AVUS was a public road in south-west Berlin used as a race track: two long straights of a dual carriageway with a turn at each end, and from 1937 to 1967 the north turn was a 43-degree brick banking with no retaining barrier. The 1959 German Grand Prix was its only World Championship race and the only one run in two heats (2 x 30 laps), because of concerns about tyre wear on the banking; Tony Brooks won both heats and Ferrari finished first, second and third. Jean Behra was killed during the same weekend when his Porsche flew over the top of the banking in a supporting sports car race; this ended AVUS as a venue for major international events, and the banking was demolished in 1967 for a road junction. Racing continued on ever shorter versions until 1998; the road is now part of the A115 autobahn, and the round race control tower and the listed grandstand still stand.
Lap length
8.300 km
Direction
anticlockwise
Layout described
Post-war Grand Prix circuit, 8.300 km: the two straights of the dual-carriageway road joined by the 43-degree brick-banked Nordkurve at the north end and an unbanked south hairpin; used 1951-1967, and by Formula 1 only for the 1959 German Grand Prix
Gridpedia