Meeting some idiots on a bike @ Nürburgring 2015 :(

I don't get it!
All I saw was some extremely impressive driving by someone who is obviously very experienced at the "Ring" overtaking lots of people who quite clearly weren't at all experienced at the "ring". Which I would say as the 'experienced' driver you would encounter raw novice behaviour like this every time you drive around. The point being that the guys on the bikes were IMO not doing anything outright dangerous and I would say that they were probably taken by surprise by the cars rate of approach, hence the keeping to the left to allow, a safe yet not correct, right hand over take. Also shortcutting across the grass to stay in front is not something a biker would chose to do willingly as the chances of losing it are so high.
There thats my tuppence worth
:rofl:
 
Franzino said:
The last 2 bikers were idiots also…you can see the first one going of track and in to the grass,
Click to expand...

Yes I see that now.
If you go over the grass there, when entering the track again he should have stayed on the right, and he is all the way on the left looking at his buddy when you blow the horn.
 
GuidoK said:
Franzino said:
The last 2 bikers were idiots also…you can see the first one going of track and in to the grass,
Click to expand...

Yes I see that now.
If you go over the grass there, when entering the track again he should have stayed on the right, and he is all the way on the left looking at his buddy when you blow the horn.
Click to expand...

Correct observation!
 
ScoobyR1 said:
I don't get it!
All I saw was some extremely impressive driving by someone who is obviously very experienced at the "Ring" overtaking lots of people who quite clearly weren't at all experienced at the "ring".
Click to expand...
I don't think that you have to be an experienced driver to know how to drive on the ring. You get briefed regarding all the rules at the beginning by the various signs/leaflets etc, and in essence it's a public (toll)road. There your place is also on the right and you overtake on the left, and when driving on the left side you're not allowed to brake without reason hindering oncoming traffic from the rear. The main rule on the ring is that you have to let faster traffic pass whenever that is possible within reason. You move over to the right when the first possibility comes up, so they can overtake you on the left.

Although I can imagine that those positions on the road may be a bit confusing for you brits.... :P :D
 
abar121 said:
Blimey,
Someone is really wound up, not they way I would drive. The biker's made some mistakes, sure, but It's a public day and to be expected.

If you get that wound up, you will make a mistake, or worse.
Click to expand...

Agree, the ring is a public road therefore you have to expect there are going to be first timers that are going to make some mistakes.
 
GuidoK said:
ScoobyR1 said:
I don't get it!
All I saw was some extremely impressive driving by someone who is obviously very experienced at the "Ring" overtaking lots of people who quite clearly weren't at all experienced at the "ring".
Click to expand...
I don't think that you have to be an experienced driver to know how to drive on the ring. You get briefed regarding all the rules at the beginning by the various signs/leaflets etc, and in essence it's a public (toll)road. There your place is also on the right and you overtake on the left, and when driving on the left side you're not allowed to brake without reason hindering oncoming traffic from the rear. The main rule on the ring is that you have to let faster traffic pass whenever that is possible within reason. You move over to the right when the first possibility comes up, so they can overtake you on the left.

Although I can imagine that those positions on the road may be a bit confusing for you brits.... :P :D
Click to expand...

Hmm ... but strictly you shouldn 't have to "move to the right" to allow an overtake as you should already BE on the right. From memory the signs say "keep right unless overtaking" - there is no "racing line".
 
GuidoK said:
Yes, stricktly. That means hypothetically right? :D
Click to expand...

No, I thnk it means according to the law.

On the overtaking on the right business, I have had people try to guide me through on the right, and I won't do it; I just wait 'til they work it out.
 
Some great driving there, you are a quick driver and your car sounds great :thumbsup: who needs a stereo?

I think the issue is having bikes and cars on the same track and also the mixed abilities of riders and drivers alike.

I have a bike and I for sure wouldn't be comfortable about having a ton and a half of zed sticking up my cat flap :o It's really unsettling and that's what's happened here.

Had you had a fairly good rider on a litre sports bike I doubt you would have had any bother as Id guess that even with your driving you wouldn't have caught them.
 
Stu Boy said:
Some great driving there, you are a quick driver and your car sounds great :thumbsup: who needs a stereo?

I think the issue is having bikes and cars on the same track and also the mixed abilities of riders and drivers alike.

I have a bike and I for sure wouldn't be comfortable about having a ton and a half of zed sticking up my cat flap :o It's really unsettling and that's what's happened here.

Had you had a fairly good rider on a litre sports bike I doubt you would have had any bother as Id guess that even with your driving you wouldn't have caught them.
Click to expand...

Doubt it. Bikes may be very fast in a straight line, but they are relatively slow round corners; it would take a very special biker to be quicker than Franzino.

Oddly some years ago they tried separating bikes and cars and the bike accident rate went up. I think the truth is that most bike accidents (like most cars accidents) are single vehicle events.
 
Hijack..... we are doing a road trip in early September and will be going to the ring for the first time (so I will make sure I read the rules on the way in and keep my car to the right, as I plan more of a cruise than a race), but does anyone have advice on Insurance for an open road / ticket day? I am insured through Admiral and they clearly state that the Nurburgring is NOT covered by the policy. Any suggestions on which companies offer cover for this, as technically it is not a track day?
 
Austin said:
Hijack..... we are doing a road trip in early September and will be going to the ring for the first time (so I will make sure I read the rules on the way in and keep my car to the right, as I plan more of a cruise than a race), but does anyone have advice on Insurance for an open road / ticket day? I am insured through Admiral and they clearly state that the Nurburgring is NOT covered by the policy. Any suggestions on which companies offer cover for this, as technically it is not a track day?
Click to expand...

You are covered third party on your insurance because of eu law , however your insurer will have worded the small print so they can recover all costs from yourself , not ideal if you crash and leave the third party disabled or worse , for either party .
I looked into it ages ago and a couple of companies offered it but after reading the details they only covered damage to fence , recovery and track down time .
If you want to play safe hire one of the Suzuki swifts , fully insured and worse case lose your excess , or go mid week when it's still quiet , you normally only get a couple of hours though .
Good luck
 
Basically third party insurance at the 'ring has become a total night are for Brits.

There has been a recent EU ruling that "may" help, however, it's not looking promising so far.

If we put that possibility to one side, the TLDR summary is:

1. During TF (public days) the 'ring is a public road and 3rd party insurance is mandatory (it is NOT a track day when open for TF)
2. Your road insurance provides 3rd party insurance but your insurer will almost certainly have explicitly or implicitly excluded the 'ring
3. If you do have an accident and injure (financially or otherwise) a third party your insurer will pay them (because you have 3rd party cover) but may then attempt to recover those costs from you
4. Because of point 2. (You already have 3rd party) you can't buy additional 3rd party cover; the only add on policies will be for first party costs (ie your car) or second party costs (Armco etc).

In short I won't do TF in my own car any more; instead rent as recommends above - lots of local companies offer track prepared rentals.
 
Beedub said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SiRj3gteI0

could be worse !!
Click to expand...

Ouch! He can wave goodbye to his deposit & excess. Feel sorry for the GTR, he was left with nowhere to go.. :|

Here's one of my favourite 'ring Z4 videos..
https://youtu.be/q547mgSI_UE
(Okay, it's a V8 but just look how hard he's driving it!)

Anyway, nice driving Franz and I completely agree the bikers were in the wrong. I haven't even driven the 'ring but I know the basic rules from just watching videos - its not rocket science!
 
Thanks Paul / Tertius

Confirmed all of my concerns from what I had read, so as much as I would love to drive my Z on the ring and open it up I just don't think its worth the risk. But the car hire looks like a good alternative as a consolation prize so I will explore that further.
 
tertius said:
Stu Boy said:
Some great driving there, you are a quick driver and your car sounds great :thumbsup: who needs a stereo?

I think the issue is having bikes and cars on the same track and also the mixed abilities of riders and drivers alike.

I have a bike and I for sure wouldn't be comfortable about having a ton and a half of zed sticking up my cat flap :o It's really unsettling and that's what's happened here.

Had you had a fairly good rider on a litre sports bike I doubt you would have had any bother as Id guess that even with your driving you wouldn't have caught them.
Click to expand...

Doubt it. Bikes may be very fast in a straight line, but they are relatively slow round corners; it would take a very special biker to be quicker than Franzino.

Oddly some years ago they tried separating bikes and cars and the bike accident rate went up. I think the truth is that most bike accidents (like most cars accidents) are single vehicle events.
Click to expand...
I Know I've already added my tuppence worth, so I suppose this makes it fourpunce worth :|
My only experience of the Ring was on my R1 and as a fairly handy rider, used to race SS600 in Scottish championship, I was gobsmacked by some of the driving capabilities I witnessed. There was a Classic German Touring car race meeting the weekend after we were there so there were loads of racing cars practising, taking a hell of a lot of kerb,something you just cannot do on a bike, unless you have a death wish. :evil:
Having never been there before I was being extremely careful of not getting in anyone's road.
My mate Jorg, an ex German Pro Superbike racer was showing me and a mate on his Ducati the way round. We were very mindful of the rules indicating right to allow faster traffic to pass safely on the left. To be on " track" with so many supremely fast cars I found it very off putting as I seemed to spend as much, if not more time, looking in my mirrors to avoid impeding anybody.
Which brings me to my point a few weeks after our visit my mate Jorg who has a season pass for the ring was "indicated" to pass a Porsche, when he attempted to pass the car turned in on him causing a collision at over 120 Mph! He managed to stay on but left a tyre mark up the side of the Porsche. When entering the end of lap paddock the car driver seemed more interested in the damage done to the car rather than the fact he'd nearly wiped out my mate!! :x
So point is
Not all Bikers are idiots and not all car drivers are blameless :)
 
Austin said:
Thanks Paul / Tertius

Confirmed all of my concerns from what I had read, so as much as I would love to drive my Z on the ring and open it up I just don't think its worth the risk. But the car hire looks like a good alternative as a consolation prize so I will explore that further.
Click to expand...

Everything you'll need to know is at bridge to gantry . Com , and to put it into perspective , the roll over in the rental cost the guy 5k euros deposit !
Mid week evening is usually very quiet , be sensible and keep an eye on the mirror you'll be fine , just approach slower cars with caution and don't be a hero , I always back off if I'm unsure what someone's gonna do , remember , you won't get a prize for a record breaking lap , not that it matters because there's always someone going faster anyway :lol:
 
Paulwirral said:
not that it matters because there's always someone going faster anyway :lol:
Click to expand...

I noticed that on my first lap when a radical sr8 overtook me....
I heard the scraping of the carbon on the concrete behind me in caroussel, so I knew something special was coming...
And within a few seconds it was out of sight again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom