Wachauring Melk

The Wachauring is an Austrian racing and driver-training circuit near the town of Melk in Lower Austria, located on the "Stiftswiesn" in the cadastral commune of Pöverding, just off the A1 motorway between Amstetten and St. Pölten. The site covers about 12.5 hectares. The track originated in April 1973 as the Leruring rallycross course (1973–1983); over the years it was renamed Thermoton-Ring (1984–1986), Nordmende-Ring (1987–1988), Rallycross-Ring (1989–1996) and, since 1997, has carried its current name Wachauring. It hosted the very first round of the European Rallycross Championship on 13 May 1973. In 1997 the track was completely redesigned as a fully asphalted circuit to a design by the German F1 circuit architect Hermann Tilke. In 2003 it was taken over by the Austrian automobile club ÖAMTC. The track offers variable configurations of up to 1,150 m (asphalt-only version) or 1,266 m including gravel sections; the former rallycross track measured 1,050 m. Six different configurations exist (not counting direction changes). It has hosted 19 European Rallycross Championship rounds (1973–2009), the 2005 Supermoto World Championship, the Austrian Histo-Cup, the Drift Challenge Austria and national series. The track can be artificially watered and is a popular test venue for tyre manufacturers.

Host of the very first European Rallycross Championship round (13 May 1973); the only Austrian motorsport venue redesigned by Hermann Tilke (1997); a hybrid layout combining a racing circuit with gravel sections for rallycross, paired with the ÖAMTC driver safety training centre.