Nurburgring

[gmac708]

My work has led me to Germany, and it looks like I am going to get a chance to get out on the Nurburgring track this evening. I have been over here for a few days with an engine that is off one of the airplanes I work on. It is in the engine shop at a Lufthansa shop in Alzey. We are ahead of schedule and it looks like my wishes are going to come true. It has been on my "bucket list" of things to do for a while. I have been taking a bunch of pictures and also have my gopro as well. I brought it just in case. I will post them as soon as I can.
Gord

[Ozzie]

Video coming.... yay!

[sx moneypit]

Sweet!!

[300ZXttZMAN]

Hell yea I am pumped but what would you drive?

[gmac708]

We just got back from the track. It poured rain all day long The open track time started at 6:30 PM and the rain pretty well closed everything down. Not a lot of cars during the open session but we headed out for a couple of laps anyways.

I have all the pictures and I am heading home tomorrow. My droid phone does not work over here and I am using my old blackberry. Having technical difficulties uploading photos. I will post them as soon as I can.

Hell yea I am pumped but what would you drive?

If I told you it was a 3 liter all wheel drive diesel what would you guess it is?

[VQpwrdSE-R]

If I told you it was a 3 liter all wheel drive diesel what would you guess it is?

AUDI A6?


Gordon that's great to hear about a overseas work trip with a little fun! I was last in Germany in 2009. My in-laws flew with lufthansa and were very impressed with the airlines.

I shall patiently wait for the go pro vid

[300ZXttZMAN]

SUV?

BMW X5?

I to am patiently waiting for the go pro vid.

[300ZXttZMAN]

Still waiting on the video.


Kinda running low on popcorn.

[alms24sebring]

Hmm I would guess an Audi too.

SUV?

BMW X5?

I to am patiently waiting for the go pro vid.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/82439953/

This was at the ring too.

[gmac708]

I made it back to Columbus late Thursday night. Unfortunately, my bags with my gopro are still in Atlanta. Today Delta is going to make another attempt to have them sent up here to me. I will edit and add the video to this post as soon as I can. So in the mean time, I will post some pictures.

As I said before, we were pretty well caught up for work with the engine repairs and it looked like I could get out to the ring on Wednesday afternoon. I had talked to numerous people that live there about getting out on the track. Most said it was pretty easy when they had open track days and times. You just pay the 26 euro/lap and you can pretty well take anything you want for a lap. If I had about a months time to plan, I could have scheduled a lap with the BMW ring Taxi. I was not in the position to schedule anything. Another option was to rent a car and take it out on the track. This being my first time in the area and not knowing the layout/track/local customs, I was a little apprehensive about doing that. Another option was to just show up and see what is going on, maybe try to hitch a ride with somebody. One of the local mechanics said everybody there has the same passion for motorsports and are generally friendly. There is ample space for parking and people generally hang out for friendly conversation. Yes, I would have liked to rent a GTR and spent all afternoon carving up the race track with an unlimited supply of cash. Reality is that I was here on short notice and I was going to try and get as much of an experience as I could.

Jeff, the local sales rep for Lufthansa had a friend named Arno, and he had heard that we were looking for somebody to give us the tour up at the track. Arno had lots of experience on the track. About 15 years ago he raced motorbikes and is very familiar with it's 18km layout. He still visits it regularly and he is always looking for an excuse to get back up there. He said he would love to give us the tour. He also has a sweet Chrysler 300C all wheel drive diesel that might be perfect for out on the track in wet weather. We could also check out the Ring Werk Park. The only time the track was open to the general public that day was 6:30 -7:30PM so we headed up mid afternoon.

The trip up on the Autobahn was pretty normal. Cruising along at 140 MPH. No speed limits on highways in between construction areas and cities.



The 300 pulled pretty hard all the way through the 5 speed transmission. 220 km/hr @ 3800 RPM was pretty easy for her and we were on snow tires too. She felt really solid. Arno loves the handling and said the car shares a lot of the Mercedes E class components (3 liter diesel, transmission, suspension) at a fraction of the cost and the car is maxed out with options. 30 MPG is not bad as well. There was a chip added that boosted HP and Torque, but otherwise, she is mostly stock.







The track is divided into two main parts. The Nordschleife, or north loop part of the track is 12.8 miles long, and the GP track is the south loop. This makes up the Nurburgring complex.



Part of the Nordschleife track is accessible from the side of the road B412 and is a great vantage point to watch the testing and racing. We stopped by on the way to the park to see who was out there. We pulled up on a couple Lotus checking out the track as well. This is at track km 14, named "Eschbach". I could have spent a longer time here. I also wish I had a better camera. My droid phone was not the best to zoom in or photo fast moving cars.



There were a bunch of cars out on the track. Everything you could imagine went past. It is used by multiple manufactures during closed sessions. Many of the cars had disguises, mostly the Mercedes.



We then went to the "Pflanzgarten" at km 15.



This is where they get "air" because of the high speed and the bump in the track. You can see the marks on the pavement for the correct line and loss of traction.





Flat black SLS made entry here. This entrance is close to the manufactures development park. You never know what they are developing and use the track to test it out.



So we drove up to the Ring Werk Park. It was built by the local government to exploit the track. We parked here for the backstage tour. Upstairs to the left is the Ring Boulevard. To the right is the "Ring Kartbahn" an indoor kart track. This looked like way too much fun. We should have been here earlier.



Inside upstairs is a great hall that is used for convention type stuff (Ring Boulevard).



There is a great hall with manufactures/race teams and stores all along one side. Also notice roller coaster track overhead.



One of the manufactures happens to be my favorite.



A couple GTR's on display



Nice 370Z. Love the "Black Rose" color.



Nice little Audi on display at a racing teams display.



Part of the backstage tour was a tour of the old paddock. These have not been used in a while. The GP track crosses overhead.



The new paddock had a lineup of Audi test cars that had just come in from the track.



View of Nur (new) Burg (castle) Nurburg (new castle) where they got the name.



The tour was well worth it as they went all over the place, including up to of the main track tower. We were also the only ones in the tour, so it was pretty well what ever what we wanted to do. This is the GP track.



Great views of the cars on the GP track.



Front straight.




Hotel.



Podium. Arno, me, and Jeff.



OK, Now on to the Nordschleife (north loop part of the track). This is where the public access is allowed. The GP part of the track is not accessible. There are signs all over the place directing you to here. Devil's Diner.



This is also where the BMW ring taxi is located. They were closed. Other ring taxi cars were parked and available around the Diner.



View outside back of the Devil's Diner. Lots of places to hang out. You can see the toll lift gate in the distance. This is where you insert your ring card to access the track.



Inside for a burger and a beverage.



The building over there is where you purchase your ring card. I can only imagine what it is like around here on a sunny day. The parking lot is huge.




Had to look.



Also spotted this GT3. It shows up later on video against a guard rail on track.



As you can see from the photo's, the rain and late track opening just about killed most of the traffic that might have been there. Still, everybody appeared around 6:30 and we ventured out on the track for a couple of laps.
The first lap I stared out at the scenery. It was amazing. The elevation changes are simply incredible. Arno described the track as we went along. Naming the corners and points of interest. He complained when he missed his line in the corners. He pointed to the place where Niki Lauda crashed and almost lost his life. The second time around I tried to pay attention to the line Arno was taking. Most of the track seemed new but a few spots looked familiar. This is definitely the way to experience the track for the first time. We were passed, and did some passing. The traffic was very light and everybody was trying to make the best of it considering the weather and wet track. The GT3 ended it's day on a bad note and we were not going to do the same by pushing things too hard. The 300 did an excellent job of helping us keep on the track. I am really impressed with the power of the diesel.







Gopro vids. It looks like the track record is safe. lolz
*** lap 1 http://youtu.be/ha1W0EPMswU
*** lap 2 http://youtu.be/VwApLMXTSv0

If I ever get the chance to do it over, I would plan far enough ahead to arrange some high speed taxi ride. There are plenty of companies out there that offer this service. I would also like to rent a car and take it on the ring. I have also read that it would be smart to take a couple 100 laps on Play station Grand Tourismo to get familiar . It looks like this is set up to be a enjoyable event, no mater what your driving skill level is. Everybody was so friendly there. The track has a bunch of places for observation and camping. I know this would be and awesome place to watch a race. Now if I can only figure out how to get my Datsun over here....

Gord

[VQpwrdSE-R]

Looks like good times were had. It's ashame it rained and the GT3 went into a wall. It does seem to rain everyday in Germany. The furthest north I got in Germany was Frieburg. If I ever make it back I will have to stop by Nurburg. I didn't know they had open sessions. Thanks for sharing the pics!

[bigbadberry3]

What a lonely LFA. Jelly.

[300ZXttZMAN]

OMG so bad a**. I think I am going to make an article out of that post eventually.

I am jelly of the Autobahn.

[alms24sebring]

^ haha true that. Wow what an experience. Thanks for sharing, and I would have never guessed that car, and snow tires!?

[PapaSmurf2k3]

It looks like you would have had a great time even if you didn't go on the track. Awesome!

[bigbadberry3]

What licenses did you need for all this?

[gmac708]

What licenses did you need for all this?

You must hold a valid drivers license to drive on the ring. They treat it the same as a public road. Nothing more.

Here is a link to one of many rental companies available.

http://rentracecar.de/index-gb.htm

Check out the cars and prices, and the FAQ pages.

Gord

[alms24sebring]

Dam those are some good prices, Id spend a cool thousand or so for a day of racing. I think Id go for anything between the Scirocco and the 325. Sooo, what if you wreck big time?

[MinisterofDOOM]

It's stupid that most of their options are hopped-up compacts. Where are all the effing SPORTS CARS? Scirrocco, Z4, or 911. Those are some big jumps. No Zs? No Miatas? No S2000s? No real cars? Just effing FWD Renaults?! I'll bring my own car, thanks.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Japanese cars aren't very popular in Europe.

The Ring is a BIG track for a Miata, and even an S2000. The Z would do well though.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Alright, then: Corvette or Viper. Gimme gimme. Or Exige. Or Aston Martin. Or M3. Or 335i. Or 330. Or M5. Or RS4. Or any number of cars that weren't designed to be marketed to teenagers with dealer-installed rice and cheap insurance as their selling point (that's Renault's thing in England...affordable insurance for new drivers and lots of tack on body parts for those new drivers to get excited over...they're like England's Scion, except with French reliability).

[alms24sebring]

I think they are meant for more the beginners to amateurs that either dont have a good enough car to compete at a beginners level, or are from overseas since it takes weeks to months to actually get into your car after you ship it from what I hear. Besides as you can see they are gutted, caged, and prepared with seats and tires etc for the track. The last thing I think they want is a first timer in a 500hp Viper. I fond nothing wrong with the choices, have fun in your Lincoln.