Bye for now, I'm off to

B

boristhebold

Member
...the Nurburgring.
First time in the Coupe, been on the bike several times including doing the BMW 3 day course back in 2006, various cars over the last few years several times and ridden it on a push bike twice in the Rad am Ring 24 hr race. (15 mile laps incl the GP circuit with over 1000 feet of climbing each lap...gulp. I did it in a team of 4 and I did 5 laps in yr 1 and 6 in yr 2, some local nutters do it solo and the winner did 28 laps. Do the maths on that !)
Anyhow, got to check everything one last time and wash the car now, pack my bag, ensure my 16 yr old daughter has packed her stuff and then set off at 0200 for a 7.50 tunnel. Driving over with friends in their 130i and staying in a fantastic small family run hotel 10 miles from the 'ring. Set in a forest in the middle of nowhere with brilliant roads for the drive to Nurburg or Adenau (local town)
With the ongoing insurance issues with British companies illegally precluding use on de-restricted one way toll roads in Germany, we'll only do a couple of sedate laps at 1915hrs...i.e the last cars through the barriers before the track shuts and then look forward to the German Touring Car race on Saturday. :thumbsup:

For those who have prevaricated about going to this mad, intoxicating addictive nirvana for petrolheads...stop. Get a trip planned solo, with the wife/husband etc, get a forum group trip planned, just make sure you go before the whole atmosphere changes in the coming years as electric cars take over the world....well, you get my drift.

Full report to follow.
 
Well that was over quickly. Disaster on the photo front....didn't take many!
2.15 am is a crap time to get up and drive 300 miles to the tunnel..but needs must. No dramas on the way down, sat at the speed limit and got 38mpg. Petrol is regularly slightly more expensive abroad than it is here now so we filled up at Ashford before boarding the tunnel. Sat on the hellish E40 through France and Belgium before hitting German soil and bimbling down to the Eifel region. We booked in to the hotel. http://www.hotel-forsthaus.com/ dropped our kit off and drove over to Adenau, the main "town" near to the Nurburgring. An obligatory trip to the Eis Cafe for a fantastic ice cream was next, followed by calling in to drop chocolate at friends who live out there as well as Vimto for another friend...then off down to the Car Park to decide whether to do a lap or not.
The ring does not open all day every day, loads of people have driven across only to be disappointed that it is a race day/practice or some other event. If you plan to go, check their website!. (Oh, and make sure you spell it Nurburg on the sat Nav at Calais, not Nuremburg, fairly different locations! this happens frequently) http://www.nuerburgring.de/en/angebote/motor-action/tourist-rides-nordschleife/opening-times-nordschleife.html. After a slightly delayed opening, the usual mad rush happened where all the loonies desperately get out. Ten minutes later they all start to come back in (or go back out for a second lap) after about half an hour...so at about 6-15 it settles down. We bought a single lap ticket @26euro and went out at about 7-10. It was relatively quiet but many of those out doing back to back laps in caged E46 M3s were race drivers getting in some practice before racing on Saturday. The speed differential is huge! A kebab and a beer followed and that was me done in by about 10
The next day we drove up to Kerpen, 50 miles north, and went here http://www.ms-kartcenter.de/en/home.html. 5 of us had two karting sessions and it was brilliant fun. Unlike many places where they want to extract the maximum cash out you, every time I have been here, they always tells me what there current offer is and allowed us to mix and match offers. Pretty good value and the staff turn a blind eye to some lairy actions on track ! :evil:
Once back at Nurburg we had a wander round Ringwerk, the big white elephant motorsports "theme park" that is somewhat in debt. We climbed up into the grandstand and watched the VLN 6 hr endurance race practice. Amazing sounds from the AMG SLS Mercs, Z4 v8, Lexus V8 etc.
Met some friends for a group meal on Friday evening at a local restaurant. http://www.gemuetliche-ecke-adenau.com/en/cms/website.php. Superb food and the owner is a real character who often gets his guitar out later in the vending for a good old drunken singalong. :thumbsup:
Saturday was race day but being a biker I had a natter with group of German Ducati owners who were staying at our hotel.

We drove up to the ring and got a good spot to view the 200 plus cars involved, ranging from a Saxo VT, a 1980s Opel Manta right up to a BMW M1





This is the type of scenery all around the Eifel. Stunning !










After half an hour a Toyota GT86 spun on the bend we were at (Wehrseifen) and rolled backwards downhill to be shunted by an old Merc, and two GT3s. Carnage followed with all the debris being run over (carbon fibre fragments are a nightmare for producing punctures).





Poorly GT3rs...



We watched for about 4 hrs at a variety of places..all for free, until after 30 minutes of rain we accepted that they weren't going to spin left right and centre so we called it a day and went back to the hotel. Rain eased up and Christian, the hotel owner had a baby for his 40 or so guests. No one went hungry and most of us had 2nds and 3 rds! A few beers later and it was time to turn in before our last morning in e area.
Sunday was bright but low cloud hung over the track in parts, so from the comfort of my hotel bed I was able to see that it was pointless getting up at 7am to get a few laps in...the track was going to be shut! A leisurely breakfast followed, paid my bill and then sauntered up to the track. We'd been there 10 minutes when the cloud lifted sufficiently for them to open! Woohoo
We did a couple of laps, one with my daughter and I and one taking my mates lad round. My daughter had a lap with another mate in his old e30 track car. No closures in the time we were there (rare!) and pretty good driving by all I saw. We left the area at about 12 and I chose a route that included 20 miles of de restricted autobahn. Traffic was heavier than I'd have liked so we didn't get to vmax, settling for 150 on the clock, 143 GPS. Very uneventful and rather boring if truth be known. Don't think I will bother again (am I getting old?)
A delayed of half an hour on the tunnel didnt help but we got home in one piece after a steady drive up the A1.
Costs? Do you really want to know ? Many mates simply ignore the total costs of trips to the 'ring. It can be done reasonably but fuel and ferry/tunnel bump it up for us. If you plan to go, try to go for at least 4 nights, too many people try to cram too much in and end up going for a lap when really they'd be better off not doing.
This trip cost £300 accom for two and food/drink. £110 tunnel (tesco vouchers make it cheap!) £270 fuel in 5 fill ups (1500 miles all in) so £700 for 2 for 3 nights away...gulp. Oh, plus either £23 for one lap or £85 for 4
There's a briefing board next to the ticket office, it explains everything you'd need to know. no one ever reads it. Loads turn up and make an arse of themselves in the car park, then go out and do a lap all flustered. Do yourself a favour and park in the big field across the road, walk across and spend time soaking up the atmosphere and seeing e "etiquette". It may save embarrassment/cost or both...
Will I go again? This being perhaps my 15th trip...yep, I'll be back either later on this year or certainly next year. The area is great, lots to do for families with a swimming pool in Adenau, friendly locals and the small matter of the most (in)famous stretch of Tarmac in the world.
 
Sounds like a great trip, glad you and your daughter enjoyed it. We really must get out there sometime.
 
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