AVUS explained

Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße (AVUS)
Location: Berlin, Germany
Time:CET (UTC+1)
CEST (DST)
Layout1:Grand Prix Circuit with Chicane (1994–1998)
Length Km:2.660
Length Mi:1.653
Turns:6
Record Time:0:53.440
Record Driver: Stefano Modena
Record Car:Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI
Record Year:1994
Record Class:Class 1 Touring Cars
Layout2:Grand Prix Circuit (1992–1993)
Length Km2:2.639
Length Mi2:1.640
Turns2:4
Record Time2:0:54.920
Record Driver2: Max Angelelli
Record Car2:Dallara F393
Record Year2:1993
Record Class2:F3
Layout3:Grand Prix Circuit (1989–1991)
Length Km3:4.879
Length Mi3:3.032
Turns3:4
Record Time3:1:30.050
Record Driver3: Hans-Joachim Stuck
Record Car3:Audi V8 Quattro
Record Year3:1991
Record Class3:Group A
Layout4:Grand Prix Circuit with Unbanked Nord Kehre (1968–1988)
Length Km4:8.109
Length Mi4:5.039
Turns4:4
Record Time4:2:02.130
Record Driver4: Volkert Merl
Record Car4:Porsche 956
Record Year4:1983
Record Class4:Group C
Layout5:Grand Prix Circuit (1951–1967)
Banking5:43° (Nord Kehre)
Length Km5:8.300
Length Mi5:5.157
Turns5:4
Record Time5:2:04.500
Record Driver5: Tony Brooks
Record Car5:Ferrari Dino 246
Record Year5:1959
Record Class5:F1
Layout6:Grand Prix Circuit (1937–1939)
Banking6:43° (Nord Kehre)
Length Km6:19.291
Length Mi6:11.987
Turns6:4
Record Time6:4:11.200
Record Driver6: Bernd Rosemeyer
Record Year6:1937
Record Class6:GP
Layout7:Original Grand Prix Circuit (1921–1936)
Banking7:10° (Nord Kehre)
Length Km7:19.569
Length Mi7:12.160
Turns7:4
Record Time7:4:32.000
Record Driver7:Auto Union Type B
Record Car7: Hans Stuck
Record Year7:1935
Record Class7:GP

The German: italic=no|Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße ('Automobile traffic and training road'), known as AVUS (pronounced as /de/), is a public road in Berlin, Germany. Opened in 1921, it was the first automobile-only road,[1] [2] [3] [4] which served as an inspiration for Piero Puricelli's 1924 Italian: [[autostrada]].[5] [6] It also was used as a motor racing circuit until 1998. Today, the AVUS forms the northern part of the Bundesautobahn 115.

Circuit

The highway is located in the southwestern districts of Berlin, linking the Stadtring at the Funkturm junction in Charlottenburg with Nikolassee. It runs through the Grunewald forest along the historic Königsweg road from Charlottenburg to Potsdam and the parallel Berlin-Blankenheim railway line.

While normal for a road, it is unusually shaped for a race track as it is essentially two long straights in the form of a dual carriageway, with a hairpin corner at each end. The north curve featured a steep banking from 1937 to 1967. While the original layout was 19.569km (12.16miles) long, the southern turn was moved several times, to shorten the track to 8.3km (05.2miles), then 8.109km (05.039miles) without the banking, 4.879km (03.032miles) and finally 2.639km (01.64miles).

History

In 1907 the Kaiserlicher Automobilclub (KAC) association devised a fee-financed circuit, as both a motor-sport venue and a testing track for the motor industry. A developing company was established in 1909; however, a lack of finances and official authorisations delayed the start of construction until spring 1913. During the Great War works discontinued, and though Russian Army prisoners were temporarily employed in AVUS's construction, the track was still unfinished. From 1920 the remaining road work was financed by businessman and politician Hugo Stinnes. The circuit, including a gate building and several stands, was inaugurated during the first post-war International Automobile Exhibition (IAA) with a motor race on 24 September 1921. Afterwards the road was open to the public at a charge of ten Marks.

Race track

At the time of opening, AVUS was long – each straight being approximately half that length, and joined at each end by flat, large-radius curves, driven counter-clockwise.

While the Grand Prix motor racing scene still evaded German tracks, the circuit from 1922 was also the site of motorcycle races. 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. The 1921 roadway turned out to be insufficient: Already, in practice two days before, the young Italian driver Enrico Platé (not to be confused with the Argentinian driver and team owner of the same name) was involved in a crash that killed his mechanic. During the race, in heavy rain, two track marshals died when Adolf Rosenberger lost control and hit the indicator board and the timekeeper's box, with a third employee succumbing to his injuries in hospital a few hours later. The Grand Prix was won by his fellow team-member, the so-far unknown Mercedes-Benz salesman Rudolf Caracciola, from Remagen, driving a private, eight-cylinder "Monza" Kompressor type. The fastest lap of was set by Ferdinando Minoia in an OM.

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.

On 23 May 1928 Fritz von Opel ("Rocket Fritz") achieved a speed record of 238km/h in an Opel RAK2.

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 the next year after Caracciola had switched to Alfa Romeo.

The competition on 22 May 1932 saw further notable participants like the Earl Howe, Hans Stuck and Sir Malcolm Campbell. The Czechoslovak driver, Prince George Christian of Lobkowicz, died when his Bugatti Type 54 crashed in the southern hairpin. 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. They strongly backed the construction of the new Silver Arrows (Silberpfeile) generation of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union.

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 200km/h. In an effort to make AVUS the "world's fastest race track", the 1936 season was skipped and while the track hosted the cycling road race, the marathon and 50 km walk athletic events of the 1936 Summer Olympics, the north curve was turned into a steeply banked turn (43°) made of bricks.[7] It became dubbed the wall of death, especially as it had no retaining barrier, so cars that missed the turn easily flew off it.[8] The Silver Arrows raced only once on the banked version, in 1937. As the AVUS race did not count towards the championship, non-GP cars were allowed, which permitted the use of streamlined cars, similar to the cars used for high speed record attempts. This race was run in two 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 - 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. It was also bettered by four drivers during the 1971 Indianapolis 500. Mercedes driver Hermann Lang's average race speed of about 276km/h was the fastest road race in history for nearly five decades, and was not matched on a high-speed banked-circuit until the mid-1980s at the 1986 Indianapolis 500.[9]

No major race was held after 1937 as, in early 1938, the popular German race driver Bernd Rosemeyer was killed in a land speed record attempt on a straight section of the Autobahn FrankfurtDarmstadt (present-day Bundesautobahn 5), at which point the high-speed AVUS was considered too dangerous for the fast Grand Prix race cars. 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. A planned banked south turn was never built; the cleared grounds in the Grunewald forest were used as a proving ground ("Keerans Range") by the American occupation forces after World War II.

Post-war

The first AVUS race after the war was held on 1 July 1951 for Formula Two and Formula Three cars, won by East German driver Paul Greifzu. For post-war racing, the original extremely long straights were shortened by the introduction of a new south turn roughly in the middle (just before the Hüttenweg exit, where it can still be seen), reducing the track length to . After World War II, the Berlin Wall, with its Checkpoint Bravo at Dreilinden/Drewitz, came no closer than about one mile (1.6 km) to the former South Turn. It is a common yet incorrect belief that the Berlin Wall cut the AVUS in half.

It was not until 19 September 1954 that this shorter track hosted a non-championship Formula One race. This "Grand Prix of Berlin" was mainly a show dominated by the Mercedes-Benz W196 drivers Karl Kling (the winner) and Juan Manuel Fangio. No serious competition was present, as many teams had refused to show up and the German Grand Prix was still held on the Nürburgring. Finally AVUS hosted its only world championship Formula One race with the 1959 German Grand Prix on 2 August, won by Tony Brooks. 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. German driver and journalist Richard von Frankenberg had previously walked away from a similar spectacular crash at the same site, but Behra would have no such luck as his body impacted a flagpole head-first after he was flung from his car.

After 1961, Grand Prix racing did not race on banked circuits until 2000. The banked sections at Autodromo Nazionale Monza and Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry were considered dangerous by international racing standards. They were used in connection with chicanes for some time, then abandoned. Banking only returned to Formula One in 2000 when the series used a road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The AVUS banking was dismantled in 1967 to give way to an expanded intersection under the Funkturm tower. From the top of this tower, one can see that the AVUS is not perfectly straight.

The old banked circuit can be seen in the film A Dandy in Aspic (1968) featuring period racing cars.

Racing was continued with a flat north turn, but AVUS only held national touring cars DTM and Formula Three events. The length of the track was roughly cut in half twice in the 1980s and 1990 as racing on straights became unpopular. Also, chicanes were added to reduce entry speed into the North Curve. Yet, some incidents and accidents occurred. The BMW of Dieter Quester rolled over when exiting the last corner, and crossed the finish line sliding on its roof, with sparks flying, for a podium finish. The car of John Winter hit a barrier and exploded into a fireball in North Curve, which he survived.

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, with the impact on the driver's side.[10]

AVUS today

After the fall of the Berlin wall, the closure of the AVUS for race events became increasingly problematic over traffic and associated environmental concerns. After the last races in 1998, a farewell event with veterans was held in 1999. Since 2000, the new EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Brandenburg is considered the replacement venue for competition. The round race control tower at the north end still remains with its prominent Mercedes-Benz and Bosch sponsorship insignia. It is used as a (now closed) public restaurant and motel. The old wooden grandstand is protected as a historic monument.

Lap times

The fastest official race lap records at AVUS are listed as:

Category Time Driver Vehicle Event
Grand Prix Circuit with Chicane: 2.660 km (1994–1998)[11]
0:53.440[12] 1994 AVUS DTM round
0:54.100[13] 1994 AVUS German F3 round
0:59.620[14] 1995 AVUS STW Cup round
1:00.240[15] 1994 Internationales ADAC Avus Rennen
Grand Prix Circuit: 2.639 km (1992–1993)[16]
0:54.920[17] 1993 AVUS German F3 round
0:56.480[18] 1993 AVUS DTM round
0:57.020[19] 1992 AVUS DTM round
1:02.510[20] 1993 Internationales ADAC-Avus-Rennen
Grand Prix Circuit: 4.879 km (1989–1991)
1:30.050[21] 1991 AVUS DTM round
1:32.300[22] 1991 AVUS German F3 round
Grand Prix Circuit: 8.109 km (1968–1988)
2:02.130[23]
2:03.400[24] 1978 Internationales ADAC Mampe Avus-Rennen
2:04.400[25] 1977 AVUS Interserie round
2:14.510[26] 1980 AVUS BMW M1 Procar round
2:16.170[27]
2:19.120[28]
2:26.270[29] 1988 AVUS DTM round
2:26.340[30] 1984 AVUS German F3 round
Grand Prix Circuit: 8.300 km (1951–1967)
2:04.500[31] 1959 German Grand Prix
2:13.500[32] 1967 AVUS Grand Prix
Grand Prix Circuit: 19.291 km (1937–1939)
4:11.200[33] 1937 Avusrennen
Original Grand Prix Circuit: 19.573 km (1921–1936)
4:32.000[34] 1935 Avusrennen

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The AVUS . . 26 July 2024.
  2. Web site: AVUS Berlin: A most remarkable street circuit . Herman . Liesemeijer . Circuits of the Past . 28 June 2018 .
  3. Book: AVUS 100: Ein rasantes Jahrhundert . de . Schulz . Ulf . Wedemeyer . Sven . Presetl . 2021.
  4. Web site: Avus highway | German expressway . Encyclopædia Britannica . subscription.
  5. Book: Erhard . Schütz . Eckhard . Gruber . Mythos Reichsautobahn: Bau und Inszenierung der 'Straßen des Führers' 1933–1941 . Berlin . Links . 1996 . 978-386153117-3 . 31–32 . de .
  6. Book: Thomas . Kunze . Rainer . Stommer . Geschichte der Reichsautobahn . Reichsautobahn: Pyramiden des Dritten Reichs. Analysen zur Ästhetik eines unbewältigten Mythos . Rainer . Stommer . Claudia Gabriele . Philipp . Marburg . Jonas . 1982 . 9783922561125 . 22–47 . de.
  7. Web site: 1937 Grand Prix Season – Part 2 . The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing . 2007-11-18 . 2014-09-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140924134848/http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp372.htm#15 . dead .
  8. Web site: Tracks-Germany . The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing . 2007-11-18 . 2020-11-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201108070630/http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/t2.htm . dead .
  9. http://racing-reference.info/race/1986_Indianapolis_500/UO#15 "1986 Indianapolis 500". racing-reference.info. Racing Reference.
  10. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CC&s_site=contracostatimes&p_multi=CC&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=1063F97510EB4AE6&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Search Results
  11. Web site: AVUS - Racing Circuits . RacingCircuits.info . 23 August 2022.
  12. Web site: Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft 1994 » AVUS Round 16 Results . 4 September 1994 . 23 August 2022.
  13. Web site: 1994 ADAC AVUS-Rennen 16.Lauf Deutsche Formel-3-Meisterschaft Ergebnis Rennen 2 . 4 September 1994 . 23 August 2022.
  14. Web site: STW Cup 1995 » AVUS Round 14 Results . 10 September 1995 . 23 August 2022.
  15. Web site: ADAC GT-Cup Avus 1994 . 1 May 1994 . 15 December 2022.
  16. Web site: AVUS - Motor Sport Magazine . . 22 August 2022.
  17. Web site: 1993 ADAC AVUS-Rennen 17.Lauf Deutsche Formel-3-Meisterschaft Ergebnis Rennen 1 . 11 September 1993 . 23 August 2022.
  18. Web site: Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft 1993 » AVUS Round 18 Results . 12 September 1993 . 23 August 2022.
  19. Web site: Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft 1992 » AVUS Round 8 Results . 10 May 1992 . 23 August 2022.
  20. Web site: ADAC GT-Cup Avus 1993 . 9 May 1993 . 15 December 2022.
  21. Web site: Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft 1991 » AVUS Round 8 Results . 5 May 1991 . 23 August 2022.
  22. Web site: 1991 ADAC AVUS-Rennen 4.Lauf Deutsche Formel-3-Meisterschaft Ergebnis Rennen . 5 May 1991 . 23 August 2022.
  23. Web site: DRM Avus 1983 . 1 May 1983 . 15 December 2022.
  24. Web site: DRM Avus 1978 . 21 May 1978 . 15 December 2022.
  25. Web site: Interserie Avus 1977 . 22 May 1977 . 15 December 2022.
  26. Web site: Procar Avus 1980 . 11 May 1980 . 15 December 2022.
  27. Web site: Rennsport Trophäe Avus 1983 . 1 May 1983 . 15 December 2022.
  28. Web site: Interserie Avus 1984 . 14 April 1984 . 15 December 2022.
  29. Web site: Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft 1988 » AVUS Round 10 Results . 29 May 1988 . 23 August 2022.
  30. Web site: 1984 ADAC AVUS-Rennen 3.Lauf Deutsche Formel-3-Meisterschaft Ergebnis Rennen . 13 May 1984 . 23 August 2022.
  31. Web site: 1959 German Grand Prix . . 2 August 1959 . 22 August 2022.
  32. Web site: GP Avus 1967 . 10 September 1967 . 15 December 2022.
  33. Web site: 1937 Avusrennen . . 30 May 1937 . 22 August 2022.
  34. Web site: 1935 Avusrennen . . 26 May 1935 . 22 August 2022.