NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will be returning to Germany in 2023 following the announcement that the series have signed a three-year contract with Motorsport Arena Oschersleben to host NASCAR GP Germany for the next three seasons.
NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will return to Germany next year following the announcement that EuroNASCAR has signed a long-term contract with the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben circuit.
Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, the 3.696 km-long circuit located in the town of Oschersleben, is scheduled to host the NASCAR GP Germany for the next three seasons.
“NASCAR is back in Germany, and this is fantastic news for all of us!” said EuroNASCAR CEO and founder Jerome Galpin. “There is a great motorsport fan-base in Germany and we are very happy to bring NASCAR Pure Racing back to them.”
“Thanks to Ralph Bohnhorst and his crew, Motorsport Arena Oschersleben is the perfect place to do so, with central location in Germany and track layout allowing fans to enjoy most of the action.”
First inaugurated in 1997, Oschersleben is Germany’s third permanent race circuit and was the first permanent circuit to be built in the territory of the former East Germany, predating Sachsenring’s transformation from a street circuit to a permanent one by just one year.
Known for its smooth and fast layout, Oschersleben is located strategically in the triangular area that surrounds Berlin, Hannover, and Leipzig – three of Germany’s biggest cities. Fittingly for a track located in such a strategic position, the track boasted numerous facilities such as a 4-star hotel, an Arena Diner, a go-kart track and a driving safety center to help accommodate and enrich the experience for the fans that visited the circuit.
“We are really proud to be a part of the EuroNASCAR championship in 2023. With the mix of racing and events, it will be a chance to create a big happening for the middle of Germany!” said Motorsport Arena Oschersleben General Manager Ralph Bohnhorst.
Prior to EuroNASCAR’s visit next year, Oschersleben has already hosted numerous prestigious racing championships on the track’s storied history, from two wheel competitions such as the Superbike World Championship to the four wheel championships like ADAC GT Masters, DTM, and World Touring Car Championship.
Oschersleben has also gained some infamy among race fans for the track’s first turn in its Grand Prix Circuit layout, Hotel corner. Hotel, which had the first part of its original left-right sweeper reprofiled into a sharp 90-degree chicane in 2007, has caused plenty of pile-ups in the first lap of a race due to its slow and narrow nature.
Such was the corner’s reputation that during the 2008 WTCC round at the track, former BTCC champion John Cleland uttered his infamous “The guy who designed this first corner should be taken into a dark room and beat about the head” quote following a major first lap collision at Hotel.
Mercifully, the track seemed to have learned its lesson and while Hotel’s chicane remains to be part of Oschersleben to this day, recent races on four-wheels have since returned to the sweeper variant of the Hotel corner.
The announcement itself would mean that NASCAR GP Germany will be returning to the calendar after it was cancelled for three consecutive years. COVID forced the cancellation of the round in both 2020 and 2021 while the 2022 edition was cancelled due to “ongoing difficult circumstances for the event” at the Hockenheim.
NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will return for the fourth round of the season at Autodrom Most on 3-4 September.
Disclaimer: Unless noted on the photo, all photos used in this article are courtesy of Motorsport Arena Oschersleben.