Solitude Racetrack

The Solitude racetrack is an 11.4086 km (7.0890 mi) race circuit on public roads used for motorsport in the Leonberg area, west of Stuttgart, Germany. It is named after Castle Solitude and until 1965 has hosted various motorcycle and automobile races.

Solitudering
The route of the race
LocationSolitude Palace, Germany
Time zoneCET (UTC+1)
CEST (DST)
Coordinates48°46′04″N 9°02′45″E
Opened1935
Closed1965
Major eventsGrand Prix motorcycle racing
German motorcycle Grand Prix (1952, 1954, 1956, 1960, 1962, 1964)
Sidecar World Championship
(1952, 1954, 1956, 1960, 1962, 1964)
Solituderennen (1960–1965)
Grand Prix Circuit (1935–1965)
Length11.4086 km (7.089 miles)
Race lap record3:49.100 (Jim Clark, Lotus 25, 1963, F1)
Control tower at the start-finish line in Mahdental

Routes
Shadow ground

The traditional track used for motorcycle racing is located above the Bergheim district of Stuttgart, but not in the center of the most important 11.3 km long variant of the former race track. This variant leads from the start and finish house at today's ADAC training ground past the Seehaus and then past the Glemseck near Leonberg to Frauenkreuz. From there it continues in the direction of Katzenbacher Hof with the Steinbachsee, past the Büsnau district of Stuttgart to the Schattengrund and through the Mahdental back to start and finish before Glemseck. The section from Schattengrund to Glemseck runs in the valley of the Glems.

History
  • From 1903: First hillclimb track from Stuttgart Westbahnhof (west train station) to Solitude Castle.
  • From 1906: The start was moved from Westbahnhof to Heslach, a southern district of Stuttgart.
  • From 1925: Circuit with a length of 22.300 km (13.857 mi), start and finish at the castle. Direction: counterclockwise.
  • From 1931: The circuit was shortened using the road through the Mahdental. Start and finish was moved to the west. Direction: clockwise.
  • From 1935: Final circuit layout: The route introduced 1931 through Mahdental plus the part excluded in 1931 form the 11.4086 km (7.0890 mi) course used until 1965. Direction: counterclockwise.
  • Around 100-year celebration at 4 km (2.5 mi) short route around the castle, but still at historic track parts
  • 1965: Races of motocycles, sports cars and Formula 2 cars mark the final time that international motor sports events were held on the "Solitude".[1]
  • 2003: 100-year celebration on a 4 km short route around the castle, but still using historical parts of the route from 1925-1935. Start and finish moved back to the castle. Racing direction clockwise. The only new part is the shortcut over the wildlife park expressway and its access ramp.
  • 2011: As a result of the efforts of the Solitude-Revival and Retro Revival Classic Culture initiatives, the roads belonging to the latest variant were closed for a weekend as part of the 2011 automobile summer in Baden-Württemberg on the occasion of the 125th "birthday" of the Benz Patent-Motorwagen. Numerous visitors were able to watch historic racing and sports cars from different eras driving on the racetrack.[2]

Motorcycle racing

To 50 cm ³

To 125 cc (175 cc)

To 250 cc

To 350 cc

500 cc

To 750 cc

To 1000 cm ³
  • 1925: Ernst Ißlinger, NSU
  • 1926: Paul Koppen, BMW
  • 1927: BMW Toni Bauhofer
  • 1928: Heck, Harley-Davidson
  • 1929: Josef Stelzer, BMW
  • 1930: Ernst Zündorf, BMW
  • 1931: NSU Paul Rüttchen

500/600/1000 cc sidecar
  • 1925: 600 cc: Schwanberger, Norton – 1000 cc: Imholz Harley-Davidson
  • 1927: 600 cc: H. Eurich, D-Rad – 1000 cc: H. Dobler, New Imperial
  • 1928: 600 cc: Hermann Lang, Standard – 1000 cc: H. Frey, AJS
  • 1929: 600 cc: Hermann Lang, Standard – 1000 cc: A. Sitzberger, BMW
  • 1935: 600 cc: Hans Kahrmann, DKW – 1000 cc: Charles Brown / Ernst Badsching, Horex
  • 1936: 600 cc: Toni Babl, DKW – 1000 cc: Hans Schumann, NSU
  • 1937: 600 cc: Brown, DKW – 1000 cc: Zimmermann, DKW
  • 1949: 600 cc: Schmidt / agent Meyer, NSU – 1000 cc: Max Klankermeier / Henry Wolz, BMW
  • 1950: 600 cc: Hermann Boehm / Karl Fuchs, NSU – 1200 cc: Kraus / Huser, BMW
  • 1951: 500 cc: Ludwig Kraus / Bernard Huser, BMW – 750 cc: Eric Oliver / Lorenzo Dobelli, Norton
  • 1952: Cyril Smith / Bob Clements, Norton
  • 1953: Eric Oliver / Stanley Dibben, Norton
  • 1954: Wilhelm Noll / Fritz Cron, BMW
  • 1955: Willi fist / Karl Remmert, BMW
  • 1956: Wilhelm Noll / Fritz Cron, BMW
  • 1960: Helmut Fath / Alfred borage, BMW
  • 1961: Max Deubel / Emil horns, BMW
  • 1962: Max Deubel / Emil horns, BMW
  • 1964: Fritz Scheidegger / John Robinson, BMW
  • 1965: Max Deubel / Emil horns, BMW

Automobile races

Automobile races were held less frequently. From 1961 to 1964, these races on the Solitude racetrack, held in parallel to motorcycle racing, were not counting towards the Formula 1 World Cup. Participants or winners here were Hans Herrmann, Innes Ireland, Jim Clark, Dan Gurney, John Surtees, Jack Brabham.

Formula I and II

References

Literature
  • Thomas Mehne: Racing at Solitude 1949–1965 – The Competition Cars, Petrolpics 2011, ISBN 394030610X.

References
  1. Solitude Revival Verein: The Sixties (German/English)
  2. Archived 2012-10-09 at the Wayback Machine Report of Solitude Revival Association
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