AVUS
The Automobil Verkehrs und Ubungs-Strasse, better known as AVUS, was a motor racing circuit on the south-west outskirts of Berlin, Germany, between Charlottenburg and Nikolassee.
Nowadays, it is an important part if the public highway system, as Autobahn A 115.
While normal for a road, it is unusually shaped for a race track as it is essentially just two long straights in the form of a dual carriageway, with a hairpin corner at each end.
The circuit was devised by the Automobilklub von Deutschland (AvD), in 1907, as both a motor-sport venue and a testing track for the motor industry. A lack of finances delayed the start of construction for six years, and construction was halted in 1913 for the same reason. During the Great War, Russian prisoners were employed in AVUS's construction, but the track was still unfinished by 1918. The remaining work was financed by business man Hugh Stinnes, and the circuit opened in September 1921.
At the time of opening, AVUS was 19.5 km (12 miles) long - each straight being approximately half that length, and joined at each end by flat large radius curves. In 1926 the track played host to Germany's first Grand Prix for sportscars, but it soon faced competition from the new Nürburgring circuit.
In an attempt to make AVUS the world's fastest race track, the north curve was turned into a banking with 43° in 1937, made of bricks. The Silver Arrows of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union raced only once on the banked version, using stream lined cars as in their high speed record attempts.
Hermann Lang's average race speed of about 260 km/h was not beaten at Indianapolis for 3 decades.
In early 1938, the popular German race driver Bernd Rosemeyer was killed in an land speed record attempt, and the high speed AVUS was then considered too dangerous for the fast Grand Prix race cars.
It is a common yet wrong belief that the Berlin Wall had cut the AVUS in half. After World War II, the Soviet quarter and the Berlin Wall with its Checkpoint Bravo at Dreilinden/Drewitz came no closer than about one mile to the former South Turn of AVUS at Nikolassee. This turn was demolished and replaced by a junction when the AVUS was continued to the south in order to be connected to the Autobahn network.
For post-war racing, the very long straights were shortened by the introduction of a new south turn roughly in the middle (just before the exit at Hüttenweg), reducing the track length to 8.3 km (just over 5 miles). In 1954, this shorter track hosted a non-championship Formula One race which was mainly a show by the Mercedes-Benz team, as no serious competiton was present. In 1959, AVUS hosted its only world championship F1 Grand Prix, won by Tony Brooks. This race weekend also saw the death of Jean Behra, as his Porsche flew over the top of the north turn banking. This banking was dismantled in 1967 to give way to an expanded intersection under the Funkturm tower.
Racing was continued with a flat north turn, but AVUS only held national touring cars DTM and Formula Junior 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.
The last real racing events were in 1998. The new Eurospeedway Lausitzring in Brandenburg is considered the replacement for AVUS.
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. The old wooden grandstand is protected as a historic monument.
Referenced By
Autobahn | German Grand Prix | List of Formula One circuits | Nuerburgring | Nurburgring | Nürburgring
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