As far back as 1986, in the former socialist East Germany, it was planned to convert one of the huge open coal mine pits into a race track. In the late 1990s, this idea was taken up again in order to build a replacement for the AVUS in Berlin. Winding in the infield of the high-speed tri-oval, there is a regular road race track for automobile and motorbike racing, using various track configurations up to roughly 4,500 m. The stands around the tri-oval have a capacity of 120,000, while the huge main grandstands have 25,000 seats, and unlike many circuits, the entire circuit can be seen from the main grandstand. Also a test oval with long straights and steeply banked corners is located next to the track. All tracks can be connected to form an 11 km long endurance racing course, but this option was not yet used for a major event, but as a test track capability. Like all modern tracks, the EuroSpeedway was built to the highest possible safety standards. However, in its first year of operation there were three serious accidents at the track. On 26 April 2001 former Formula One driver Michele Alboreto was killed while testing an Audi R8Le Mans Prototype racecar. On 3 May the same year a track marshal was killed when he was hit by a touring car during a test session. On 15 September 2001 Alex Zanardi, two-time champion of the American CART series, lost both his legs in an accident on the venue's oval. The official EuroSpeedway anthem "Speed Kings" was recorded by the veteran East German band Puhdys in 2000. The last concert of German hard rock bandBöhse Onkelz took place on 17 and 18 June 2005 at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz under the name Vaya Con Tioz, in front of approximately 120,000. It was the biggest open air show by a German band ever. On October 9, 2005, EuroSpeedway played host to the A1 Grand Prix series on its road course. The fastest lap of the meeting by FrenchmanNicolas Lapierre was 0.45 seconds slower than the lap record for the 4.345 km circuit held by Heikki Kovalainen. EuroSpeedway played host to Round 6 of the 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship. As the last two events of the 2010 Championship were cancelled, the 2011 series was cancelled as well. The series then suffered an overall three-year hiatus before finally returning in late February 2014, September 2016 and September 2017. The circuit will close to the public following the conclusion of the 2017 racing season due to Dekra purchasing the circuit to run it as a testing ground for road car innovations. However, the DTM and Red Bull Air Race World Championship will continue to host events at the venue in 2018.
