Whether in F1 or MotoGP, it seems that the Red Bull Ring circuit holds the rope to welcome the start of the seasons of these two categories of motor sports.
This is obviously not a coincidence, but rather the result of a very great involvement of the Austrian energy drink brand, of support for its activities by the region and the state concerned, of an epidemic of the coronavirus well contained in this part of the world, as well as foolproof organization and citizenship on the part of the natives.
This possibility, which we hope to see come to fruition this summer, therefore leads us to take an interest in this place whose different names have deeply marked the history of motor sports, whether it is called Red Bull Ring, A1 Ring , Österreichring, Spielberg or Zeltweg…
A map of the region already allows us to understand some of these numerous appellations, with the villages of Zeltweg and Spielberg in the immediate vicinity of an aerodrome and a circuit...
For the rest, know that the planning of this airfield in the middle of Styria dates back to 1935. A year later, construction work began and, on March 13, 1938, the airfield was handed over to the German Luftwaffe, then to the British Royal Air Force after the war ended.
In 1955, the RAF station Zeltweg was closed and the airfield was handed over to Austria.
In 1957, the Austrians took up the idea put in place at Silverstone and traced a sort of circuit on the air base. However, local engineers did not take into account the abrasive and bumpy nature of the Zeltweg track surface, and only one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix was held there in 1.
However, the world sports car championship was also held there with the Zeltweg 500 kilometers, until the track was abandoned in 1969 after the construction of the Österreichring built right next to it.
Built in the middle of the hills (65 meters of altitude difference) without large clearances, the Austrian track immediately proves to be fast and dangerous. Many accidents took place there and it took the fatal one of Mark Donohue, an American legend who drove in Nascar, Endurance, Can-Am and F1, for the Voest-Hügel curve to be redeveloped into a Hella-Licht chicane.
In 1995, Hermann Tilke was finally responsible for redesigning the Spielberg circuit on the same location. He keeps only a few pieces of it and shortens it from 5,942 km to 4,326 km. This version is then called A1-Ring and already exactly foreshadows the current route. It hosted the Austrian MotoGP Grands Prix from 1996 to 1997, as well as those of F1 between 1997 and 2003.
Valentino Rossi obtained his first podium there, 24 years ago.
Finally, after long discussions and procrastination between 2004, the year when the grandstands and stands were destroyed, and 2008, Dietrich Mateschitz, owner of Red Bull, finally decided to rehabilitate the circuit which would open again in 2011, before welcoming the return of F1 in 2014 and that of MotoGP in 2016 under the name Red Bull Ring.
So, in contrast to what we already know and, hopefully, what is likely to happen again there in three months, let us remember what was happening in Styria in the 60s, thanks to fabulous collection of Arthur Fenzlau and Vienna Technical Museum...
The first gallery immortalizes the first race on the Zeltweg airfield track.
The second gallery illustrates the first race on the Österreichring, in 1969. For the anecdote, we find there a certain Dr Helmut Marco registered on a Sebring MK 1 Formula V from the American team McNamara, today an intractable judge of the F1 drivers at Red Bull Racing. On motorbikes, only Austrians appear whose names mean nothing to us.
The third gallery corresponds to 1997, one of the two years when the Grands Prix were contested on the A1-Ring. Valentino Rossi is the only driver to have driven there and still be active. We can therefore say that the Italian champion rode on the Red Bull Ring, the A1-Ring and at Spielberg, but not on the Österreichring or at Zeltweg
Finally, the fourth series of photos marks the return of the motorcycle Grands Prix to the redeveloped Austrian track, in 2016, with the victory of Andrea Iannone who, in any case, will not be part of the 2020 edition, if this one this is happening.
© Artur Fenzlau / Vienna Technical Museum
