The second round of the Touring Car Classics took place on May 19 and 20, 2018 as part of the DTM at the Lausitzring. It was presumably the last circuit race to be held at the EuroSpeedway. The site is now to be converted into a large test and technology center by DEKRA.
Last time at the Lausitzring?
The Eurospeedway near Klettwitz was opened in 2000 and since then has hosted various racing events on both two and four wheels. Overshadowed by the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the US CART series held its first oval race in Europe, the "German 500", which was renamed the "American Memorial" at short notice.
The Lausitzring became famous for its two serious accidents. On the one hand, two-time CART champion Alessandro Zanardi lost both legs after a crash with Alex Tagliani in front of 100,000 spectators on the tri-oval at the "American Memorial".
In addition, in the same year, on April 25, 2001, ex-Ferrari GP driver Michele Alboreto had a fatal accident while testing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in an Audi after a puncture on the DEKRA test oval, which is located right next to the EuroSpeedway. In this catastrophic high-speed accident, a track safety officer was also killed.
Too big?
The race track was built with high hopes for gigantic major events, but was never really able to realize this euphoria, as of course the infrastructure was not guaranteed in any way. The huge grandstands could only rarely be filled to a reasonable extent, so that events with around 50,000 spectators still looked poorly attended.
Extensive starting field
The Touring Car Classics made a guest appearance at the EuroSpeedway with 17 vehicles.
As expected, Stefan Rupp's Alfa Romeo 155 V6 ITC took the second pole position of the season and won the race with a 42-second lead over Jörg Hatscher's Mercedes AMG C-Class.
Gerhard Füller's third place in the Opel Vectra STW, which knocked Torsten Stadler off the podium in the second AMG C-Class, can be described as a minor sensation.
Celebrities at the wheel
The paddock of the old warhorses, in the style of yesteryear, was always very well attended by fans. Here they could see the cars and their technology up close and get autographs from the drivers at any time.
A few drivers were not exactly unfamiliar faces either, including Prince Leopold of Bavaria, known as "Poldi" for short, and Harald Grohs, who once again took the wheel of a BMW E30.
Both drove exactly these cars during their active time. If you watched their preparation, you could see that they also took this race seriously.
Poldi began with stretching exercises before getting into the cockpit and Harald Grohs also left nothing to chance, even if neither of them managed a podium finish in the end.
Many fans
Although the race did not take place until after the DTM race, many of the 30,000 spectators remained seated to watch the 20 laps of the Touring Car Classics, which once again shows that the historic cars can maintain their fan base.
