Nurburgring

When we were planning the family holiday to Europe we each listed the one thing that was most important for us to experience there. For me it was the Nurburgring. The attraction started with the idea that for twenty five Euros you could drive a world class track. It turned out to be one of the most amazing days of my life.

I left the hotel early and got to the ring before anything was open. I spent an hour walking around the facility, pressing my nose against every window. Behind every one was something more wonderful than what was behind the last one. One store had an original GT-40. The Aston Martin Store had a race ready Aston Martin. Then I saw the Veritas that Richard Hammond had driven on Top Gear. It turns out it is the only one they built.

Pretty isn’t it?

http://luxurytoys-carl.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html

When the visitor’s centre opened the incredibly helpful and pleasant staff, who spoke English beautifully, set me up with my ringcard. It is your pass to everything at the Nurburgring. Wave it past the readers and away you go.

Your passport to fun

http://www.nuerburgring.de/en/info/ringcard.html

It took me a while to find the entrance to Nordschleife (the part of the ring you get to drive on). The visitor centre, museum and grandstand are at the Grand Prix circuit. I knew I was getting close as the density of exotic cars got thicker and thicker. I came up to a small roundabout with a safety vested official looking person waving people through a particular exit. He wanted you to show that you had your ringcard ready. I flashed him the card and got comfortable. I figured that something this amazing would have lines that make Boxing Day sale lines look short. I was wrong. The swipe card system keeps the cars moving quickly and I was only 10 cars from the gate. I was busy going over the rules, stay to the right if you are driving slow (that was me, a first timer in a diesel), put on your right turn signal if you are letting somebody go by, watch for yellow flags .........

Before I knew it, the arm raised and I was on the track.

Before the trip I had spent a lot of time watching this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ikj90_Un0o


It is the Corvette ZR-1 setting a record. I liked this video because of all the information. You had speed, rpm and an indication of where it was on the track. I thought this would let me know what to do where. While it was fun to watch, it was no help what so ever. There is just too much information. Depending on which website you read there are anywhere between 70 and 120 corners and it changes elevation 1000 feet. Even if you could memorize all of this from the videos there is so much more information that you can’t. There are the G forces that are changing direction every moment. There are the other cars to keep in mind. Most importantly is that while you are there you are more giddy than a hyperactive 5 year old filled with chocolate and brought to Disneyland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%BCrburgring

The track marshals do an amazing job of keeping a balance between the wait times and traffic on the track. I never waited more than 10 minutes to get on to the track. At the same time they made sure there was lots of room to play.

Driving the ring is amazing. It is like ridding the big roller coaster for the first time when you are eight. There are similar forces on your body. There is a similar sense of speed. There is one major difference; on the roller coaster your safety is relatively assured. People do die on the ring and accidents are frequent. On my day, I did four laps of the track. I saw accidents on three of those laps. The worst was a 911 that had gone snout first into the wall. There was nothing left from the bumper to the windshield.

Not the accident I saw but you get the idea.

http://jalopnik.com/373807/porsche-911-gt3-rolls-literally-around-corner-at-the-ring

While you do not have to sign a legal waiver to drive on the track (technically not a track but a toll road) you are responsible for your actions and any accidents you cause. If you need to be towed off for any reason it is two hundred Euros. If you break the guardrail they charge you by the foot for the replacement cost.

Coming off the track I was giddy. I pulled in to the parking lot and admired the cars. There was a lot of representation from the BMW and Porsche fans. There was also a strong contingent from Japan, lots of Subarus and Nissan GT-Rs. There was even a Dodge Challenger club that had come out to play. Everybody was very friendly, even if you did not speak the same language. I think it is because this is not a place you find by accident. If you come here, you are a car fanatic.

The closer you walked to the track the more expensive the cars became. The Japanese cars disappeared and the Ferraris came in to view. The Porsches all became GT3s. I saw the pavilion for the BMW Driving Experience, where you can have Sabine Schmitz (the undisputed queen of the ring) take you around the track in a V10 BMW 5 series. There was also a race ready Aston Martin that you could ride shotgun for a price. I was going flat out when it blew by me like I was going backwards.

She is faster than you are

In between every turn I would take an hour to relax, enjoy the sights and talk with the people. There were car fiends from all over Europe who were more than happy to talk. The cars were fascinating. There was the Caterham R500, which is a little car with a big engine. The owner explained how he had systematically gone through the car shaving weight. There were the trio of British motorcyclists who left work on Friday evening and drove hard to get to the ring to do a few laps then turn around and drive back to be in time for work on Monday. This is the kind of devotion the Nurburgring inspires.

Next time I will write about the other things to do and see at the ring