Centenary Nurburgring Trip 13/14/15/16th May: Ever fancied a visit? Something I'd always promised myself and I finally forced my Dads hand by booking accommodation in Nurburg itself and I then got a 50 quid cross channel ferry booking and suddenly there was no going back.  Me being of the computer game generation then risked the marriage on behalf of the cause and spent the next two months pounding the Nordshleife via the wonders of Playstation.

Four and a half hours from Calais found us in the village of Nurburg in a very pleasant B&B. We dropped of our gear and could here the echo of tuned flat six Porsche from our room. Opened the window to find you could see the track about three hundred meters away. Brilliant. We hot footed out of the B&B and got down to the track.

Despite significant reservations (damp track) we proceeded to buy 2 tickets and without any vehicle, insurance or licence checks, there you are suddenly thrown on the track amid a gaggle of 911s, M3s and highly modified Golfs plus anything you brought (we brought a Seat Lean TDI 110 hp).  Despite the massive investment in time on the PS2 nothing could prepare us for reality. The topography was amazing with so many big hills it feels like a roller coaster at times.  Aided by a damp track made ridiculously greasy by the previous weekends 24hour race we proceeded to frighten ourselves to death, my Dad using up his weekends 'get out of jail free' card on the second run with decent downhill 100+ slide. Fortunately he saved it with calm amounts of lock and a 100+ feather of the throttle and we then proceeded to scare ourselves a little more before the end of the lap and retired to the local bar.

We woke the next day to the sound of rain lashing on window. Not put off we made our way to the holding area to find parts of the track were also foggy. Mmm.  This didn't seem to bother most locals but after last nights entertainment we decided it was probably best to head to the modern GP circuit and check out the museum whilst the weather was bad. What we found was a Porsche/Alfa/Caterham race meeting going on and no one asking for an entrance fee. We proceeded to sit undercover in the grandstand to watch some great racing. The afternoon was spent hunting out all the best viewing areas for the big circuit and driving on the some great German roads in the process. 

The next day dawned bright and sunny and by the time we had taken breakfast we could here the local hot shots pounding the track.  With the prospect of a dry surface breakfast was dispatched in next to no time and we made very swift progress to the holding area of the circuit. We spent the morning lapping the track and chatting in the paddock area to other like minded Brits including some journos from CAR magazine in a Nissan 350Z and Impreza Sti.  We also caught up with Kevin and Gordon from MCAC and couple of other people I knew from the Peugeot Sport Club who were doing a tour of Europe.

The afternoon was spent with some more lappery and driving to the various viewing areas we checked out Saturday to see some great track action. The sound of the new Porsche Carrera Gt V10 supercar and the new BMW M5 V10 'Ring Taxi' were very special, these cars mixing it with anything from old Volvo 240 estates (lost his way to Antique's shop?) to Aston Martin DB7's and my favourite the old boxy style BMW M3's.  With some more laps under our belts we started to push a lot harder. On one high speed compression we managed to scuff the engine under tray at over 100 MPH.  Oops. We managed to pass a new M3, about four 911's and a Nissan Skyline.  They looked about as scared as we were on Friday afternoon.  Every half hour or so you would be reminded of how dangerous the place is if not given enough respect. Too many incidents to relate but we were slowed down by marshals on 6 or 7 occasions when bikers had dropped the bike at high speeds but miraculously they all seemed to walk away. Numerous other stoppages took place when cars were also being retrieved from the scenery. I almost caused one myself by nearly running into the back of a biker bottling it into a fast 3rd gear downhill bend. It is difficult to give some idea of the speeds involved but talking to a biker in the evening he stated that at the top of the longest hill while travelling at 175 MPH he was passed by a highly modified Dodge Viper.  We were attacking a blind crest at about 100mph and were passed by a brand new 911 doing over 140 MPH who then had a small moment as he cleared the slightly damp crest, utterly surreal and very slightly scary.

Monday dawned with the weather just a nice as Sunday and we were on track by 8.15.  It was a National holiday in Germany and the usual suspects were out again.  Definitely not for the faint hearted nor apparently for the 4 German guys who were staying at our B&B in their various modified 911s (see pics) and lovely gold "Porsche Forever" and "Nordschleife" T shirts. They turned up at the track but never turned a wheel! Probably didn't fancy being overtaken by someone in a fifteen year old Scirroco. 

If you fancy the trip I have the address of a very acceptable B&B in Nurburg, the village in the middle of the circuit. Every bar seems to be full of like minded car types. The roads littered with German and British registered 911's and Lotus Exiges and other various exotica. If your going to go its the place to stay.  If you have any interest in anything on wheels then this is a must do trip.  I for one will be going back as soon as the Wife allows.

Andrew Stacey

and finally, Andrew's pre visit write up: -