Zeltweg Air Base, now known as Fliegerhorst Hinterstoisser, is a military airfield in

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

near

Zeltweg Zeltweg is a town in Styria, Austria. It is located in the Aichfeld basin of the Mur River in Upper Styria. Larger municipalities in the vicinity are Judenburg, Knittelfeld and Fohnsdorf. History Some farms were recorded at Zeltweg in the Duchy ...

. It is the main airfield of the

Austrian Air Force The Austrian Air Force (german: Österreichische Luftstreitkräfte, , Austrian Air Combat Force) is a component part of the Austrian Armed Forces. History The Austrian Air Force in its current form was created in May 1955 by the victorious Al ...

. It was also used as a motor racing circuit in the 1960s.

History

Since 1997, the AirPower show is held at Zeltweg. The 2003 and 2005 editions featured Red Bull Air Race events. The show was held in 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2019. It is scheduled to be held again in 2022.

Motorsports

Built in 1959 in

, the idea for the track came from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

's success at

Silverstone Circuit Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England, near the Northamptonshire villages of Towcester, Silverstone and Whittlebury. It is the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted as the 1948 British Grand Prix. The 1950 ...

, also built on the site of an airfield. However, the track engineers at Zeltweg failed to take into account the abrasive nature of the surface. A lone

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

World Championship Grand Prix was held in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

. The

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and No ...

Zeltweg 500 Kilometres was held later, until the track was abandoned in 1969 following the construction of the purpose-built

Österreichring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from to . It was later sho ...

just across the street.

Lap records

The Formula 1 lap record on the Zeltweg Airfield circuit is 1:10.560 by

Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, ...

in a

Brabham BT7 The Brabham BT7 (also known as Repco Brabham BT7) is a Formula One racing car. It was raced by the Brabham Racing Organisation and several privateers from 1963 to 1966. A development of its predecessor, the Brabham BT3, the car proved to be co ...

, while the overall lap record is 1:04.820 and was set by

Jo Siffert Joseph Siffert (; 7 July 1936 – 24 October 1971) was a Swiss racing driver. Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and friends, Siffert was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, the son of a dairy owner. He initially made his name in racing ...

in a

Porsche 908 The Porsche 908 was a racing car from Porsche, introduced in 1968 to continue the Porsche 906-Porsche 910-Porsche 907 series of models designed by Helmuth Bott (chassis) and Hans Mezger (engine) under the leadership of racing chief Ferdinand Piëc ...

during the 1968 ''Zeltweg 500 Kilometres''. The official race lap records at the Zeltweg Air Base are listed as:

References

Austrian Grand Prix Formula One circuits Motorsport venues in Austria Military installations of Austria Sports venues in Styria {{Austria-geo-stub