Nurburgring

Grez~Supra_RZ-S · Post by **Grez~Supra_RZ-S** » 09 Oct 2006, 02:34

As some of you might know, I went to germany a week or two ago to race the Nurburgring with some friends. By far the best holiday Ive ever had! For anyone who doesnt know the Nurburgring, its a de-classified race track (now oficially a ''public toll road''), renound as the most dangerous in the world. Slightly under 14 miles in length, full of dips, rises, and blind summits. The holiday went something like:

Day 1 - Overnight ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge, Belgium. Go gambling, get drunk, chat with Maxim journalists who decide to feature us all in their next article.

Day 2 - Drive across Belgium into Germany, getting lost several times. I hate Belgium with an utter passion now. Its like france, but with people who wont admit to being French. Get to the track at 5.00pm, out racing by 5.45pm. Finish at 7.30pm, to the pub...

Day 3 - Taken a trip to the Mosel valley, then go-karting at the 'Ring when we get back, followed by racing again at 5.45pm. Been raining quite heavily, only two of us actually go out and do some laps. Manage to drift aremberg corner successfully, much to the amusement of onlookers. Finish at 7.30pm, back to the pub.

Day 4 - Karting all day trying to break the lap record (came within one tenth), then visiting the 'Ring museum, and again racing at 5.45pm. Successfully beat a BMW M6, as well as finish closely behind a porsche 911 GT3. Also managed to beat three 600cc motorbikes in the process. At 7.30pm, back to the pub.

Day 5 - Up early, get a ''team photo'' at the track entrance as a memorial, drive back into Belgium. Arrive at the ferry at 2pm, start drinking. Missing Germany already.

(Mine on the far left, Kevs bike, Hardys Del Sol, Daves Supra, Kevs Jag XKR)

My personal quickest lap was on the third day, an 11.40 chasing my friends Supra (which did the run in 11.30). Some pics (got 64, lol):

Our hotel, situated 200yds from the track entrance (on the right):

Walter Stohls' (class B WRC Legend) one of a kind Porsche 997 911 GT3RS - quickest car I saw there:

Ferrari race car, privately owned. Was there all the time we were, very fast:

Unfortunately, my MBC took a bit of a beating and now I cant boost above 0.6bar without leaking, so Ive ordered another. I also now want to live in Nurburg. Other than that, no problems. The trip cost me only Â£650 all in, including souvenirs and beer tokens, the car had no problems at all, and Ive even got some jazzy stickers on my car now:

Silver decal on bonnet:

(Barely visible) Black track decals under wing mirrors:

Thanks for reading

darknight788 · Post by **darknight788** » 09 Oct 2006, 02:38

dude that looks awesome i want to go over there now, too bad im thousands of miles away. it is not a actual highway is it where trucks and what not drive through or is it a playground for fast cars

Grez~Supra_RZ-S · Post by **Grez~Supra_RZ-S** » 09 Oct 2006, 02:47

Essentially, its a public road. That means anyone can ride on it, including a coach trip of old ladies which we nearly went into the back of. (By far the scariest moment of the trip, I was in a track-prepared Golf as a passenger, we hit a rumble strip that sent us on two wheels round a tight/blind left, got halfway round and saw the coach literally feet in front of us...)

That said, there were some stupidly fast/expensive cars racing round.

bashderq · Post by **bashderq** » 09 Oct 2006, 07:24

I'm more interested in the Maxim journalists part.

...and the cars of course

p.s - just curious, what was the the jag's fastest times?

Grez~Supra_RZ-S · Post by **Grez~Supra_RZ-S** » 09 Oct 2006, 10:27

They were doing an article in which they drive to Greece from Hull in an old Mini (whether they made it or not Im not so sure, it broke down both times we saw it!). We got chatting/drinking/gambling with them without knowing who they were, started talking about what we were both doing. He took a picture of me and Kev, and told us he was going to do an article on us all.

Also found out my car has been previously pictured in Max Power from a Cannon-Ball runner in a Skyline. Whether thats good or bad Ill let you decide...

Ill update with more pics later.

Edit - Kev didnt time himself in the Jag, although at a guess Id say similar times to me and Dave, b/c the car was fast, and hes a damned good driver.

jacoja06 · Post by **jacoja06** » 09 Oct 2006, 11:21

Looks like a fantastic trip... my personal dream holiday by a long shot.

There is still one thing I am curious about, regarding the laps start and finish points. In games such as GT4, the start/finish line is set where the current Nurburgring F1 track joins onto Nordschleife (also where some grand-stands are set). Watching an old Top Gear episode though, it looked as though the Finish line was a Scaffold Bridge, directly after the â€˜Galgenkopfâ€™ corner (Because the main entrance joins onto the long straight). Which points of the track do you actually start and stop the lap-timer?

Grez~Supra_RZ-S · Post by **Grez~Supra_RZ-S** » 09 Oct 2006, 22:51

The start/finish section is along the main straight, illustrated crudely:

The main straight is still pretty long though. Hardys Del Sol reached just over 120mph, I hit slightly under 140mph as did the Supra and the Jag. Kevs bike managed 145mph.

Tyrant · Post by **Tyrant** » 09 Oct 2006, 22:53

Wow, sounds like a cool weekend. Nice decal on your hood too!

jacoja06 · Post by **jacoja06** » 10 Oct 2006, 07:58

Ahh ok. So there is no need to stop at the main entrance point (along the straight) after each lap then? Sounds great, though Tour Busses on the track does sound annoying

(and dangerous).

Grez~Supra_RZ-S · Post by **Grez~Supra_RZ-S** » 10 Oct 2006, 10:58

Oh no, you have to stop. Where the red marker begins, the road is coned off. You than have to pay for another lap before you can go out (16 euros). Only the manufacturers who are testing when the track isnt open get to use the full straight.

jacoja06 · Post by **jacoja06** » 10 Oct 2006, 13:15

I understand now... my bad. Because I heard you could pay for individual laps, or choose between several options, such as 4 or 10 laps for a certain price (Assuming you could just exit when you've finish your paid laps).

A nice little webcam of the tracks main entry point:
http://www.nuerburgring.de/fileadmin/webcam/webcam.jpg
Interesting to see the different events which take place over time.

Grez~Supra_RZ-S · Post by **Grez~Supra_RZ-S** » 11 Oct 2006, 00:56

Ive got three webcam pics of us which my girlfriend spotted (she was at home)

Post by **TheStig** » 11 Oct 2006, 19:47

Lovely trip mate,

You guys brought a nice collection of cars to the ring.

I really have to go there, but I do need a decent car first, cause I think I would would not fit in with the 86bhp Toyota Yaris 1.3 I now drive (my gf and I bought it 3 months ago cause we needed a economical car,) and I think it will take a while before I can buy myself a decent sportscar cause the purchase of the Yaris set my budget back quiet abit.

But he, lovely story and trip there.

Grez~Supra_RZ-S · Post by **Grez~Supra_RZ-S** » 12 Oct 2006, 11:34

If you get the opportunity Stig, take the yaris! Seriously, its worth it for the experience. Lots of people enjoy a lesiurely drive round the track, in all kinds of cars (I recall a Smart car on track as well as a Kia Pecanto!).

Maverick2K4 · Post by **Maverick2K4** » 14 Oct 2006, 17:00

Heh, in GT4 just for kicks, me and a friend drove the Toyota Prius Hybrids around the Nurburgring. We went all out on the gas pedall... still managed to get a time around 12 or 13 minutes. It was pretty funny