Javascript Disabled Detected

You currently have javascript disabled. Several functions may not work. Please re-enable javascript to access full functionality.

Your own experiences of the Nordschleife

Started by Stefan Schmidt , Nov 19 2004 21:19

Please log in to reply

46 replies to this topic

#1 Stefan Schmidt

Member

732 posts
Joined: July 04

Posted 19 November 2004 - 21:19

I remember well, it was in 2002 and I just get started my job for Porsche when I saw in the internet that in April the Nürburgring people open the track for a whole day (a Wednesday) during the week. It was Tuesday morning, a beautiful spring day in Salzburg , Austria when I told my wife “Well, I think today is the perfect day to go up to the Nürburgring”. She knows that I would do it one day and maybe thought that nothing would be happen because I take the small Suzuki Swift car instead my Porsche official Volkswagen vehicle. After seven hours for 700 km I appeared at “the Ring”. It was amazing I have had the feeling that you can smell racing cars, even it was a Tuesday evening I was almost alone. :clap:

I was waiting at the parking place for green light just between the Porsches from the Porsche Club Sweden and some Ferraris. No one else was there with a “normal car”, except me.
I was driving more than 500 laps on GPL at the Ring, I was reading a lot about it and recently saw some Videos, but it was nothing if one compare the feeling to drive your own car, even if the car was a poor car with only 53HP, like my car!

More than this I have got some information from two former F2 Champion and one of them told me that in a car with 75HP one can do a stop and go lap in 15 Minutes.

I was very carefully, and just want to survive and keep the car in one piece. At the Flugplatz I had a strange feeling in my belly, but it was funny again until the Fuchsröhre. I don’t know why, but somehow I think that 170 km/h at the lowest point are to much for the small 1 Liter Suzuki Swift. Maybe the line was wrong too. After riding up the hill I felt that the steering was very light and in that moment the car was in heavy oversteering :eek:

which I had under control after hard work on the wheel. I was so frightening that I decide to go out in Breidscheid where the next exit is. On the way to Breidscheid I realise that it I was OK again and decide to continue. In fact it was during the week there have been maybe 2 or 3 cars together with me on the track. The rest of the lap was very nice and enjoyable for me. Later I was driving 10 more laps there without any troubles like the one from the Fuchröhre during my first run. My last run with that car was in 14 Minutes 23 Seconds.

Last April I have had my famous walk around the Ring (8 hours) and you can believe me when I was down in the Fuchsröhre behind the guard rails I realise how lucky I must be to survive unhurt and didn’t crash there.

My personal experience at the Ring was: The faster you drive on your very first lap there, the less you learn. :wave:

#2 Twin Window

Nostalgia Host

6,611 posts
Joined: May 04

Posted 19 November 2004 - 23:40

One lap of the place, in a BMW 7 Series with Mike Thackwell driving. It was after qualifying for the 1982 F2 race, when he was in a Markus Hotz Horag March, and he'd gone off at the far side. The team ran on such a tiny budget they had no spare nose cone, so we had to go round to the scene and retreive the bits from over the barriers... :eek:

Sideways everywhere, he was - and driving one-handed while looking over his shoulder and talking to those in the back seat! :eek:

Awesome... :up:

#3 Lotus23

Member

1,006 posts
Joined: October 02

Posted 20 November 2004 - 02:41

There's a huge difference between the Ring of my first visit ('61) and that of my most recent one ('04). For sentiment, I prefer the former; for safety, the latter.

But it's still an awesome place.

#4 Buford

Member

11,174 posts
Joined: March 01

Posted 20 November 2004 - 03:46

I had 2 laps in a rental Ford Escort in 1981. Went off once but missed the guardrail.

#5 Rainer Nyberg

Member

1,768 posts
Joined: October 00

Posted 20 November 2004 - 07:00

My only visit to Nürburgring was during the German GP 1985 weekend, so there was no access to the Nordschleife.

I had rented a Fiat Uno 45 for the journey there from Frankfurt, so I doubt it would have produced any driving pleasure anyway... :lol:

#6 Stefan Schmidt

Member

732 posts
Joined: July 04

Posted 20 November 2004 - 10:25

Originally posted by Rainer Nyberg
My only visit to Nürburgring was during the German GP 1985 weekend, so there was no access to the Nordschleife.

I had rented a Fiat Uno 45 for the journey there from Frankfurt, so I doubt it would have produced any driving pleasure anyway...

Rainer, do you know one from the Swedish Porsche Club? I need a contact address. I have met some of them several times when I was at the Ring.

#7 Rainer Nyberg

Member

1,768 posts
Joined: October 00

Posted 21 November 2004 - 09:59

I only know one friend who actually owns a Porsche, a 356, but I am not certain if he is a member of the Swedish Porsche Club.

Maybe their website can assist you?

http://www.porsche.nu/

Webmaster: webmaster@porsche.nu

#8 Stefan Schmidt

Member

732 posts
Joined: July 04

Posted 21 November 2004 - 10:17

Thank you very much, Rainer :up:

#9 MilanF1

Member

109 posts
Joined: July 03

Posted 21 November 2004 - 11:05

Originally posted by Stefan Schmidt
...but it was funny again until the Fuchsröhre. I don’t know why, but somehow I think that 170 km/h at the lowest point are to much for the small 1 Liter Suzuki Swift. Maybe the line was wrong too. After riding up the hill I felt that the steering was very light and in that moment the car was in heavy oversteering which I had under control after hard work on the wheel. I was so frightening that I decide to go out in Breidscheid where the next exit is. On the way to Breidscheid I realise that it I was OK again and decide to continue. In fact it was during the week there have been maybe 2 or 3 cars together with me on the track. The rest of the lap was very nice and enjoyable for me. Later I was driving 10 more laps there without any troubles like the one from the Fuchröhre during my first run. My last run with that car was in 14 Minutes 23 Seconds.

I have very similar experience. I was driving Daewoo Lanos 1.6, with 2 other people onboard and 40kg package in car. I didn't have any experience with Norschleife at all, neither in real life, nor with GPL. It was all perfect until Fuchsrohre, where we approached with 190km/h. At the lowest point of Fuchsrohre the back of the car was compressed really hard and driving up the hill the car felt strange. The steering was very light and there was little response from it. Luckily the car's balance remained neutral, but the car used whole width of the track. For a short moment it seemed to us that we will have a "small" excursion off the track. But we managed to stay on the track. I was also frightened and our speed on the rest of the lap was compromised by this experience. My second and last lap was also influenced by this experience, because we still didn't know the track and were afraid of Fuchsrohre and didn't know when it will appear in front of us. I was so concentrated on this corner, that I had one small off at Hatzenbach and another just after Fuchsrohre in the slow right-left combination. The rest of the lap was again with no problems, which only showed me, that the experience in Fuchsrohre was very strong for me.

I think that Fuchsrohre is underestimated by drivers who drive through it for the first time. The compression in the middle of the corner is really hard and cars with soft springs aren't able to cope with this huge load. The radius of this corner isn't that small and would allow quite high speed (what misleads to too high corner entry speed by many drivers), but this elevation changes make this corner a real challenge.

#10 Stefan Schmidt

Member

732 posts
Joined: July 04

Posted 21 November 2004 - 15:29

A friend of me says one day that driving at the Nordschleife is a combination of discomfort and high feeling ( in german Unbehagen und Hochgefühl).

#11 klemcoll

Member

187 posts
Joined: July 04

Posted 22 November 2004 - 03:04

Does anyone in this thread know where one can find the best discussion with illustrations of lines around the Nordschleife? I have seen some on bike sites, but there was part of one I saw some time back for cars that seemed excellent, with all sorts of pavement change detail, etc. and in English. Thanks for any help.

#12 Cal

Member

112 posts
Joined: March 02

Posted 22 November 2004 - 03:33

I made the trip to the UK and Europe last year to attend the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Old Timer GP at the Nurburgring. Going to the Ring had been a dream of mine for years. My rental car was a 66kw Peugeot 307 diesel wagon! I took all the seats out and pumped the tyres up to 40psi. I did 15 laps in total with a best BTG time of 10.25. I knew the track from watching videos and driving countless laps of GPL. Still took a few laps to really get to know it though. I also did a pax lap in an E30 M3 and a Lancia Delta Intergrale. I plan to return within a few years. I will make sure I have something quicker next time.

Cheers,

Cal.

#13 Wolf

Member

7,883 posts
Joined: June 00

Posted 22 November 2004 - 03:38

Klemcoll, if nobody comes to Your rescue, I'll (try to*) dig out a CD I've saved them to and post them here.

* I'm a firm believer in having all one's CDs of the same brand and unmarked, so it may prove to be a bit of challenge... :rolleyes:

#14 Stefan Schmidt

Member

732 posts
Joined: July 04

Posted 22 November 2004 - 06:05

Originally posted by klemcoll
Does anyone in this thread know where one can find the best discussion with illustrations of lines around the Nordschleife? I have seen some on bike sites, but there was part of one I saw some time back for cars that seemed excellent, with all sorts of pavement change detail, etc. and in English. Thanks for any help.

Look here: http://www.pro-steil....de/mythos_.htm

#15 Darren Galpin

Member

2,322 posts
Joined: April 00

Posted 22 November 2004 - 08:34

Did anyone see Mr Clarkson get his come-uppance at the 'ring last night on Top Gear? He tried to get a diesel S-Type jag around in less than 10 minutes, and finally managed 9m59 after a day and a halfs trying. Then the production crew gave it to a female driving instructor, and her first and only lap in the car was 9m12. That made me laugh.......

I've done two laps of the circuit, once in a Ford Sierra with my parents. My father was videoing the lap from the back seat, and the best bit was heading into the Karrusell at a reasonable speed. There was a sudden thump as my father fell sideways into the door. "Why didn't you tell me what was coming" he demanded. "Because I thought you could see where we were going through the camera" I answered. The second time was in a beaten up Lancia family car. It understeered everywhere on the wet circuit, but was fun nevertheless.

#16 Racer.Demon

Member

1,722 posts
Joined: November 99

Posted 22 November 2004 - 09:16

I have several friends who are Ringers - and fortunately they aren't dead ringers... :lol:

Yes, I saw the Top Gear item last night, and one of the Dutch Ringers was among the people being interviewed - he said it was like a disease, and that's the bit that got into the program. What he also said was that you needed to respect the 'Ring, otherwise it will bite you, but that was left out... It wouldn't have fitted with JC's attempt to set a time on his first Touristenfahrt lap, which was totally and utterly ludicrous and unresponsible. It's good this show was aired right before the 'Ring's winter closure, as we would surely have seen dozens of mad Brits crossing the Channel to try and emulate JC and his 10-minutes mark - a sure recipe for death or disability.

Still, it was a very enjoyable item, not just because of Sabine Reck telling JC he was 80% talent-free but also because of JC having no problem making a fool of himself. I like that about a guy. :up:

Ben Lovejoy's site is also very informative for 'Ring visits and Touristenfahrt outings: www.nurburgring.org.uk

Incidentally, the road-car 'Ring lap record by the Porsche Carrera GT was recently beaten by a Dutch Donkervoort D8 funny car, and with a good margin of 14 seconds too! The record now stands at 7'18"1...

#17 mat1

Member

351 posts
Joined: April 00

Posted 22 November 2004 - 11:33

My first encounter with the ring was in the winter of 1987.

I was there with an Alfa 75, and I saw in the Michelin Guide a lap of the ring was possible, even recommended for the beautiful views etc. (And yes, the area is beautiful.)

So there I went, firmly intending to make it a tourist lap. Back then the GP-track was included in a lap, and after a few hundred metres a didn't look at the surrounding anymore. A wide tarmac road! No cars coming from the other direction! Hmm......

But then the old Nordschleife began. The first part (Hatzenbach, Flugplatz) went well, but after that I became a little bit heady. So I nearly went of in Aremberg. After that, I was very tame. I was completely alone, apart from an Audi 100 which passed me at Kesselchen. When the Karussell came I was completely surprised, didn't know what to do, and therefore drove at the outside. (Which is a better idea anyway.)

Enfin, I was very impressed.

Later I took a couple of courses and I learned to know the place a little bit.

Regarding the Fuchsrohre: because of the depression at the bottom, the car will go down deeply in the springs. It depends on the frequency how much time it takes to come back at normal level, and therefore with which speed you can take the bend in the depression.

With a Peugeot 406, the maximum was around 150-160, if I remember correctly. If you go faster, you will have experiences like Stefan described.

Ah well...

mat

#18 Ed Kooij

Member

174 posts
Joined: April 02

Posted 22 November 2004 - 13:18

I was there last August on a beautiful summer evening, with some friends. I'd never been there before, and had only done two or three laps with GPL before deciding the game was too difficult to be fun, so I had absolutely no idea were I should be going on the track. Actually my passenger and I were betting on whether the first corner would be left or right! Add to that the fact that it was quite busy with lunatics on two wheels, and you'll understand that I was looking in my rear view mirror way too much to do anything more than touring around.

Still, as opposed to the guys above me who went in Fords, Fiats or Suzuki's, I did the lap in my '91 Opel Calibra 2.0i, and pushed as hard as I could whenever I felt safe. Which, incidentilly, resulted in a small off at Adenauer Forst on my first lap. I came around the fast lefthander uphill and suddenly saw the track go off to the left sharply. As soon as I saw where the road was going, I knew there was no way on earth I was going to make the corner, so I was left with going left anyway and probably going round, or cutting the chicane. In a reflex I chose the latter, and only then found out how high the bloody kerbs are. Two days later my car suffered a mechanical failure which was probably related to crashing over the kerbs. Darn. I felt like a complete idiot, until I got home and did a search on Google, and found plenty of pictures of idiots making the same error. Well, I still felt like an idiot, but at least I was not alone...

The rest of the lap I turned back to my original strategy of pushing only when I felt safe, but I felt a lot less safe in any given corner, let me tell you that. I felt I was crawling, especially whenever a motorcyclist came screaming by. Still, I was proud of how I handled the caroussel the first time round (taking the banked part very neatly, thank you...)

After that, I did a second lap, with two girlfriends added to the ballast, so I was a little more careful in some corners where I'd been wet-handed in the first run, and pushed a little harder where I knew I could after one lap experience. Thumbs up to the brave girls for driving along!

Anyway, I did both laps in about 15 minutes (timed it by looking at the clock, I felt that was accurate enough over 20 kilometers). Beforehand I figured that an average speed of 80 should be possible, so I was pretty happy with the 15 minute lap.

#19 Wolf

Member

7,883 posts
Joined: June 00

Posted 22 November 2004 - 16:11

Klemcoll, I believe you were looking for these:

http://members.atlas...olf/Ring_00.gif
http://members.atlas...olf/Ring_01.gif
http://members.atlas...olf/Ring_02.gif
http://members.atlas...olf/Ring_03.gif
http://members.atlas...olf/Ring_04.gif
http://members.atlas...olf/Ring_05.gif
http://members.atlas...olf/Ring_06.gif
http://members.atlas...olf/Ring_07.gif
http://members.atlas...olf/Ring_MM.gif

I wish I remember where I picked them up, so I could give credit where credit is due...

#20 klemcoll

Member

187 posts
Joined: July 04

Posted 22 November 2004 - 16:17

Thank you very much. Just what I was looking for!

#21 Stefan Schmidt

Member

732 posts
Joined: July 04

Posted 22 November 2004 - 18:34

Originally posted by Cal
I took all the seats out and pumped the tyres up to 40psi.

I always thought this would be a good way for a race track. A Ring specialist told me that it would be ok for the GP Track but NOT for the Nordschleife.

#22 klemcoll

Member

187 posts
Joined: July 04

Posted 22 November 2004 - 20:24

For Wolf:

Here is where the Nordschleife instructions were shown, I just found it!

http://www.sioux-onl.../Hatzenbach.htm

#23 Darren Galpin

Member

2,322 posts
Joined: April 00

Posted 23 November 2004 - 08:18

That's not the original, it's a copy, just the same as the set I have on my site! I got mine 9 years ago from the BMW Car Club (can't remember which one now)...........

#24 Caterhamnut

New Member

9 posts
Joined: November 04

Posted 23 November 2004 - 09:29

all. Having lurked here for many months, I have finally joined!
Name is Angus, and I have a Caterham 7, which is the only car of my partner Tessa and I. We have had the car for just over 3 years now, but have done over 70,000 miles in it in this time!

Included in this is a few visits to the Ring on our travels - needless to say we love the place. We have a website
www.mycaterham.com
and within this we have a Ring section which has proved pretty popular. Last time we were there we hired some bikes and rode around the whole track side, taking lots of pictures which you can see on the site, along with maps and hopefully useful info. It is not as detailed as Ben's site, but is our experience!
Hope you like it, and would love it if you said hello in the guest book!

To jump right to the Ring section
jump here ,
but please feel free to browse the rest of the site, as if you like cars you will find something interesting there, including stuff on some other tracks, and some F1 stuff.
Look forward to many more posts!!
(oh yes, and as it is fresh news, I proposed to Tessa on Saturday had to really as I had found someone who is as much of a petrol head as I am! :love:

)
cheers
angus

#25 Sintra

Member

341 posts
Joined: March 02

Posted 23 November 2004 - 10:12

Originally posted by Caterhamnut
all. Having lurked here for many months, I have finally joined!

...

Nice site!! Welcome to the board :wave:

#26 Wolf

Member

7,883 posts
Joined: June 00

Posted 23 November 2004 - 11:18

Originally posted by Darren Galpin
That's not the original, it's a copy, just the same as the set I have on my site! I got mine 9 years ago from the BMW Car Club (can't remember which one now)...........

My appologies, Darren! :blush:

Where else could I have gotten them from, but Your superb website?!?

#27 Seebar

Member

151 posts
Joined: August 04

Posted 23 November 2004 - 18:07

First and so far only visit: six laps (though one of them not voluntarily) on the 8th of September in 2003.

Had my Driving Licence for more than a year and was finally allowed to take the family's 1968 Volkswagen 1300, which reaches anything up to 120-125 kph without problems, and then it gets hairy. I had spent countless GPL laps and thought I was ready for the real thing. Had quite a scare at the Fuchsröhre: I thought I wasn't actually going that fast and was concentrating on being overtaken by a tuned Polo. A quick glance at the needle revealed that it was beyond 140 and off the speedometer...I always thought that was only possible in comic books.

Worse was to come: I was trying to be very friendly to anyone trying to overtake me (well, I had 40 HP, which is very scary just about all the way from Bergwerk to Hohe Acht: it means driving 50 kph in 3rd gear, which is really slow when Porsches, BMW's and motorcycles are flashing past at at least three times that pace).

At Eschbach, I moved all the way to the right to let a cycle pass me. I was caught out by the fact that the track goes down and to the left quite suddenly. Still don't know how it actually happened, I think I must have put a wheel on the grass, but anyway I lost the rear end at some 60 kph and spun across the track. I hit the guard rail to the left, thankfully not hard, but still hard enough to damage the bumper, exhaust pipes, fog light and left rear mudguard.

Thankfully, there's a little bit of grass at the bottom, I could let the car roll towards it, jump out, put up a danger signal, kick the pipes back into a halfway decent position, pray that it would fire up again (which it did, thank you Herr Porsche) and get the hell away from there.

I immediately went for another lap, saying to myself that if I didn't, I would never dare to go onto the track again. After my second lap, I was stopped by a angry-looking German from the Streckensicherheitsdienst. Apparently, you're supposed to tell them when you went off. It sounds logical, but in the heat of the moment, I hadn't thought of that. Anyway, he asks for my driving licence, car insurance, identity card, whether I know German and then told me to sit alongside him in one of those big Mercedes. We took off, he was doing 170 at Flugplatz, and I remember thinking "well if this is the safety crew, how quickly is that Ringtaxi going?". We went back to Eschbach, inspected the guard rail (had I damaged that, I would have had to pay for a new layer...explain that one at home!), I collected what was left of my fog light, was brought back and was allowed to finish my three remaining laps.

Still, I'll go back there one day, well...not until I manage to pay off the intrest-free loan my parents gave me.

#28 Stefan Schmidt

Member

732 posts
Joined: July 04

Posted 23 November 2004 - 21:03

Very interesting... most of us had troubles in Fuchsröhre.. :eek:

#29 Barry Boor

Member

11,549 posts
Joined: October 00

Posted 23 November 2004 - 22:49

My Nordschleife memories consist of arguing for half an hour at the paddock gate before being let in....

....and being thrown out about 4 hours later!

#30 Ray Bell

Member

80,257 posts
Joined: December 99

Posted 23 November 2004 - 23:35

Originally posted by Barry Boor
My Nordschleife memories consist of arguing for half an hour at the paddock gate before being let in....

....and being thrown out about 4 hours later!

That would be my luck...

Did I ever tell you about the morning I got chucked out of the Restaurant Hunidaires?

#31 Fiorentina 1

Member

312 posts
Joined: December 04

Posted 10 January 2005 - 23:35

I spent a day there in May 2003 participating in a driving school with Zakspeed. The cool thing is we were doing continuous lapping, so we didn’t have come in every lap like some school/ track days. The deal was run in German, but they all spoke English. Robert Lechner was one of the instructors. I rented a Mini in Belgium (best car I could find). The school started with a lead follow session for about 9 laps, then lunch and free lapping in the afternoon. The best part about the free lapping was that REAL racecars from the 24-Hours of Nurburgring were allowed to practice. Yes, that's right me in my Mini-One topping out at 190K down hill going into Hohenrain (Turn 1) was getting pasted by some ridiculous turbo Porsches around the track. I was surprised that I didn't see too many cars; I actually did 3 or 4 laps in a row without ever seeing anyone (i.e. getting past). I was doing laps until the car would run dry, 6 or 7 laps at a time, before the track closed.
The Fuchsröhre was actually my favorite part, 185K flat is something special, in that Mini. Just don't forget about the quick left right afterwards and the sharp right (Adenauer Forst). I was having problems in the miss-hit-miss section until Robert Lechner told me about miss-hit-miss. The Eschback-Brubbchen section is pretty fun as well and the Pflanzgarten section is super hairy, a lot more then the Fuchsröhre in my book. And, I was surprised that I pretty much had the section until right after the Karusell pretty much down after 15 laps. Then, I started getting comfortable with the rest of the track and getting my times down. That's right, I did a no-no and timed all my laps. During my last session before the track closed at 4:30pm (time it opens for the tourists) I did 6 laps all within 6 seconds, with a best of 10:40. I don't know how good that is in the Mini One, but considering I was pretty consistent I'm guessing it is pretty good. The car was sh*t slow, the section from Bergwerk to Steilstrecke (right hair-pin before karusell) was completely flat in that car! All in all I did 25 laps, and enjoyed every minute of it. I only had one moment, putting 2 wheels off, after the Brunnchen before the Pflanzgarten. All in all it was a great time and I am looking forward to doing it again. I want to do it with a proper race car soon as part of the VLN series as a tune up to the ultimate; the 24-Hours of Nurburgring. If you’d like to experience a school at the Nordschleife pm me and I will give you contact info to some good schools and track days.

:cool:

#32 jcbc3

RC Forum Host

12,974 posts
Joined: November 04

Posted 11 January 2005 - 12:43

On an MC tour to Italy in '98 I took in The 'Ring on the return trip. (Suzuki GSF600X a sports/touring bike 86 bhp). This meant that I was ultra cautious going round. I thought.

I had only heard and read about the Ring before and never seen it on a game or on videos. So I had NO idea where the track went from corner to corner. Now, I fancy myself as an adequate driver and I have been racing competitively so I know about 'lines'. Just too bad when the corner is blind and you don't know what's behind that next crest.

I had two offs but none that resulted in spills or anything broken (except pride). I would definately go again. Ohh and as we were waiting a long time to get in, we saw several prototype cars that were finishing up their testing duties that day.

#33 Stefan Schmidt

Member

732 posts
Joined: July 04

Posted 05 August 2005 - 21:51

Look here

Sabine Schmitz driving at the Nordschleife a Ford Transit :wave:

in 10mins..

#34 HistoricMustang

Member

4,489 posts
Joined: November 03

Posted 05 August 2005 - 23:37

Originally posted by Stefan Schmidt
Look here

Sabine Schmitz driving at the Nordschleife a Ford Transit in 10mins..

Enjoyed very much. Thanks.

Henry

#35 bigears

Member

973 posts
Joined: January 04

Posted 06 August 2005 - 00:13

I am a big fan of the Nordschleife and itt has been a five year dream for me to do a lap at the Nordschleife.

But I haven't got a driving licence yet! I am hoping I will get one before autumn and then hopefully I will go next year once I get more experience of driving a car obviously.

I won't do a such thing like passing my driving test and going straight to the Ring on the next day! :lol:

#36 twillis

New Member

11 posts
Joined: December 00

Posted 06 August 2005 - 02:31

German Grand Prix 1967. I was camping in the area by the Nordkehre - Hatzenbach section. I was a 20 yr old by myself, but met two American guys who had a Fiat 127 Spyder convertible. In those days right after the GP practice sessions all the Jim Clark wannabes could attack the Nordschliefe for the price of a couple of DM. So these guys invited me along for the ride, and even let me drive one lap in their rented car. I don't remember too much of the actual experience on the Nordschlife but we did survive our session without heading into the bushes! However the tow trucks and ambulances were quite busy with those who couldn't stay on the road!

Other memories of that weekend - getting a paddock pass (again less than 5 DM or so) and being able to wander around - standing next to Surtees and the Honda - watching with some astonishment G. Hill stripping down and changing into his Nomex at the back of the Lotus garage!! But what really remains etched forever in my mind is Jim Clark's qualifying run. From my vantage point I could only watch him for 5 seconds or so, but even in that short time you could see that Jim Clark and his Lotus 49 had that
'something' that none of the other drivers had. So it was no surprise that his lap time was almost 10 sec faster than that of the next qualifier. Ah those were the days ...

#37 Stefan Schmidt

Member

732 posts
Joined: July 04

Posted 22 October 2005 - 05:04

This happen, if you lose a wheel at Hohe Acht (Small Video, nobody hurt) :drunk:

Click

#38 MoMurray

Member

738 posts
Joined: September 00

Posted 22 October 2005 - 15:24

Great thread. In '87 I was working for a motorcycle racing team based in Germany and we were doing the german, euro, and world championships (selected rounds from each). Anyway, in April of that year I managed to go over the handlebars of a big streetbike on an autobahn at about 125 mph. Not a good day! I had rather seriuos injuries including smashing my lower right leg so badly amputation was discussed, a broken hand and the romoval of lots of skin. I recovered thanks to a great doctor, Christoff Scholl and was back with the team in a matter of weeks. Some three or four months after the crash we had a race at the new Nurburgring and after work one evening I decided it was time to once again ride a motorcycle. So I paid my 10dm and took one of the teams streetbikes, a Honda Hurricane 1000, for a lap. It was a slow lap and I was terrified but I am curiously proud that I remounted the horse so to speak on that great track.

Mo

#39 JSF

Member

678 posts
Joined: June 05

Posted 22 October 2005 - 16:13

my first visit to the 'ring was in 2000, when i took my then westfield cosworth out there with no clue what to expect. It's not ideal to drive a 500BHP/tonne rollerscate on your first trip as trying to learn the lines is quite a challenge in a low quick car. The place just blew me away, not just the circuit driving but everything about the suroundings such as the bars in nurburg, the food (grill axe is a must!) and the atmosphere.

I have been going there ever since, at one stage i was driving there every 2-3 weeks, driving my westie or impreza there friday night after work, doing 2 days on track, then driving back home in time for work monday morning, 1200 miles round trip a weekend. I think i was a bit adicted to the place.

So far i have driven around 350 laps, something like that, and each lap i learn something new, each day i take a slow lap to see if anywhere needs special attention, then drive at a quick pace from there on. I dont time myself anymore, but in the early days prior to the video ban i used to film each lap, my quickest is just under 8 minutes, i usually average around 8:30 at a steady quick pace, i always try and save a bit in the car just incase i come upon a crash scene, which seems to be far more prevalent now than 5 years ago.

This year they opened up the GP track, so i got to drive the combined NS and GP circuit, which was very entertaining in a jeckle and hyde way.

Strangely, my day job now includes race preparing the outright lap record holding car on the suedschleife circuit (the old southern loop that was destroyed to make the modern GP circuit), the March 707/717 driven by Kelleners, and we are usually racing at the Nurburgring with the CanAm or Saloon cars a few times each year. I have also worked in the 24hr race on a sucessful M3.

It's my 40th next month : which i'll celebrate :confused:

at the 'ring with some fun driving and great suroundings, if you havnt been it's a must, the whole experience is very special.

#40 Fiorentina 1

Member

312 posts
Joined: December 04

Posted 23 October 2005 - 05:33

Originally posted by Stefan Schmidt
This happen, if you lose a wheel at Hohe Acht (Small Video, nobody hurt)

Click

Thanks. Man, that was crazy! I read that the Land-Motorsport Porsche was wrecked in a crash.....That was wild how Marc was just sitting in the car talking to the crew after he rolled 2 or 3 times. The Alzen 'Alien' Porsche got wrecked at the same race.

#41 RobertC

Member

60 posts
Joined: October 05

Posted 23 October 2005 - 23:17

I have managed to drive it on a couple of occasions..both in minis.

In 2001 in a Rover Mini Cooper (slightly tuned) and in 2003 in a new MINI Cooper S which was more fun! However, moderation was called for as I had my wife and son in the car!

When I was there in 2003 we stayed in the Dorint for a couple of nights - the bar with graffiti was amazing.

As most of you will know it's often closed and used for the development of new cars. A little claim to fame is that I took several pictures of a couple development Mercedes and BMW's and these were published in Autocar magazine!

Robert

#42 mark f1

Member

4,374 posts
Joined: February 00

Posted 24 October 2005 - 06:24

I had my one and only lap 2 months ago, driving an Opel Astra. Not knowing the track I took it fairly easy and tried to keep out of the fast guys way. I would loved to have done a few more laps but even on the first lap I started scaring myself as I started pushing harder and harder. Damaging the work car at the Nordscleife would not have gone down well...

The track is amazing and if you are anywhere nearby you have to do it. I could not believe the number of spectators at a couple of points, I came around the bend and there was this wall of people all watching me, I tried to be smooth and impress them, but was probably just slow...

I think I left my mark on a few people there though after rushing into the ladies toilets before my lap...well it did say damen on the door.... :rotfl:

#43 ivandjj

Member

107 posts
Joined: September 03

Posted 24 October 2005 - 13:52

did a lap there few years ago. having done 100s of laps at nurburgring in GPL was able to go relatively fast. that is until car came completely down on its suspension at fuchsrohre. same as some ppl here already described it, found out that you cant steer when car is full down without any suspension travel. luckily it raised a bit just in time to make next corner. more aware of difference between lotus 49 and renault twingo suspensions :rolleyes:

continued a bit more careful. still managed to climb a few kerbs and pass few big cars going into some blind corners

biggest problem were zillion bike riders passing me on all sides. no wonder theyre still dying there

sitting in cafe beside ex muhle entry read on some panel that you have to pay for any armco you damage. did anyone here have that pleasure?

#44 Bill Wagenblatt

Member

176 posts
Joined: May 05

Posted 24 October 2005 - 18:35

My first visit would be filed under, "what's the most embarassing vehicle you have been in" catergory. However, in the thread, The old Nurburgring - how many corners? I posted over 100 photos that I took while driving around the ring on an early vist in the summer of 1972.

The first motor race I watched at the Ring was the '72 German Grand Prix. I remember watching Ickx exiting the Karussell and thinking that no one or no car could vere possiblt go faster (silly me).

Bill

#45 Mike Lawrence

Member

288 posts
Joined: September 04

Posted 03 November 2005 - 21:06

I fist did the Nordschliefe in 2002, it was one lap in a MINI Cooper 'S' and it was a slow lap, I wanted to enjoy every last moment. One thing I noticed was how the corners came up in sequences of three, four or fiv. Get the first corner wrong and the rest would be wrong, but then you were allowed a respite, not long, until you hit the next sequence.

I came away with many feelings, I had been where so many of my heroes had driven. One feeling was awe for those who had mastered the track, another feeling what that whoever had designed it had made it forgiving. The essential thing about the Nordschleife is that it is tough as they come, but also forgiving. You get one sequence wrong, but you are given a 'breather' so you get another chance at the next sequence.

Who actually designed it? I bet he was not called Tilke.

#46 Stefan Schmidt

Member

732 posts
Joined: July 04

Posted 04 November 2005 - 13:58

Originally posted by Mike Lawrence

Who actually designed it? I bet he was not called Tilke. [/B]

Thank God, it wasn't Tilke!

#47 Wolf

Member

7,883 posts
Joined: June 00

Posted 04 November 2005 - 14:32

Originally posted by Mike Lawrence

Who actually designed it? I bet he was not called Tilke.

This is what I found @ Mythos Südschleife website ( http://sudschleife.8...com/history.htm ) :

The Eichler engineering firm from Ravensburg, led by Gustav Eichler, was ordered to design the circuit.