the 125cc motorcycle race on a very wet track in September. Both were also tragic affairs however. The round race control tower (with prominent Mercedes-Benz and Bosch sponsorship) still remains at the north end, and is used as a public restaurant and motel. Due to tire wear concerns, the race was run in two heats, the only modern Formula One race to do so. It is a remnant of the old AVUS, a street circuit on the freeway between Berlin and Wannsee. Brooklands in England was banked, as was Monza in Italy and Montlhéry in France. He slid on the banked Nordkurve, flew over the top and crashed into the remains of the foundation of an anti-aircraft gun from the Second World War.
Finally AVUS hosted its only world championship Formula One race with the 1959 German Grand Prix on 2 August, won by Tony Brooks. The event race was run in two heats; during qualifying for the second, Luigi Fagioli stuck his Auto Union Type C on pole position, with a time of 4 minutes and 8.2 seconds, lapping at an average speed of 280 km/h (174 mph). The following year saw Manfred von Brauchitsch triumph, after Caracciola had switched to Alfa Romeo.
High-banking doesn’t really do the new brick construction justice: the incline of 43° is the steepest ever used on a racing circuit and meant the corner could be taken virtually flat out. It spelt the end of the course as a venue for major international events and indeed there were no further car races for three years as shocked authorities worked out what to do. The fourth Ferrari, driven by Cliff Allison, suffered a broken clutch on lap 2. [1] It became dubbed the "Wall of Death," especially as it had no retaining barrier so cars that missed the turn easily flew off it. (A second banked curve was planned for a little bit beyond the southwest end, near the Großer Wannsee, but the accelerating war effort precluded that.). The Nordkurve was a brick surfaced, 43° banked corner that turned the cars more than 180°. While the flat Nordschleife loop remains, it is largely now an access road for an interior car park, with larger container units blocking access to some parts. This race was run in 2 heats; during qualifying for the second heat, Luigi Fagioli stuck his Auto Union Type C on pole position, with a time of 4 minutes and 8.2 seconds at an average speed of 284.31 km/h (176.7 mph)- which was the fastest motor racing lap in history until this time was bettered by Tony Bettenhausen in qualifying for the 1957 Race of Two Worlds at Monza. AVUS was shortened for a second time in 1987, with a new, tighter, Südkurve hairpin being built closer to the pits than before.
Currently the track is a segment of Bundesautobahn 115, a major link in the transport network of the area. In state of a long loop, the Southern turning point was now a flat corner which looked like a bus stop. Plans were afoot to to build a new banked southern loop, offset to the right of the course in the Grunewald Forest. While the original layout was 19 km (12 mi) long, the southern turn was moved several times, to shorten the track to 8.3 km (5.2 mi), then 8.1 km (5.0 mi) without the banking, 4.8 km (3.0 mi) and finally 2.6 km (1.6 mi). During the Grand Prix on Sunday everything went well and both heats where won by the British driver Tony Brooks in his Ferrari. Which made that the circuit was driven anticlockwise. [2] The Silver Arrows raced only once on the banked version, in 1937.
After this, the autobahns of south west Berlin reverberated to the sound of racing engines no more.
Due to the Great Depression annual auto races were not resumed until 1931, when Caracciola again won in a Mercedes-Benz SSK, succeeded by Manfred von Brauchitsch in the next year, after Caracciola had switched to Alfa Romeo. A new chicane was added at roughly the spot of the Odor collision in 1996 and the STW Cup made one final visit, but the writing was definitely on the wall. Opened in 1921, it is the oldest controlled-access highway in Europe. From 1927 the German Grand Prix was relocated to the new and more secure Nürburgring circuit in the Western German Eifel range, while the AVUS received a new asphalt surface and served as an experimental track for rocket cars. The AVUS circuit was located in the Hallensee and Grunewald areas of Berlin, Germany. On 11 July 1926 the track played host to the first international German Grand Prix for sports cars, organised by the Automobilclub von Deutschland, the former KAC.
It will be hard to imagine a more simple race track design than the lay-out of the AVUS. Furthermore, it was to be connected to the growing Reichsautobahn network in 1940 by extending it south towards the Berliner Ring, therefore the original hairpin at Nikolassee was demolished and replaced by a junction. The old grandstand tribunes also remain, protected as a historic monument, though decaying badly. When track events resumed in 1937, drivers and fans alike were shocked at what they saw. The length of the race track was 19,573 km (12.160 Miles). The 1921 roadway turned out to be insufficient: already in the training two days before the young Italian driver Enrico Platé (not to be confused with the Argentinian driver and team owner of the same name) had been in a car crash, whereby his mechanic was killed.