Automotodrom Zalužani: the track behind the barracks gate

On 5 February 2016 police stood at the Zalužani Automotodrom to prevent a clash. Representatives of car and motorcycle sport from Banja Luka, Laktaši and Gradiška tore up the road signs that had been put up on the track a few days earlier, because a road to the nearby village of Jablan was to run through part of the loop. Four days later the municipality of Laktaši declared that it was the "sole and exclusive owner" of the site of the former barracks together with the track, and announced that it would take the track out of use. That dispute contains the whole history of the only permanent racing circuit in Bosnia and Herzegovina: the loop was laid out on the roads of a military complex, and in recent years the site has been shared with motorsport by residents of the surrounding villages and by the police.

Location	Zalužani, north of Banja Luka, on the road to the airport; according to the Republika Srpska Ministry of the Interior (MUP), the site of the former barracks lies in the municipality of Laktaši
Type	permanent road circuit laid out on the roads of a former military complex
Length and direction	3270 m, driven to the left, that is anticlockwise
Named corners	"Banjalučka", "Bomi", "Okretnica" (hairpin)
Year opened	not established; the track was built in the Yugoslav era
Reconstructions	shortening of the loop after the war; refurbishment with a new surface and a service lane in 2008
Major events	Yugoslav championship races, later those of Bosnia and Herzegovina and of Serbia; an announced round of the FIA CEZ zone in 2017
Site owner	disputed: according to the daily Press (2015) the land belonged to the BiH Ministry of Defence and the track was managed by an association assigned by the city of Banja Luka; according to the clubs (2016) the track still belonged to the BiH Armed Forces; the municipality of Laktaši declared itself the sole owner in 2016
Status	active; in June 2026 the organisers celebrated the 40th anniversary

The loop on the barracks roads

The Zalužani track was not drawn on an empty field. RacingCircuits.info describes it as a route laid out on the roads of a former military training centre, in its first years with a small pit area and almost no safety run-off, on a ribbon of asphalt as wide as an ordinary two-lane road. The portal SportSport.ba wrote in 2008 that the automotodrom had been built within the Zalužani barracks complex, so extensive that plans foresaw the Banja Luka trade fair and a sports airfield fitting in there as well. According to the same portal, for many years the track remained under military management and regularly hosted rounds of the Yugoslav circuit racing championship, and later of the championships of Bosnia and Herzegovina and of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Serbian portal Plum Race called the place in 2021 a former military training ground for truck drivers. The barracks bore the name of the "Krajiških brigada" (Krajina brigades), as recorded in the Laktaši municipality's statement of 2016.

When exactly the first race was run here could not be established, because the sources disagree. The war in Bosnia interrupted racing, and after it the loop was shortened. According to RacingCircuits.info the final hairpin was tightened and moved closer to the last corner to gain room for a safety run-off. The same service mentions that in the middle of the first decade of the 21st century former Super Touring cars from the British BTCC and the German STW championships ran here.

A second youth for half a million marks

In spring 2008 the civilian host of the complex had for several years been the Auto-moto klub Banja Luka. With the help of the Republika Srpska Ministry of Family, Youth and Sport and the Automobile and Motorcycle Sports Association of Republika Srpska (SAMS RS), the club began a reconstruction worth, according to SportSport.ba, 500,000 convertible marks (KM). The plan covered a new surface over 1450 m, from the exit of the "Banjalučka" corner to the "Okretnica" hairpin, widening both of these places by 2 m, and a service lane with pit entry and exit, separated from the start straight by a wall. A wall of New Jersey-type concrete blocks was to stand at the hairpin, and the plans also included start lights and a double configuration at the "Bomi" corner, opening an entry to an inner strand needed for a licence for international motorcycle races. The work was to be finished by 22 June 2008, when rounds of the championships of Bosnia and Herzegovina and of Serbia were scheduled, along with a race of the FIA Central European Zone (CEZ) Cup. RacingCircuits.info confirms that in 2008 the greater part of the track received new asphalt, the service lane was separated from the loop with concrete barriers, and tyre barriers appeared at several corners.

International racing was planned here later as well. The race "Nagrada Banjaluke 2017 CEZ", scheduled for 1 and 2 July 2017, was to count towards the Central European championship, and also towards the championships of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Republika Srpska; the organisers expected about 40 competitors, and both races were to run 16 laps. Entry to the track was to lead through the military gate of the Zalužani barracks. In the same year the daily Nezavisne novine recalled that six years earlier it had been announced that one day even Formula 1 might race at the track.

Whose loop it is

In 2015 the daily Press described the legal situation this way: the track belongs to the Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which assigned it to the city of Banja Luka, and the city handed it over to be managed by the Auto-moto društvo Banja Luka. The secretary of this association, Milan Mačković, complained at the time about residents of the surrounding villages who treated the track as a shortcut to the motorway since their old road had been fenced off: they damaged the fence, dumped rubbish, and dug up and stole 20 m of cable. "They keep breaking in. We have changed the padlock three times," he said.

At the beginning of February 2016 the dispute moved onto the asphalt. When inspectors from Laktaši put up signage on the loop for a passage to the village of Jablan and began work, Duško Drljača, president of the motorcycle club "Maršal", argued that the track still belonged to the BiH Armed Forces and that sportspeople had received it only for use. A resident of Jablan, Mirko Sukara, calculated in turn that the village has 400 households and that a route through the automotodrom would shorten the way to Banja Luka and back by six kilometres. The municipality of Laktaši replied that it is the sole owner of the site of the former barracks, that it had concluded no agreement with anyone on the use of the track, and that the road for the villages of Trn, Jablan and Bukovica was to be a temporary solution. It justified taking the track out of use by pedestrians and cyclists on the route during races, the "chaotic" state of how events were organised, and unmet safety requirements. RacingCircuits.info notes that part of the loop was at times a detour after a dispute over the right of passage along a local road, and that part of the site served the authorities as a dump.

The announced closure did not stop racing: already in June, September and October 2016 the regional press reported from Zalužani on motorcycle races and a track day for amateurs. The barracks, however, gained a new tenant. In autumn 2015 the Republika Srpska Minister of the Interior Dragan Lukač and the head of Laktaši municipality Miroslav Kodžoman discussed locating police units in the barracks at Zalužani and settling the question of their ownership. In April 2018 a training centre of the Republika Srpska MUP was opened at Zalužani, in which, according to Prime Minister Željka Cvijanović, over 6.5 million KM was invested; the centre moved into the complex of the former barracks.

A shadow over the straight

One of the tragedies at Zalužani had nothing to do with cars. On 20 May 2012 a sports aircraft of the Banja Luka parachute club crashed on the track; five people died, including the pilot and young parachutists who were to make their first jump that day. The television station RTRS reported that the crash was seen by parents and by boys who were racing motorcycles here on Sundays; according to witnesses the fire extinguishers at the site did not work. The aviation commission of the BiH Ministry of Communications and Transport named as causes car fuel, a worn engine and pilot error.

In the summer of 2015 the motorcyclist Robert Milekić died on the track. Mačković explained to the daily Press that there had been a misunderstanding: a guard let the motorcyclists in after making sure that the trucks of a company hauling rubble to the site would not arrive, and yet one ended up on the route. The automotodrom's management then suspended training and daily sessions until further notice.

Two years later, on Sunday 6 August 2017, in the second race of the open championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, Draženko Tintor died, a Serbian motorcycle racing champion who had won the first race. According to witnesses he ran off onto the grass at high speed and lost control of the motorcycle while trying to stabilise it; the district prosecutor's office in Banja Luka opened an investigation. After the accident Dušan Savičić, chairman of the SAMS RS sports commission, said that the track is not really suited to motorcycle races, because the run-off areas are not what they should be and the fencing in some places stands too close; Mačković replied that the track holds licences.

"It is not like »Grobnik«, but it meets all requirements as far as republic regulations are concerned."

Forty years and cones

On 19–21 June 2026 AKK "Banja Luka" organised the race "Nagrada grada Laktaša 2026" with the subtitle "40 godina Zaluzana", counting towards the Serbian championship and the open championship of Republika Srpska. The regulations give the loop length as 3270 m and the direction as left, require a licence for 2026 and a HANS system also in practice, and provided for a paid practice session on the Friday before the event, 40 KM for one session (three sessions for 100 KM). The service Timing.ba wrote after the race that the 40 years of existence of the only car and motorcycle track in Bosnia and Herzegovina had been celebrated. On the same weekend the Serbian Trovač cup raced, in which 17 drivers drive identical Peugeot 206s; on Sunday, on the first lap, four of them collided at the "Okretnica" hairpin.

For drivers without a licence, Zalužani has for years been a place where one may try a track in one's own car. In October 2016 the Banja Luka team Race Masters Motorsport organised a "Trek dej" here, to which one could come in one's own car or rent a racing car. The organiser, Božo Erak, explained the rules to the newspaper Blic:

"The conditions for taking part are a valid driving licence and a roadworthy car, and the aim is for people to test themselves and their cars on the track, not on city streets, where there is a danger of accidents."

In January 2017 the Auto-moto savez of Republika Srpska invited every holder of a category B driving licence with their own registered car to a prepared route at Zalužani, to practise starting off, braking and cornering on snow and ice under the eye of instructors. In October 2023 AKK "Banja Luka" held a Track Day & Tuning Show with timing in eleven sessions.

Today an amateur can enter the loop, among other ways, in the autoslalom of the Republika Srpska open championship. The regulations of the round of 25 April 2026 allow a driver without a licence to run outside the classification if they have a valid driving licence, a roadworthy car, insurance, and pass a medical examination at scrutineering; the entry fee was 70 KM. The course of cones ran around the loop over a length of 2650 m, at a width of 6 m. There is a practice run and three timed runs, of which the better two count. In an addendum to the regulations the association SAKS RS also lists a fee of 15 KM for start numbers for drivers without a licence. On 16–18 October 2026 a second Rally Show Zalužani is scheduled on the loop, organised by the ATV klub Petrićevac from Banja Luka; the rally show stages, 5.40 km long, are to run 95 per cent on asphalt and concrete and 5 per cent on packed earth.

The regulations of the jubilee race set the mandatory drivers' briefing for 11:15 on Saturday and put its location in capital letters: in the hangar. The regulations of the October rally show likewise place its management in the hangar at the track.