Old Sachsenring Circuit - Onboard POV with voice over

Old Sachsenring Circuit - Onboard POV with voice over

In this Circuits of the past video we show you the layout of the old Sachsenring in Germany.

Todays Sachsenring is most famous for the annual German Grand Prix for the MotoGP. But did you know it was originally a 8.730 km or 5.425 Miles long street circuit?

Most of the original layout is still there. Only the Start/Finish has been demolished for the constructiuon of the new permanent track.

It all started on May 26, 1927 when the first races were held for motorcycle at the square-shaped street circuit. But in 1927 they didn’t cal it Sachsenring, but ‘Badberg-Vierecksrennen’.

The firs ever races here were visited by over 140.000 spectators. After this success, the event was continued a year later.

But the seconde event was not such a succes. There were several accidents with several drivers were injured and even some killed. After this the event was banned by the government.

In 1934 they made a new start and get permission to organize races again on the square traject around Hohenstein-Ernstthal. It became the name Sachsenring in 1937, a name that would quickly become an established name in motorsport. The name Sachsenring came from the name of the state of Saxony, in German Sachsen.

In 1936 and 1938 the “European Grand Prix” was held on the track, which is comparable to the importance of today's MotoGP.

However, when in 1939 World War II broke out all motor racing in Europe stopped. After the war the Sachsenring was in the Russian occupied zone which would become the DDR, also known as East Germany.

As early as 1949, the spectators came back to the Sachsenring in droves. In 1950 the Sachsenring had its absolute climax on race Sunday alone with 480,000 visitors.

From 1961 up to 1972 the East German Grand Prix was held on the old Sachsenring, as part of the road race world championship.

The fastest race lap ever on the old Sachsenring was driven by fifteen-time world champion Giacomo Agostini of Italy in 1968 on a 500 cc MV Agusta. His lap time was 2:55,4 which equals an average speed of 176.798 kilometers per hour, or 109.857 Miles per hour.

In 1971 the 250 cc race was won by the West German Dieter Braun, with many spectators singing the German national anthem. This and the previous round of encouragement from Braun was viewed very critically by the East German government. It led to the withdrawal of the World Cup status in 1972. The official reasons were a lack of security measures and increased costs.

After the end of the World Cup races, forced by the state, it became quieter for a while, but the races with two- and four-wheelers continued as usual with only Eastern European participants.

It wasn't until 1990 that races for everyone started again. For this edition a chicane was built in the section through the village. But it was the last year before a break for the time being.

The track led directly through the village of Hohenstein-Ernstthal. That always gave the races a very special flair, but there were three deaths during the last season. So the passage through the village was no longer found acceptable.

To continue racing a plan was made to built a new permanent race track. The new Sachsenring opened in 1996 and the German Grand Prix for motorcycles, now MotoGP, returned in 1998.

Original the permanent circuit used the Start/Finish of the old street circuit. But after a huge renovation in 2001 by Herman Tilke this part was demolished en redesigned. That’s why we can’t do a complete lap on the old track anymore.

The information told in this video is taken from the official Sachsenring website, including the unbelievable visitor numbers: https://www.sachsenring-circuit.com/index.php/sachsenring/historie

Special thanks to Simon Smith for the voiceover. Visit also his channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/HigherPlainGames

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Видео Old Sachsenring Circuit - Onboard POV with voice over канала Circuits of the past