boristhebold
Member
My daughter is 19 today.....for her 18th she asked to be taken to the TT. It was a tough decision but I duly obliged and we had 5 ace days on the island.
What could top that ?
Well for her 19th she said she’d like to go back to the ‘Ring and watch the 24 hr race....erm, oh go on then.
Most people seem to have set up home and the ‘camps’ they build over the preceding few days are amazing..
We stayed 12 miles away in a very peaceful hotel that did amazing food. We cycled up to the Ring to buy the tickets and passed a rather exclusive car park...
Bought the tickets and then cycled back to return later in the car. We got a decent viewpoint at Wehrseifen and watched as the course cars (RS6s) and then the 2011 F1 car driven by Schumaker came past...before the parade lap of all 3 classes of race cars.
The race got underway and we were treated to the sound of the big SLS AMG Merc V8s as well as the R8s plus the works wide bodied BMW Z4s...plus all the usual stuff including numerous Z4Cs, 911 GT3s etc etc...petrolhead heaven.
These rare as hens teeth Weissman (M5 engine) seem commonplace round here...gorgeous cars.
After a couple of hours, we walked into Adenau and had a kebab/pizza and a coke then meandered back to watch from a bit further round the track at Breidscheid bridge. It started to rain at about 2130hrs (after a 1700hrs start) and ended up being red flagged at 2300 until 0800hrs the next day. We’d buggered off to the hotel, a beer and a decent kip and breakfast so it didn’t bother us but there had been alot of rain !
It made for interesting lapping the next morning...and interesting camping conditions for the brave/lunatics.
We stood out in the crowd....well actually, we did the night before when there was a crowd but by 10am, at least half had gone home...weird, they’d been there for up to 6 days getting hammered each night and then midway through the race had decided to sod off home....happens every year apparently.
More random shots...
Yep, that’s a TV in their makeshift encampment...
A wander up to the GP circuit to sit in the stand for an hour after Bratwurst and Chips...
Every lap this 30 yr old Manta got a cheer, the guy does the 24hr every year in it apparently...probably like Triggers broom by now....nothing original left ??
Lexus LFA sounded awesome..
The front runners were 3 SLS Mercs and no 25, Maxime Martin in his Z4. In the last 30 minutes of the race the Z4 was 4th and appeared on perhaps the penultimate lap about 6 seconds behind no’s 22 and 23, SLS’s. He was really on it and out of all the cars there, he seemed to attack the track just that bit harder, braking that bit later etc....just shy of 9 minutes later (this is a full lap including GP circuit, none of your bridge to gantry Clarkson skite !) the Z4 appeared in front of both SLS, amazing driving had gained him about 12 seconds in a lap and put him from 4th to 2nd where he finished. A great end to the 24 hrs for a Z4 owner...smugness all round.
By now, nearly everyone had packed up, the place was a mess, 15 miles of mess to be precise but in true Germanic fashion, it will be spick and span within a fortnight.
We ambled back to the car and then the Hotel where we had a great meal and I had a beer or three before an early night and the long drive back to Yorkshire, via Guildford to drop eldest off at Uni.
What a superb weekend. If you have never visited the Nurburgring, it is a must see/visit place. Not necessarily to try to do a sub 10 minute lap (dangerous territory insurance wise) but the atmosphere, people, cars/bikes and that indescribable something...it must be good, we have our family hols there each year and it keeps the wife, two daughters and I all happy.
What could top that ?
Well for her 19th she said she’d like to go back to the ‘Ring and watch the 24 hr race....erm, oh go on then.
Most people seem to have set up home and the ‘camps’ they build over the preceding few days are amazing..
We stayed 12 miles away in a very peaceful hotel that did amazing food. We cycled up to the Ring to buy the tickets and passed a rather exclusive car park...
Bought the tickets and then cycled back to return later in the car. We got a decent viewpoint at Wehrseifen and watched as the course cars (RS6s) and then the 2011 F1 car driven by Schumaker came past...before the parade lap of all 3 classes of race cars.
The race got underway and we were treated to the sound of the big SLS AMG Merc V8s as well as the R8s plus the works wide bodied BMW Z4s...plus all the usual stuff including numerous Z4Cs, 911 GT3s etc etc...petrolhead heaven.
These rare as hens teeth Weissman (M5 engine) seem commonplace round here...gorgeous cars.
After a couple of hours, we walked into Adenau and had a kebab/pizza and a coke then meandered back to watch from a bit further round the track at Breidscheid bridge. It started to rain at about 2130hrs (after a 1700hrs start) and ended up being red flagged at 2300 until 0800hrs the next day. We’d buggered off to the hotel, a beer and a decent kip and breakfast so it didn’t bother us but there had been alot of rain !
It made for interesting lapping the next morning...and interesting camping conditions for the brave/lunatics.
We stood out in the crowd....well actually, we did the night before when there was a crowd but by 10am, at least half had gone home...weird, they’d been there for up to 6 days getting hammered each night and then midway through the race had decided to sod off home....happens every year apparently.
More random shots...
Yep, that’s a TV in their makeshift encampment...
A wander up to the GP circuit to sit in the stand for an hour after Bratwurst and Chips...
Every lap this 30 yr old Manta got a cheer, the guy does the 24hr every year in it apparently...probably like Triggers broom by now....nothing original left ??
Lexus LFA sounded awesome..
The front runners were 3 SLS Mercs and no 25, Maxime Martin in his Z4. In the last 30 minutes of the race the Z4 was 4th and appeared on perhaps the penultimate lap about 6 seconds behind no’s 22 and 23, SLS’s. He was really on it and out of all the cars there, he seemed to attack the track just that bit harder, braking that bit later etc....just shy of 9 minutes later (this is a full lap including GP circuit, none of your bridge to gantry Clarkson skite !) the Z4 appeared in front of both SLS, amazing driving had gained him about 12 seconds in a lap and put him from 4th to 2nd where he finished. A great end to the 24 hrs for a Z4 owner...smugness all round.
By now, nearly everyone had packed up, the place was a mess, 15 miles of mess to be precise but in true Germanic fashion, it will be spick and span within a fortnight.
We ambled back to the car and then the Hotel where we had a great meal and I had a beer or three before an early night and the long drive back to Yorkshire, via Guildford to drop eldest off at Uni.
What a superb weekend. If you have never visited the Nurburgring, it is a must see/visit place. Not necessarily to try to do a sub 10 minute lap (dangerous territory insurance wise) but the atmosphere, people, cars/bikes and that indescribable something...it must be good, we have our family hols there each year and it keeps the wife, two daughters and I all happy.
couldn't tent it :thumbsdown:
