Autodrom Sosnová: the circuit that raised Czech rallycross

On 2 October 2011 the Norwegian Sverre Isachsen won the tenth and final round of the European Rallycross Championship at Sosnová, and his compatriot Lars Øivind Enerberg added a win in the TouringCar class. Nobody in the grandstands knew that Europe would never come back here: when the IMG agency became the promoter of the series, the circuit's director Pavel Dušánek worked out that the calendar entry fee alone came to about 200 thousand pounds, and closed that chapter. Fifteen years later the same venue is called Driving Camp Kooperativa Autodrom Sosnová, belongs to an insurer, teaches young drivers how to brake in a corner, and in November 2026 opens its gates for another track day for amateurs.

Location	Sosnová 200, about 2 km south of Česká Lípa, on the road from Prague (Liberec Region, Czech Republic)
Type	multi-purpose motorsport centre: an asphalt circuit, a gravel circuit and an off-road course; a training ground
Length	1.6 km (the full asphalt loop after the 2021–2022 rebuild), average width 12 m; rallycross course 1198 m, 60 percent asphalt and 40 percent gravel; kart track 1020 m
Year of construction	1977
Owner and operator	Driving Camp Autodrom Sosnová a.s.; sole shareholder: Kooperativa pojišťovna, a.s., Vienna Insurance Group; chairman of the board Pavel Dušánek
Main events	rounds of the European Rallycross Championship 1995–2011 (without 1999 and 2003); rounds of the supermoto World Championship in 2013 and 2014; Setkání mistrů since 2002; the Rally Bohemia super special stage; Sosnová Classic
Status	active; track days, safe driving courses, driving school, circuit hire

The circuit that started with go-karts

The multi-purpose motorsport centre at Sosnová was built in 1977; that date is repeated today both by the current owner and by the organisers of track days. Who built it and with whose money could not be established from the available sources; all that is known is that at the beginning it served go-kart racing and only over time became a multi-purpose venue. The Czech Wikipedia, citing a printed guidebook to the Českolipsko region from 2009, adds that the first users were motorcyclists, and that rallycross, rallying, supermoto and karting came later.

Karting has stayed here for good. The asphalt kart loop measures 1020 m, is from 8 to 12 m wide, has five left-hand and four right-hand corners, and is driven anti-clockwise. In July 2007 Sosnová hosted the qualifier for the European Championship in the KF2 and KF3 classes for the central part of the continent: 130 drivers from Italy, Germany, Austria, Greece, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and Poland, and two years earlier a similar qualifier was won here by Erik Janiš, who became European champion in August 2005. Two years later, in July 2009, the third round of the Rotax Euro Challenge was contested here by 150 drivers; the organisers boasted at the time of CIK homologation and a newly expanded paddock.

Safe driving courses have been run at the circuit since 1994. For two decades the venue was managed by Autodrom Promotion s.r.o., based in Prague and registered in May 2002; as late as 2011 its website styled it "the largest organiser of racing motorsport events in the Czech Republic". The site itself in those years consisted of three independent loops: an asphalt one, a gravel one and an off-road one with obstacles such as a water crossing, side slopes and climbs of 30–50 degrees; the asphalt and the gravel joined at two points, which made it possible to assemble a rallycross course out of them.

Fifteen European autumns

Rallycross came to Sosnová together with the new state. After a candidate event in 1994, in 1995 the Czech Republic got its first round of the European Championship, and it was right here: at the end of the season Martin Schanche, Kenneth Hansen, Per Eklund and Jean-Luc Pailler lined up at the start, and the final is remembered for Hansen's burning car and his lightning-fast escape from it. Division 1 was won that day by the Dutchman Jos Kuypers in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 2, division 2 by Schanche in a Ford Escort RS2000 T16; it was 24 September 1995. From then on Sosnová appeared in the European calendar every year with the exception of 1999 and 2003, when the Czech round was held at Sedlčany.

The biggest local star of those years was Pavel Koutný from Rakovník. In 1997 he won the division 2 round at his home Sosnová in a Ford Escort RS Cosworth and, before the last race at Buxtehude, was fighting for the title on equal terms with the Norwegian Eivind Opland; it ended with the runner-up place, which Koutný recalls to this day with a sense of injustice, although earlier, as he tells it himself, he had gentlemanly arranged a turbocharger for his rival for the race at Sosnová. He stood on the podium of a European round for the last time in 2009, right here: third behind Isachsen and Michael Jernberg in the season finale of the premier division 1.

Towards the end of the first decade of the 21st century Sosnová was given the finals. In 2007, and then in 2009, the last round of the season was held here; before the edition of 12–13 September 2009 the organisers announced the thirteenth European round in a row and a novelty introduced for the needs of the series: the "joker lap", an extension of the gravel part of the course by the grandstand, which every competitor had to take once in every heat. A year later, on 19 September 2010, more than 15 thousand spectators turned up over the weekend in the grandstands of the Global Assistance Racing Arena (that was the circuit's name at the time, after its main sponsor), 77 drivers from all over Europe fought for points, and the Irishman Derek Tohill became the first European rallycross champion in history from his country. In 2011 came the last act: Isachsen in a Ford Focus, Andreas Bakkerud in Super1600 and Enerberg in TouringCar.

The parting with Europe was not a sporting choice but a financial one. In 2015 Dušánek explained that after IMG took over the promotion, the terms for staging the championship, by then already the world one, became unacceptable for the circuit:

"The chances are zero. The budget for staging the World Championship is so large that it exceeds what we are able to raise from sponsors. The entry fee for the championship is enormous. It is a sum of about two hundred thousand pounds."

Instead, Sosnová went for the cheaper Rallycross Challenge Europe series, which Dušánek called the circuit's "current maximum". Its final in September 2013 gathered almost a hundred cars, among them entrants of the FIA Central European Zone and of the Czech and Austrian championships, and in the SuperCars class Koutný won; the FIA representative present on site is said to have praised the organisation. National rallycross rounds took place here in parallel: the spring Mogul Rallycross Sosnová in April 2010 counted at the same time towards the Czech championship, the FIA Central European Zone and the Austrian, Hungarian and Polish championships, and there were seventy drivers from five countries among the entries. For Polish fans this was not a foreign venue: in October 2009 the seventh round of the Polish rallycross championship was held here, and in 2021 the Polish Motor Association, looking for a replacement for the deleted Toruń, sent the competitors in June to Sosnová.

Loeb, Kankkunen and the bridge over the track

When the season ends, Sosnová throws itself its own celebration. Setkání mistrů, that is "the meeting of champions", has been held here since 2002: in a November duel on a course split into two parallel halves, competitors from rallying, rallycross and autocross face each other. The principle is simple and spectacular. Two drivers start at the same time, each on his own half of the track, and halfway through the distance they swap courses thanks to a bridge crossing; the heats lead to the category finals and to a superfinal for the outright win.

The format has attracted names that nobody would expect on a loop barely 1.2 km long near Česká Lípa. For 7 November 2009 the organisers announced the arrival of Sébastien Loeb, a week after taking his sixth world title in England, together with his co-driver Daniel Elena and a Citroën C4 WRC; his start was secured by the brand's Czech importer. Five years later the star was Juha Kankkunen, who in November 2014 drove a Škoda Fabia WRC, a historic Opel Kadett and his own Lancia Delta HF from the 1980s; in the rally category Václav Pech jun. won in a MINI WRC, and more than 8000 spectators watched the weekend. The edition of November 2012 was a memorial to Bohuslav Ceplecha: in his honour there came, among others, the Irishman Craig Breen and the Swede Patrik Flodin, and the proceeds from the auction of rides in the passenger seat went to Ceplecha's family. The twentieth edition in November 2021 coincided with 120 years of motorsport at Škoda, and after the break in 2024, which the organisers explained by organisational reasons, the 23rd Setkání mistrů in November 2025 was announced with the arrival of Kris Meeke, the winner of five world championship rallies, in Filip Mareš's Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.

Rallying also looks in here in the summer. At the turn of the centuries a spectacular special stage at the Sosnová autodrome appeared in the schedule of Rally Bohemia, and it held on until 2013. Years later it came back: in July 2024 the super special stage was run over three laps, 5.52 km in total, as the seventh stage closing the first day of the rally. The rally director Petr Pavlát recalled at the time that a year earlier "it was exactly this stage that de facto decided the victory in the whole rally", and the organisers were selling fans runs along the stage route in their own car.

Supermoto, five thousand spectators and praise from the FIM

Motorcycles got their world championship round here too. In June 2013 Sosnová hosted the third round of the FIM Supermoto World Championship as the Czech Grand Prix: about 3500 spectators came for the main Sunday race, and over the whole weekend attendance approached 5000. The win went to the championship leader, the Finn Mauno Hermunen on a TM, ahead of the Frenchman Thomas Chareyre and the Italian Ivan Lazzarini; the best of the Czechs, Petr Vorlíček, was fifth. Dušánek told a local portal at the time that what pleased him most was the praise from foreign competitors and FIM representatives, who considered the Sosnová course the best prepared of the season. A year later, on 14–15 June 2014, the supermoto world and European championships returned to Sosnová.

Kooperativa lays asphalt over the gravel

In 2021 the insurance company Kooperativa took a capital stake in the company running the autodrome, having been present here earlier through its subsidiary Global Assistance, a long-standing partner and general sponsor of the circuit, from which the Global Assistance Racing Arena took its name. The insurer's board member Martin Laur explained in May 2022 that the model was DrivingCamp Hungary 30 km west of Budapest, and that the aim was to turn Sosnová into a safe driving centre with a manoeuvring area for motorcyclists, a facility for driving schools and a new main building; the racing circuit was to be kept for the needs of competitions, of Setkání mistrů and of the Sosnová Classic historic car show.

The rebuild started in autumn 2021 and changed the circuit more than anything since the 1970s. The rear part of the loop, until then gravel, was given asphalt, so the length of the full lap grew to 1.6 km with an average width of 12 m; the new section became at the same time the fastest part of the circuit, and the left-hand hairpin along the main car park, until then notoriously slippery in the wet, gained a new surface. Tyres bolted together and filled with sand were replaced by concrete barriers, which separated the car park from the track, before the sharp left-hand corner on the new part a safety zone with deep gravel and an earth bank was built, and traffic lights appeared at the circuit for the first time; a surface watering system was planned for autumn 2022. The track day organiser corners.cz describes it as a technical circuit with a profile resembling a cross between a county road and a race track; that is the opinion of a regular visitor, not a measurement.

The year 2022 showed what Driving Camp is to earn on. Sporting events were watched by more than 20 thousand spectators, more than 3500 people went through courses for drivers of cars, motorcycles and special vehicles, and more than 2000 enthusiasts drove on test and track days. In the spring of the same year, at Sosnová Classic, the Škoda 1100 OHC and Škoda 1100 OHC Coupé prototypes went out on the track for the first time after the rebuild. The formal conclusion of the changes came on 31 January 2024, when the joint-stock company whose sole shareholder is today Kooperativa bought the "Areál Sosnová" enterprise from Autodrom Promotion s.r.o.; a day later it changed its name from AUTODROM SOSNOVÁ u České Lípy a.s. to Driving Camp Autodrom Sosnová a.s. According to the extract from the commercial register the sole shareholder is Kooperativa, and since 15 July 2026 the chairman of the board is Pavel Dušánek, who appears in the sources as the autodrome's director at least since 2013.

In autumn 2024 a new training area for driving school pupils was opened, modelled on solutions from Austria and Sweden, with emergency braking, an avoidance manoeuvre, a skid simulation and, as the chairman of the Czech Association of Driving Schools (Asociace autoškol) Aleš Horčička stressed, a roundabout ten metres from the lecture room; the L17 system was also introduced here, allowing training from the age of seventeen under a mentor's eye. In May 2025 Sosnová Classic took place under the patronage of president Petr Pavel, who personally led a column of motorcyclists from Prague, Děčín and Liberec, and among the guests was Hans-Joachim Stuck; for the 2026 edition, devoted to 125 years of motorsport at Škoda, Stig Blomqvist, Andreas Mikkelsen and Roman Kresta, among others, have been invited.

A track day at Sosnová: 96 decibels and no drifting

For an amateur Sosnová is one of the easiest Czech circuits to get into, also because the operator itself organises track days. Track Day Sosnová on 21 November 2026 in the open pit lane format, without fixed groups and schedules, costs 2480 korunas per driver, and the list holds 60 cars; on the track throughout the day there are a starter, marshals, an ambulance with a paramedic and firefighters, and advice is given by a sport driving instructor, a former competitor of the Czech championship and of the European Rallycross Championship. There are two conditions and the operator repeats them everywhere: a noise limit of 96 dB in a stationary measurement and a ban on drifting. The venue's rules add 74 dB of external noise for the whole site, opening hours from 8:00 to 19:00 on weekdays, to 18:00 on Saturdays and to 16:00 on Sundays, and admission for persons under 16 only with an adult guardian.

The hire price list shows how the operator treats going sideways. An hour of the asphalt circuit from Monday to Thursday costs 6300 korunas net, a whole day 57 800, a Saturday only in full for 78 750 korunas; the off-road course is 2000 korunas an hour. For established deliberate drifting an extra 4200 korunas is charged for every hour of hire, and 10 500 for cleaning the track. Drifting has not disappeared from Sosnová, however, it has only moved to organised events: in June 2023 Drift Corporation invited 40 cars to a training session at 4000 korunas per car, with the same 96 dB limit, and announced competitions in October in cooperation with Drift Days Champions, writing that drifting is coming back where in its view it belongs. For that matter, back in October 2014 the autodrome itself was selling a full-day drifting course with the instructors Martin Semerád and Miroslav Klásek for 5900 korunas, on a watered surface.

External organisers fill out the calendar. Corners.cz comes here at least once a month and in June 2026 is selling a summer track day with a watered technical section for 4400–6999 korunas, with a ban on entry for drift cars and a ban on drifting on dry asphalt, recommending the circuit to less powerful cars such as the Toyota GR Yaris or the Mazda MX-5. Legendy U Vás in April 2025 offered open pit lane driving with a partly wetted track, where oversteer was allowed, for 1500 korunas an hour. The operator's courses, from safe driving and skid school to sport driving and courses with penalty points deducted, have dates in September 2026, and there is accommodation for 20 people on site. From Poland it is a short trip: the venue lies on the road from Prague to Česká Lípa, two kilometres south of the town, and the formalities at sign-up are limited to an online form with the car's details.

On the operator's website a recommendation from Václav Pech, a multiple Czech rally champion, has been hanging for years; it is promotional material, but it says something about the role this circuit played for a whole generation of Czech drivers:

"I too can recommend the Sosnová safe driving school, because I started here and gathered my experience. I won my first race here. Sosnová is my home sandpit and I am terribly glad to be here."

At the beginning of September 2026 one person out of sixty possible was signed up for the November Track Day Sosnová.

Timeline

• 1977: the multi-purpose motorsport centre at Sosnová is built, initially for go-kart racing.
• 1994: the first safe driving courses; a candidate event before admission to the European Rallycross Championship.
• 24 September 1995: the first round of the European Rallycross Championship in the Czech Republic.
• 1997: Pavel Koutný wins the home European round in division 2 and finishes the season as European runner-up.
• 2002: the first Setkání mistrů; registration of Autodrom Promotion s.r.o.
• 2005 and 2007: qualifiers for the European karting championship.
• 7 November 2009: Setkání mistrů with the announced participation of Sébastien Loeb.
• 19 September 2010: the European rallycross final, more than 15 thousand spectators over the weekend.
• 2 October 2011: the last European rallycross round at Sosnová.
• June 2013: a round of the supermoto world championship, close to 5000 spectators.
• 2013: the last (until 2023) Rally Bohemia super special stage at the autodrome.
• November 2014: Juha Kankkunen at the 13th Setkání mistrů.
• 2021: Kooperativa takes a capital stake in the company; the rebuild starts in the autumn.
• 2022: the rear part of the circuit is asphalted, the full loop is 1.6 km.
• 31 January 2024: a company controlled by Kooperativa buys "Areál Sosnová"; the name changes to Driving Camp Autodrom Sosnová a.s.
• 2024: the training area for driving schools opens.
• May 2025: Sosnová Classic under the patronage of president Petr Pavel.
• 15 November 2025: the 23rd Setkání mistrů, the return of the event after a year's break.