The Wachauring is a driving center and permanent race track nestled in the Wachau valley. Located close to the Danube, the circuit hosts banger racing, track day sessions and rally cross.
The Story of the Wachauring
While nowadays the venue primarily hosts private events, that hasn’t always been the case. The circuit is built on the grounds of a former rallycross circuit, which hosted international and local events. All the way back in 1973, the first international test event took place.
Throughout the rest of the 20th century, the circuit stayed as the hosting ground for rally cross events. Although the race did change owners quite a number of times through that period, rally cross kept being hosted regularly. In 2002, the current owners, the Automobile Club of Austria (ÖAMTC) purchased the circuit and built a driving center. Since then, driver training has been offered, but racing has not stopped.
After that takeover, a permanent race track was designed and built in 2003 by Tilke Engineers & Architects. This marks one of the original projects by Hermann Tilke, it being listed as the 9th-ever finished construction on their website. This puts the Wachauring in the prestigious position of being related to Sachsenring, Sepang International Circuit, Circuit Paul Ricard or Hockenheimring, to name a few.
Modern Uses of the Wachauring
Nowadays, the Wachauring is mostly used for testing and driving center experiences. Different races are also regularly hosted.
The sprawling automotive industry of Austria frequently tests here. Companies like KTM, Magna Steyr or different tyre manufacturers use the Wachauring for testing purposes.
Every year, organised racing also takes place at the Wachauring. The “3H Cup” (“3 Stunden Cup” in German) races multiple times at the Wachauring each year. This banger racing event allows small teams to race with slightly adapted road cars. The 2025-2026 season allows entries in four car classes, those being up to 75 PS, up to 90 PS, up to 120 PS and up to 150 PS. PS means metric horse power, which is roughly equivalent to horse power. Additionally, rally cross events of the “Austrian, Hungarian and FIA Central European Rally Cross Championship” take place each year.
There are also events for people to drive their own cars around the circuit. These events can happen around the full-length race track but more commonly wet drifting sessions are offered. The circuit also allows private renting for events and experiences. Additionally, a karting circuit is right next to the track.
The Layout
The design of the permanent circuit allows for a number of different configurations as well as driving it in reverse. The 3H Cup, for example, does 6 races each season in different layouts. The layout shown above starts on the start finish straight after going into a sharp but then opening right-hand turn 1. On the outside of that corner is one of the rally cross dirt sections on the Wachauring.
The exit of the long right hander tightens into a smaller radius for turn 2, exiting onto the back-straight if you can call it a straight at all. Because you immediately get into a right-hand bend, slightly moving downhill. The following left-right combo challenges your line choice through the lowest point on the track. The long right-hand bend afterwards goes back up the hill into a tight 90° right. In this layout, the tight right hander turns into a hairpin, which leads directly into another left-hand hairpin. A final fast right-hand corner brings drivers back onto the start-finish straight, completing a lap of the Wachauring.
Opportunities in Sim Racing
This small circuit could lead to fun racing with small and low-power cars, like one taking part in the 3H Cup. Unfortunately, not even a mod exists of the Wachauring for Assetto Corsa. It would be amazing if any talented developers could digitally preserve this circuit. Or maybe KW Studios would like to include it in RaceRoom…?
In the meantime, if you want to check out more about the Wachauring, you can find how to get there and how to contact them via their website wachauring.at.