Lånkebanen is a

road racing Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...

circuit situated near

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

Lånke Lånke was a former municipality in the old Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1902 until its dissolution in 1962. The municipality was located south of the Stjørdalselva river in what is now the south-central part ...

Stjørdal Stjørdal () or is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Stjørdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Stjørdal, also called Stjørdalshalsen. Some of the villages in the municipalit ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The venue opened in 1987 as the first asphalt track in the country. It is used for a variety of

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

s, including rallycross,

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance Kart rac ...

and

motorcycle racing Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Ot ...

. The venue also features a designated

hillclimbing Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the fir ...

and a

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

track on the slopes below, and a

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australi ...

oval. Lånkebanen is owned by the

Norwegian Automobile Federation Norwegian Automobile Federation ( no, Norges Automobil-Forbund, NAF) is a Norwegian association of car owners, established in 1924, and member of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. The federation has 73 local chapters and more than 500,0 ...

(NAF). The venue also serves the

National Driving Teacher School The National Driving Teacher School ( no, Statens trafikklærerskole) was a vocational school which trained teachers for driver's education. The school was established in 1970 by the Ministry of Church Affairs and Education and was originally situ ...

and is used for testing by

SINTEF SINTEF ( no, Stiftelsen for industriell og teknisk forskning), headquartered in Trondheim, Norway, is an independent research organization founded in 1950 that conducts contract research and development projects. SINTEF has 2000 employees from 7 ...

and Q-Free. At an international level the venue is used for rallycross races. Lånkebanen has featured a round of the

FIA European Rallycross Championship FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

since

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. It has since the inauguration of the

FIA World Rallycross Championship The FIA World Rallycross Championship (official abbreviation is World RX) is a rallycross series organised by the FIA in conjunction with series promoter Rallycross Promoter GmbH (founded by Red Bull and KW25). From the inaugural season in 2014 ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

hosted World RX of Norway.

History

Lånkebanen was devised during the 1980s. At the time there were no road racing circuits in the vicinity of Trondheim. Lånkebanen would be situated close to the National Driving Teacher School and SINTEF. The former allowed for the track to be used for their teacher training, while the latter was to use the track for research. The circuit was also devised to be used for racing. By 1987 the country was experiencing a book of proposals to build motorsport venues, with twenty-five detailed proposals having been issued. The Ministry of Transport and Communications decided that year that Lånkebanen would be the only such venue to receive investment subsidies. The ministry was concerned that most of the plans would simply make matters worse for other neighboring venues, particularly as many new tracks would take away revenue from existing slippery road circuits. The ministry stated that Lånkebanen would be used as a trial to gain experience from state-subsidizing and building of new tracks. Lånkebanen opened in 1987 as the first combined center for motorsports and driver training. That year the track was used for a trial for slippery courses for truck and bus licenses. The authorities wanted this to become an obligatory part of the training, but lack of suitable venues throughout the country had made the courses optional. Lånkebanen was also the first asphalt race track in the country. It was supplemented by Rudskogen in 1990. During the 1990s a hillclimbing track was built on the hillside below on the north side of the main track. The motocross track was built in 2002 and 2003, after Stjørdal Cross & Enduro Klubb was founded in 2002. The club hoped for a revival of motocross in the Trondheim area, after all the tracks in the area had been closed during the 1990s. The land below the road circuit was leased from a local farmer to make way for the new venue. NAF operates two conventional slippery road course tracks in Trøndelag, one at

Orkanger Orkanger is a town and the administrative centre of Orkland municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The town is also a former municipality which existed from 1920 until 1963. The town sits at the end of the Orkdal Fjord, an arm of the Trondhei ...

and one at

Ogndal Ogndal is a former municipality in what was the old Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1885 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality included the whole Ogndalen valley and areas to the west, up to, but not incl ...

Steinkjer Steinkjer is a municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Steinkjer (town), town of Steinkjer which is located on th ...

. By the late 2000s the Orkanger track no longer met the demands and NAF therefore considered what to do with the situation. As Lånkebanen met the needs, it was proposed in 2009 that the Orkanger and Ogndal tracks be closed and that Lånkebanen take over the responsibility. After an expansion of the Orkanger venue in 2012, the plans were placed on hold, but resumed the following year. In 2014 NAF commenced work on a major upgrade to Lånkebanen. Operations was taken over to a separate limited company, NAF Lånkesenteret AS, which received two full-time employees. A new building facility was constructed and a permanent power supply was installed. The largest investment was the building of a new driving center.

Facilities

Lånkebanen is situated at Lånke in Stjørdal, from the village of Hell. The venue is situated on National Road 705, from

Trondheim Airport, Værnes Trondheim Airport ( no, Trondheim lufthavn; ) is an international airport serving Trondheim, a city and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The airport is located in Værnes, Trøndelag, Værnes, a vill ...

and

Hell Station Hell Station ( no, Hell stasjon) is a railway station located in the village of Hell in the Municipality of Stjørdal in the Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located at the intersection of the Nordland Line and the Meråker Line. Information ...

. By road it is about from

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

. The venue consists of a main asphalt course. For rallycross this is modified so that the course is 63 percent asphalt and 37 percent gravel. In rallycross configuration, the track is long and wide. In addition to featuring the road course, Lånkebanen features both a hillclimbing and a motocross track, situated on the hillside below the main circuit. The venue serves as the training track of the National Driving Teacher School. The sole school offering driving teacher education in Norway, it has since 2004 been part of

Nord-Trøndelag University College Nord-Trøndelag University College (Norwegian: Høgskolen i Nord-Trøndelag) or HiNT was a Norwegian university college located throughout the county of Nord-Trøndelag. HiNT had about 5,500 students and 440 employees in 2013. In January 2016, th ...

. It is also used for trials for Q-Free, a Trondheim-based manufacturer of user road charging systems. Facilities include a combined clubhouse, office, canteen and classroom building. It features four tracks for slippery courses as well as possibility for simulating traffic situation on the track. It has a capacity for 5,500 car candidates and 400 motorcycle candidates per year. Below the motorsports venue is Lånke Travbane, used for

. Built in 1983, it features a long and wide oval gravel track. It is owned by Lånke Travlag, a local chapter of the

Norwegian Trotting Association The Norwegian Trotting Association ( no, Det Norske Travselskap, DNT) is the sports federation organizing horse racing in Norway. It is an umbrella for the 13 regional federations and 185 local chapters with 17,000 members. Tote betting takes pl ...

. There have been proposals that it would be a suitable site for

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

racing.

Events

Domestic competitions in rallycross have been conducted at Lånkebanen since 1989, with an annual Norwegian Championship round. From the late 1990s hillclimbing became popular in Trøndelag. Along with two venues in Trondheim, Lånkebanen started hosting annual competitions. The venue is also used for go-karting. The international competitions are marketed as "Rallycross in Hell". Lånkebanen hosted its first tournament of the FIA European Rallycross Championship in 2011. The first competition broke even, but the following year the event lost 400,000

Norwegian krone The krone (, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian crown in English. It is nominally subdivided into 100 ''� ...

(NOK) of a 1.4-million revenue. The 2013 edition of the competition drew 7,500 spectators. In

the rallycross structure was changed and the

was inaugurated. Lånkebanen was selected to host the World RX of Norway as part of the annual tour. The event doubles as a European Championship round. The first season saw 13,650 spectators and the organizers make a NOK 1.2 million profit of a 4.8 million revenue.

References

Motorsport venues in Norway Sports venues in Trøndelag 1988 establishments in Norway Stjørdal World Rallycross circuits {{World RX circuits