27 replies to this topic

[Rupertlt1]

This article re Heinz Melkus refers to a number of circuits in the old DDR:

http://www.500race.o...elkus Heinz.htm

 

What was the exact location of these circuits? Dresden, Leipzig, Dessau, Bernau etc etc.

 

RGDS RLT

 

[Vitesse2]

Most - possibly all - of them can be found on Darren Galpin's site.

 

Dresden-Hellerau: http://www.silhouet....ks/dresden.html

 

Leipzig: http://www.silhouet....ks/leipzig.html

 

Dessau: http://www.silhouet....s/dessauer.html

 

Bernau: http://www.silhouet....cks/bernau.html

 

A bit of work with Google Earth ought to pin them down exactly!

[Rupertlt1]

Dresden looks like here:

https://www.google.c...feea760dc79da87

 

RGDS RLT

Edited by Rupertlt1, 21 August 2015 - 13:39.

[Nick Wa]

Bernau & 1969 DDR Rally,

 

A cold evening, snowing lightly (it will get heavier and colder later in the early hours) and this is the venue for the 2nd special stage. Bob Woods and I are running in the 2nd half of the field. The seeding appears to be fellow comrades first, locals next and capitalists last! From memory the stage was 10 laps with cars starting in normal rally fashion at 1 minute intervals, anyway we were I recall out there for some 31 minutes. From the circuit shown in Vitesse2's link the start was at the Western end on the Northern carriageway and a flying finish on the Southern one. Either these were off the circuit proper to the West or that run West was shortened, also I recall a Mikey Mouse dog leg to the South on that long drag West. The cloverleaf section was banked.

 

Anyway I thoroughly enjoyed this stage. Before our start we observed a BulgarAlpine erupt like a volcano when they removed the radiator cap. When we got going due to the unique seeding there must have been about 40 cars circulating and the old Lotus Cortina was gobbling up a handful or more of Wartburgs and Trabies per lap. Entering the cloverleaf one just threaded through the locals moving up and down on the throttle.

 

That stage was one of the more enjoyable and memorably moments of my motoring exploits and it continued on all night and next morning. Happy times.

 

[Rupertlt1]

Leipzig circuit startline was about here (there was/is a horse race track at the Leipziger Stadtparkrennen):

 

https://www.google.c...21871,19z/data=!4m13!1m4!3m3!1s0x47a6f9d5c869d60d:0x951f8caedca006ff!2sWundtstra%C3%9Fe,+Leipzig,+Germany!3b1!4m7!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x47a6f9d5c869d60d:0x951f8caedca006ff!2m2!1d12.3621871!2d51.3210967

 

RGDS RLT

Edited by Rupertlt1, 03 September 2015 - 18:02.

[ozpata]

Edited by ozpata, 14 November 2016 - 23:19.

[GMiranda]

That's great!!! You did it?

[MCS]

Hi ozpata

 

That's a good question from GMiranda.  You have provided us with a few of these maps recently and they are all terrific, in my view.

 

Are they your work?

[ozpata]

yes I started doing them a while ago, basically trying to do as many as I can from 1950, following the f1 circuits and f2, others and hopefully keep going as they evolved

 

next ones to come are , Naples, Solitude, nordschleife, sudschleife, Sachsenring, Mettet

 

some already done, Silverstone, Goodwood, Halle-Saale, Terme di Caracalla, Remparts,Blandford, Chimay, all of them at https://oscarplada.blogspot.com/

 

I try to contact local places, get access to period maps, pictures and build a database to work from, so most have a couple of months of prep to try to do as close as I can, they are not perfect but hopefully it will show them as they were, since lots of them no longer exist or are used, have changed beyond recognition

Edited by ozpata, 14 November 2016 - 14:54.

[ozpata]

Hi ozpata

 

That's a good question from GMiranda.  You have provided us with a few of these maps recently and they are all terrific, in my view.

 

Are they your work?

 

as I stated before, yes they are done by me,

in the last 30 years or so I have been collecting lots of books and magazines from basically the early 1900 to present day, collaborating on some mods for racing simulators like the GP37 and f1 1965 in rfactor

 

there are lots of pictures and drawings from magazines that usually gives a general layout of old tracks and some sites have good info on them, but I always felt that there was not very clear layouts on some of them, I am not claiming to do a definitive view or anything alike, just trying to do a little contribution to present them in a way that look a bit more complete

 

the process usually is to starting ahead with a list of the next 5 or 10 tracks in the list, to keep it sort of organized, I decided to start from 1950 and follow f1/f2 tracks adding some others like Tasman or sport, so I do a search for material preferably from the time, libraries, magazines , books, to get the basic info, then search the google or earth view now a days, then try to get in touch with local libraries or any agency, government, whatever place that can give me access to maps, pictures, orthophotos, surveys to complete the info, then is just trying to do the best I can with what I could get

 

also did a few like this

 

hope I don't get in trouble for posting these

[MCS]

Well, Oscar, as I said previously, I think they are terrific. Thank you for posting them here and for the link to your website.  I have just spent an enjoyable ten minutes or so having a look round! 

 

I very strongly suspect that there will be others here who enjoy your work equally.

 

This is purely personal - so please forgive me my preferences - but from an historic perspective I am particularly keen on the French road circuits, but also some of the former and temporary US tracks such as Bridgehampton, Langhorne, Riverside, the Ontario Motor Speedway Phoenix, New Orleans - on the basis that whilst I was there for the IMSA race in 1991, I never worked out where the circuit went because the access was virtually non-existent  - Trenton, West Palm Beach and so on.  An eclectic mix.  Sorry, but you've got me thinking now.

 

Keep up the good work.  Really like what you are doing.

 

Mark

[ozpata]

thanks Mark

 

I will hopefully get to most of what you mention, I have already setup for about 100 circuits and their variations as I progress on time, year by year, still on the 50 season, french tracks have a pretty good database that is getting more info day by day, the USA tracks will get to them at some point, don't know how I will integrate them to the schedule that I set myself for them, but I am thinking that since the WSC started around 1953, will start putting them into that along with the others, I am almost done with Le Mans 1950 and then probably will start to organize the american tracks, have quite a few folders already setup but is a matter of time to get the information sorted and then either start by opening date or some other criteria

 

sorry for deviate the post, if anybody feel that this should be erased or moved, please do so

 

 

also note that the image was changed as the arrow was pointing on the wrong direction, so the one in the quoted post still is pointing down or wrong

thanks again

Oscar

Edited by ozpata, 14 November 2016 - 23:20.

[Rob Semmeling]

 

What was the exact location of these circuits? Dresden, Leipzig, Dessau, Bernau etc etc.

 

 

 

DDR circuits:

 

 

Bautzen – Sachsen / Bautzener Autobahnring / 1955-1974 (DDR) (20) / cars + motorcycles
Location: 51°11'25.72"N / 14°24'52.41"E

 

This 2.92 km circuit was one of several in East-Germany laid out over motorways (Autobahn). The Bautzener Autobahnring, located just north-west of town, was used from 1955-1974, and meetings were for both cars and motorcycles, except the first year when only the latter raced here.

 

Bernau (Bernau bei Berlin) – Brandenburg / Bernauer Schleife / 1952-1954, 1957 and 1959-1965 and 1967-73 (DDR) (19)
Location: 52°36'50.91"N / 13°33'39.17"E

 

The Bernauer Schleife was a motorway circuit used in two layouts, measuring 5.8515 km (1952-1954) and 5.102 km (as of 1957). Strangely, the length was given as 5.2187 and 5.074 km in later years, although the layout remained the same, except that the direction changed from anti-clockwise to clockwise as of 1963. All meetings at the Bernauer Schleife included both motorcycles
and autos, with the exception of one separate race for production motorbikes in 1964.

 

Bernburg (Bernburg/Saale) – Sachsen-Anhalt / Bernburger Saaledreieck / August 1952 (DDR) (1) / cars + motorcycles
Location: 51°47'39.42"N / 11°43'13.29"E

 

A 3.250 km street circuit just south-west of the Bernburg city centre hosted a one-off car- and motorcycle meeting in August 1952. Start-finish was located at the Krumbholz-Allee, and the total elevation change was 26.232 (sic) metres, according to the track map found in the race programme.

 

Chemnitz – Sachsen / Chemnitzer Autobahnschere / 1952-1953 (DDR) (2) / cars + motorcycles
Location: 50°51'23.72"N / 12°51'46.06"E

 

A peculiarly-shaped 5.642 km motorway circuit north of Chemnitz hosted a combined car- and motorcycle meeting in September 1952. A modified layout measuring 5 km was then used for a further event held in May 1953, exactly one week before the city was renamed Karl-Marx-Stadt. The motorway has since been reconstructed and so large parts of Chemnitzer Autobahnschere do not exist anymore.

 

Dessau – Sachsen-Anhalt / 1949-1950, 1952-1953 and 1955-1956 (DDR) (6) / cars + motorcycles
Location: 51°45'6.72"N / 12°13'39.08"E

 

Dessau was one of several motorway circuits in East-Germany. The course was located south of the city and hosted meetings with auto- and motorcycle races between September 1949 and 1956. It came in various layouts, of 5.250 km (1949) 8.369 km (1950) and circa 5.0 to 5.2 km (1952-1953 and 1955-1956). While there were no races in 1951 and 1954, record attempts were held on a part of the motorway the latter year. BMW-driver Niedermeyr clocked the fastest lap of the 1950 meeting at 157.8 km/h.

 

Dresden-Hellerau – Sachsen / Autobahnspinne / 1951-1955, 1957-1967 and 1969-1971 (DDR) / cars + motorcycles
Location: 51°8'7.55"N / 13°45'5.43"E

 

The circuit near Hellerau, north of Dresden, was another motorway course of the type common in East-Germany. This one was active between June 1951 and September 1971 and hosted combined meetings for both cars and motorcycles. There were several layouts, all including an overpass, with lengths of 6.443 km (1951-1954), 3.2 km (1955) and finally 5.3 km (1957-1971). Note there was also a meeting in May 1950, but it seems this was not an actual race but rather some sort of test- or practice event.

 

Halle (Halle/Saale) – Sachsen-Anhalt / Halle-Saale-Schleife / 1950-1967 (DDR) and 2010 / cars + motorcycles
Location: 51°29'35.02"N / 11°56'33.86"E

 

The Halle-Saale-Schleife was a street circuit used for combined car- and motorcycle races from 1950-1967. The main layout was 5.256 km long, but for some events a shorter 2.66 km version was used instead. A total of 22 meetings were held between June 1950 and April 1967.

 

After more than four decades, the short version of the circuit, now measuring 2.69 km and with three new chicanes added, was once again used for racing: the 23rd edition of the Halle-Saale-Schleife-Rennen was held in July 2010, and included races for vintage and modern motorcycles. Rico Penzkofer (BMW) set the fastest lap of the weekend in 1.08,795 = 140.766 km/h in heat one of the open Superbike race, before crashing severely in heat two. The event, organised by the same group of people behind the Fischereihafenrennen in Bremerhaven, also included demo runs with various vintage racing cars, but it was not financially viable and the 2011 edition was cancelled.

 

Hohenstein-Ernstthal – Sachsen / Badberg-Viereck / Sachsenring / for years see below / motorcycles + cars
Location: 50°48'15.56"N / 12°40'54.02"E / www.sachsenring-circuit.com

 

This circuit staged motorcycle races from 1927-1928 and 1934-1939, and then after the war from 1949-1990 (DDR). Automobile races were added as well from 1949 onwards, but the meetings for 1956, 1967-1972 and 1990 did not include cars. The circuit was initially known as the Badberg-Viereck, hosting the Badberg-Viereck-Rennen in May 1927 and 1928. These were relatively small events, but after several years racing returned in 1934 with the Großer Preis von Deutschland. The course was officially named Sachsenring in 1937, although that name was already used at least one year earlier, and it had in fact already been the name of an earlier circuit in Grillenburg.

 

Unfortunately, information on the exact track length is a little sketchy. The original layout seems to have measured 8.019 km, but for reasons unknown it grew to 8.66 km by the mid-1930s. Major improvements were then made in 1938 and 1939, bringing the length to 8.731 km (also note that in 1938 only, start-finish was at a different location than usual). After the war, when the circuit was located in East-Germany, the length changed to 8.614 km circa 1963-1964, before increasing again by four metres to 8.618 km in 1972. During this time, the Sachsenring hosted the Großer Preis der DDR, which counted towards the FIM world championship from 1961-1972.

 

The next circuit change came in 1987 when a new chicane was added. Another followed in 1988, but both were now used only for the auto races. Peter Rubatto (Yamaha) recorded the motorcycle lap record with a lap of 2.51,2 = 181.220 km/h in July 1990. That was the last time the old Sachsenring was active, as racing came to an end with the unification of Germany. However, a new permanent facility was soon built as a replacement.

 

Leipzig – Sachsen / Leipziger Stadtpark / Rund um das Scheibenholz / 1950-1958 (DDR) (11) / motorcycles + cars
Location: 51°19'31.81"N / 12°21'17.25"E

 

A 4.311 km circuit encircling the Scheibenholz horse race track in Leipzig hosted meetings for cars and motorcycles between July 1950 and June 1958. These were titled Leipziger Stadtparkrennen, mostly carrying the subtitle Rund um das Scheibenholz, and included sports- and racing cars, solo motorcycles and sidecars. Fastest laps were around 120 km/h by the time of the final race. There may have been a revival meeting in the industrial area of nearby Radefeld in August 2008.

 

Magdeburg – Sachsen-Anhalt / Stadtfeld / 1957-1959 (DDR) (3) / cars + motorcycles
Location: 52°8'14.72"N / 11°37'31.01"E

 

The Magdeburger Auto- und Motorradrennen were held on a 2.36 km street circuit in July 1957, August 1958 and July 1959, and as the name indicates included races for both cars and motorcycles.

 

Plauen (Plauen-Oberlosa) – Sachsen / Plauener Friedensring / 1955-1956 (DDR) (2) / motorcycles + cars
Location: 50°27'40.25"N / 12°9'26.52"E

 

The 3.26 km Plauener Friedensring, located south of Plauen and running through Oberlosa, hosted a combined meeting for autos and motorcycles in June 1955 and a motorcycle-only event in May 1956. The course included one very long straight, two hairpins, and a sinuous section, but apparently was not particularly well-surfaced, which may be reason why there were no further races.

 

Rostock – Mecklenburg-Vorpommern / Osthafenkurs / 1952-1954 (DDR) (3) / motorcycles + cars
Location: 54°5'55.09"N / 12°9'49.59"E

 

The Osthafenkurs was a 4.6247 km (sic) circuit in Rostock that hosted combined meetings for cars and motorcycles in April 1952, June 1953 and July 1954. The course was located north-east of the city centre in what is now the Dierkow-Neu neighbourhood. The overall fastest lap of the inaugural meeting, which included races for solo motorcycles, sidecars, Formula 2 and 3 racing cars and 2-litre sports cars, was shared by 500cc-riders Knees (Norton) and Eberlein (BMW) at 115.6 km/h average speed.

 

Schleiz – Thüringen / Schleizer Dreieck / 1923-1937, 1949-2002 and 2004 - present (DDR 1949-1990) / motorcycles + cars
Location: 50°33'38.16"N / 11°49'15.73"E / www.schleizer-dreieck.de

 

The Schleizer Dreieck is Germany's oldest remaining circuit, having been in use since 1923, although the meeting in June of that year was more of a fuel economy test than an actual race. The Schleizer-Dreieck-Rennen was first held the following year, and was an important meeting for motorcycles throughout the following decades. Automobile races were included as well in the years 1933, 1951 and 1961-1990. The final year also included a Formula 1 demo, as John Watson drove Niki Lauda's 1984 McLaren.

 

The original course measured 7.631 km and was active from 1923-1937 and 1949-1988. During that time the location of start/finish moved several times. The last race on the original layout was held in August 1988, and a new link was then built to bypass the section running through Schleiz, which brought the length down to 6.791 km. This version was used between August 1989 and August 2002, although a chicane was added in 1990 and another one shortly after that. Tovio Asmer and Victor Kosankow share the lap record, as both completed the sixth lap of the race for racing cars up to 1.6 litres at the 56th Schleizer Dreieckrennen in 2.24,64 = 169.0 km/h in August 1989.

 

The old circuit saw one more meeting, a classic event in July 2003, but then in 2004 the Schleizer Dreieck was shortened with a new purpose-built link, making it a 3.805 km half-temporary, half-permanent circuit. It has been operational in this form since August 2004. Fastest laps in 2011 were around the 1.25 mark at circa 160.5 km/h average speed.

 

Schwerin – Mecklenburg-Vorpommern / Rund um den Pfaffenteich / 1951-1953 (DDR) (4) / motorcycles + cars
Location: 53°38'2.02"N / 11°24'44.85"E

 

The Rennen um den Pfaffenteich were held on a 1.76 km circuit around a large pond in Schwerin in July 1951, June and September 1952 and August 1953. These meetings were open to motorcycles and Formula 3 racing cars.

 

Staaken (Berlin-Staaken) – Berlin / Flugplatz Staaken / 1959-1960, 1962 (DDR) / possibly also 1961 / cars + motorcycles

 

The Staakener Kleeblatt races were originally held on a 3.8674 km (sic) circuit laid out at the airfield of Berlin-Staaken. 'Kleeblatt' means four-leaf clover, which refered to the very weird X-shaped layout of the course. Meetings seem to have included both cars and motorcycles and were held in June 1959, October 1960 and April 1962. Racing later moved to a new circuit on the motorway near Werder, see below.

 

Stralsund – Mecklenburg-Vorpommern / Knieper-Kurs / 1950-1956 (DDR) (7) / motorcycles + cars
Location: 54°18'52.77"N / 13°5'1.43"E

 

The successor of the earlier Hansaring was the Knieper-Kurs, a 3.088 km street circuit around a large pond. This was used for motorcycle races titled Stralsunder Bäderrennen from 1950-1956. The 1951 meeting also included a Formula 3 race.

 

Werder (Werder/Havel) – Brandenburg / circa 1962-1963 (DDR) / possibly also later / cars + motorcycles

 

The Staakener Kleeblatt races were held at an airfield in Staaken, on the western outskirts of Berlin, from 1959-1962, see above. Racing seems to have moved to a new course on the motorway between Werder and Marquardt, some twenty kilometres south-west of Staaken, later in 1962. The circuit there, of which no details are available, is known to have been used in October 1962 and April, May, June and October 1963.

 

Wismar – Mecklenburg-Vorpommern / Hanseatenring / 1955-1959 (6) (DDR) / motorcycles + cars
Location: 53°53'12.44"N / 11°26'50.44"E

 

The 1.85 km Hanseatenring in Wismar hosted a motorcycle race in August 1955. The course ran up and down the Bürgemeister-Haupt-Straße, with hairpins at both ends. Further meetings were then held on a 2.953 km circuit, possibly a lengthened version of the original, from 1956-1959, now including automobile races as well. It seems likely racing ceased as a result of the very serious accident that happened the final year.

Edited by Rob Semmeling, 15 November 2016 - 12:04.

[MCS]

What a fantastic response!  Thanks Rob.

 

I continue to enjoy your website 

[ozpata]

[ozpata]

[Alexey Rogachev]

Tovio Asmer and Victor Kosankow

I feel a little awkward correcting this brilliant post but the correct name is Toivo Asmer (http://www.esbl.ee/b...fia/Toivo_Asmer)

[Rob Semmeling]

Thanks Alexey, I have corrected it in my source file.

[ozpata]

[Henk Vasmel]

 

Wegberg is a community that has a border with the Netherlands. (see Google Maps e.g.) So really not East-Germany. Rather as west as can be.

[GMiranda]

 

For me, this is one of the best natural circuits ever, pretty demanding

[ozpata]

[GMiranda]

I raced here with Grand Prix Legends

[GrzegorzChyla]

Great graphics! They have that 'something'. I like old maps, that are much more than just a graphical representation of a land - they are Art. The same applies to your work.

[Rupertlt1]

Sunday 19th August 1962:

At the Sachsenring in Eastern Gernany that day, Rhodesian Dave Riley won the 65 mile East German Grand Prix at an average speed of 93.70 m.p.h. Second was Willi-Lehmann (S.E.G.-Wartburg), third was Leo Mattila (Lotus 20), and three East German Melkus-Wartburgs followed.

Autosport, 2 February 1963, Page 163

 

RGDS RLT

Edited by Rupertlt1, 19 April 2022 - 03:05.

[sat]

and three East German Melkus-Wartburgs followed.

It was four in fact.

1. 104 Cooper T59-BMC Dave Riley RSR David Riley 10 0:34:44,000 150,823 km/h
2. 99 SEG-Wartburg Willy Lehmann DDR MC Halle 10 0:34:51,300
3. 100 Lotus 20-Ford Leo Mattila SF L. Mattila 10 0:35:16,600
4. 84 Melkus-Wartburg Max Byczkowski DDR MC Kraftverkehr Grimma 10 0:35:29,000
5. 83 Melkus-Wartburg Frieder Rädlein DDR MC Post Dresden 10 0:36:16,200
6. 81 Melkus-Wartburg Heinz Melkus DDR MC Post Dresden 10 0:36:18,000
7. 86 Melkus-Wartburg Hans-Theo Tegeler DDR MC Plauen 10 0:37:43,200
8. 102 Lova-DKW Willy Vroomen B W. Vroomen 10 0:37:44,000
9. 107 FR-Wartburg Friedrich Richter DDR MC Dresden 9
10. 90 Melkus-Wartburg Gerhard Zschoche DDR MC Halle 9
11. 108 Lotus 18-Ford Ralph B. de Laforest F 9
12. 98 SEG-Wartburg Siegfried Seifert DDR MC Dresden 9
13. 82 Melkus-Wartburg Siegmar Bunk DDR MC Post Dresden 8
R 94 Melkus-Wartburg Günter Klug DDR MC Ückermünde 6
R 91 Melkus-Wartburg Peter Findeisen DDR MC Post Dresden 5
R 96 Melkus-Wartburg Christian Pfeiffer DDR MC Dresden 4
R 93 Eigenbau-Wartburg Wolfgang Wiele DDR MC Wolfen-Bitterfeld 2
R 95 Melkus-Wartburg Alfons Schütt DDR MC Wismar 2
R 97 Eigenbau-Wartburg Helmut Zimmer DDR MC Dresden 2
R 103 Lotus 20-Ford Pekka Tenko SF P. Tenko 0
DNQ 105 Eigenbau-Wartburg Dietmar Kiefer DDR MC Bautzen 0
DNQ 85 Melkus-Wartburg Rudi Juhrich DDR MC Großbothen 0
DNA 99 SEG-Wartburg Willy Lehmann DDR MC Halle
DNA 87 Eigenbau-Wartburg Willy Ahrenholz DDR MC Dynamo Berlin
DNA 88 Eigenbau-Wartburg Otto Auerbach DDR MC Dresden
DNA 89 Melkus-Wartburg Jochen Kister DDR MC Mühlhausen
DNA 92 Eigenbau-Wartburg Christian Weiße DDR MC Dresden
DNA 101 Lotus 20-Ford Jouko Nordell SF J. Nordell

[Rupertlt1]

Heinz Melkus came from Dresden — do we know anything about where his racing shop(s) were? Where were the cars built?

 

RGDS RLT

[Henk Vasmel]

Heinz Melkus came from Dresden — do we know anything about where his racing shop(s) were? Where were the cars built?

 

RGDS RLT

Try to find the book "Rennsportlegende Heinz Melkus", by Wolfgang Melenk and Mike Jordan. (2008, Schneider Text). This will give answers to everything you want to know about Melkus and his cars. (and more)

A quick scan through the book (I haven't read it yet) gave an address of Leipziger Strasse 27, Dresden. There is a reference to a "Fahrschule", but it is also the address on several letter heads.

It is available for a good price at Schneider Media and for a lot more at several other bookshops.