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AVUS
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===Post-war=== The first AVUS race after the war was held on 1 July 1951 for [[Formula Two]] and [[Formula Three]] cars, won by [[East Germany|East German]] driver [[Paul Greifzu]]. For post-war racing, the original extremely long straights were shortened by the introduction of a new south turn roughly in the middle (just before the ''Hüttenweg'' exit, where it can still be seen), reducing the track length to {{cvt|8.300|km|mi|abbr=on}}. After World War II, the [[Berlin Wall]], with its [[Checkpoint Bravo]] at Dreilinden/Drewitz, came no closer than about one mile (1.6 km) to the former South Turn. It is a common yet incorrect belief that the Berlin Wall cut the AVUS in half. It was not until 19 September 1954 that this shorter track hosted a non-championship [[Formula One]] race. This "Grand Prix of Berlin" was mainly a show dominated by the [[Mercedes-Benz W196]] drivers [[Karl Kling]] (the winner) and [[Juan Manuel Fangio]]. No serious competition was present, as many teams had refused to show up and the German Grand Prix was still held on the Nürburgring. Finally AVUS hosted its only world championship Formula One race with the [[1959 German Grand Prix]] on 2 August, won by [[Tony Brooks (racing driver)|Tony Brooks]]. This race weekend also saw the death of French driver [[Jean Behra]] in a supporting sports car race, as his [[Porsche RSK]] flew over the top of the north turn banking, as there was no wall or fence. German driver and journalist [[Richard von Frankenberg]] had previously walked away from a similar spectacular crash at the same site, but Behra would have no such luck as his body impacted a flagpole head-first after he was flung from his car. After 1961, Grand Prix racing did not race on banked circuits until [[2000 United States Grand Prix|2000]]. The banked sections at [[Monza Circuit|Autodromo Nazionale Monza]] and [[Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry]] were considered dangerous by international racing standards. They were used in connection with [[chicane]]s for some time, then abandoned. Banking only returned to Formula One in 2000 when the series used a road course at the [[Indianapolis Motor Speedway]]. The AVUS banking was dismantled in 1967 to give way to an expanded intersection under the Funkturm tower. From the top of this tower, one can see that the AVUS is not perfectly straight. The old banked circuit can be seen in the film ''[[A Dandy in Aspic]]'' (1968) featuring period racing cars. Racing was continued with a flat north turn, but AVUS only held national touring cars [[Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters|DTM]] and [[Formula Three]] events. The length of the track was roughly cut in half twice in the 1980s and 1990 as racing on straights became unpopular. Also, [[chicane|chicanes]] were added to reduce entry speed into the North Curve. Yet, some incidents and accidents occurred. The BMW of [[Dieter Quester]] rolled over when exiting the last corner, and crossed the finish line sliding on its roof, with sparks flying, for a podium finish. The car of [[Louis Krages|John Winter]] hit a barrier and exploded into a fireball in North Curve, which he survived. In 1995, the race 2 of DTM had to be cancelled, after a multi-car pileup blocked the circuit; later that September, British driver [[Kieth O'dor]] was killed in a Super Touring Car event when his car spun and was rammed sideways, with the impact on the driver's side.<ref>[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CC&s_site=contracostatimes&p_multi=CC&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=1063F97510EB4AE6&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Search Results<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
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