Nurburgring's forgotten and now LOST track was just as wild and deadly

Credit for photo: Gruppe C — Photo: © IMAGO

Nurburgring

Nurburgring's forgotten and now LOST track was just as wild and deadly

The Sudschleife is a forgotten brother of the Nordschleife

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Saturday 16 May 2026 14:42

Any Formula 1 or racing fan will know about the Nurburgring and more specifically the Nordschleife that at over 13 miles long is one of the most feared race tracks in the world.

And it's not just the track length that makes it daunting, it's the twisty corners and undulating layout which means one small mistake at high speed can leave you in a terrible crash. Sadly many drivers have perished there.

The Nordschleife is one of a kind and attracts drivers of all calibre including Max Verstappen. The translation of this track in English is 'north loop', so was there another 'south loop' Nurburgring track alongside it?

If you are thinking of the modern day grand prix track that was used between 1984 and 2020, that's a red herring. It is indeed south of the Nordschleife but it wasn't built until the 1980s, while the Nordschleife was constructed in 1927.

The Nurburgring-Sudschleife

But indeed there was a Sudschleife track, built at the same time as the Nordschleife. Although it wasn't as big, it was still 4.8 miles long. To put that into perspective, that makes it longer than any F1 track including Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

And it was terrifying. It compromised 25 corners many of them fast with only a few tight bends. The layout wasn't hugely technical but like the Nordshcleife the meandering corners were high speed and easy to get wrong.

Getting them wrong carried severe consequences. There were no run-offs, even more so than the Nordschleife, and all sorts of hazards were around the Sudschleife including ditches, walls of trees and even houses all a matter of a few meters away. Not a good mix with high speed racing.

Perhaps worst of all, it was nothing on the challenge and the legend of the Nordschleife. So not only was it dangerous but compared to its bigger brother it was also boring and not very popular. What a combination.

The first corner veered left downhill under a public road bridge shortly after where the current Grand Prix track today goes right for turn one. After looping around near Mullenbach town, the track came back to connect to the Nordschleife shortly after crossing the section of what is the new F1 track at turn 10, the fast left hander at the top of the hill after the hairpin. You can see a full layout of the Sudschleife here.

Nordschleife and Sudschleife combined

The Nordschleife and Sudschleife could combine to form one track which came in at a monster 17 miles long circuit and was known as the Gesamtstrecke.

Although the Sudschleife was never used in F1, only the Nordschleife was, local competitive racing was held where among a dozen lives were lost, highlighting the track's dangers.

In 1938 there was an additional configuration of the track called the Stichstrasse, which took out the straights shared with the Nordschleife and simply allowed a small loop to bypass this. This shortened the track to 3.5 miles putting it on par with the length of an average modern day F1 track.

As racing cars got quicker, these dangers only amplified and in 1970 the Nurburgring decided to install barriers around the Nordschleife to try and meet the safety needs of drivers.

End of the Sudschleife

By this point though the Sudschleife had already fallen out of favour and was effectively abandoned given it was rarely used. The track held its last race in 1971 and shut forever in 1975 - one year before Niki Lauda's massive Nordschleife crash ended F1 racing at the track.

When the modern F1 track was built in 1984, much of the Sudschleife went with it and hardly any of it remains. However just over half-a-mile into the old circuit a public road follows the route.

Another section of the track also still exists and is still in use... as car parking for the Grand Prix track. Given the Sudschleife's overall impact on the racing world, perhaps its a fitting legacy.

Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

View full biography

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