Rich Sandor

That's right folks! I'm making the pilgrimage this September! Whoohoo!

I'm wondering if any of your 'ring regulars have any advice above and beyond the info the Ben Lovejoy's site and the official nurburgring.de site. I've done a fair bit of research and I'm familiar with all the rules, particularly passing on the left only (for me, it would be keeping right to let others pass, lol) and the infamous camera ban.

Any advice on how many laps to buy? I arrive at Frankfurt International at 06:00, Friday, September 16, and the website shows that the track is open from 14:15 to 19:30. I'm thinking 5 laps @ 15-10min each should be enough, no?

Are there any interesting tourist traps to explore between 6am and 2pm in the area?

Does anyone know if they check insurance liability for rental cars? I haven't finished booking our rental car, but I am hesitant to ask if they cover fender benders at the ring... I'm not planning on driving 10/10's or even 8/10's but just in case.. I want to make sure the workers at the ring won't turn me away or anything like that.

Also, how strict is the camera ban? I've heard that they only ban repeat offenders. We will be carrying our baggage in the car.. including our cameras.. will they make us check them at the gate? Also, is there anything like a pull-off where you can stop along the ring to take trackside photos? I understand only IN-CAR photography is banned.

what are the RED spots on the attached map?

thanks!
Rich

ed devinney

I just went in June, it's a hoot but a very tough and unforgiving track. I've got a writeup on www.devinney.com if you're interested, scroll down to the section titled "The New Phone Book's Here". If you've read Ben's site you know about liability, etc, and can go in with eyes open. There's no document check for insurance, just put your ticket in and go when the gate lifts. Ben's site tells which companies specifically disallow the Ring. The Ringers group on Smartgroups.com is also a good source of info.

I bought the 5 for the price of 4 ticket, and that was enough for me. 5 laps is nearly as much track time as you get in a day at a regular sized track at most events. Since you're flying in that day, I'd recommend a nap and perhaps a visit up to the Nurburg (castle). Stop in at the BMW offic near the restaurant and see if there are any cancellations for the Ring Taxi, it's well worth the trip.

I don't know about the camera ban, but did see a US-registered Corvette with one mounted so it doesn't seem to be hard-core. I'm betting if you wreck the police investigation won't look kindly on a camera, though.

The red dots appear to be points of interest: Breidsheid is an entrance/exit, Bike World and Erlebniswent am N'Ring are tourist attractions, and the Nordschleifen Zufahrt, etc, is where you get on and off the course (as well as park, eat, and catch the Ring taxi).

Good luck, have fun & keep the shiny side up!

Rich Sandor

Sweet! thanks Ed! Nice little write up!

Hahaha - First car I ever drove was a Trabant with 2 gears missing and no brake pedal!!

Yeah hopefully I'll be able to sleep on the plane or in the car on the way there - and be rested by the afternoon. If not, maybe we'll stay at the hotel there.

RobNL

Breidscheid is only an entrance, no exit. It's sometimes less crouded than the main entrance.

I'm not sure if you've already found it, but here is also a interesting bend to bend guide (PDF): The Nordschleife line

Jean

Yes there is a camera ban. They stopped me while entering the 'Ring and made me remove the videocam from the roll cage..Once you pass the checkpoint you can try to put it back discretely..The first lap they did not say anything in fact, it depends on the guy at the gate.
Just make sure you do not let the adrenalin build up and you start going into race mode, there are a lot of bikes, slow cars, families and buses, that will show up right after a blind turn.
Get to know the track a little, drive slowly in the beginning (a friend of ours who is a good driver had 2 accidents the same day in a rental Porsche).
Your best bet is if you can find an instructor and drive with him a couple of laps..It cost the group 500 Euros a day to have the instructor.
You can leave your luggage with someone at the cafeteria or at the hotel if you are staying there. It is a 5 minute drive to the hotels. Enjoy it, it is a unique experience.

DrJupeman

Great and timely thread! I am going to Germany in October to pick up an '06 330i and plan to take it on the ring 10/23 or 10/24 (open dates when I'll be there).

jasoncuk

They don't check anything on the car (ex maybe cameras). Just buy 5 laps and see how you go. 5 laps is a lot of driving.

Particularly here - drive what you can see and you will be fine.

sweanders

When in September are you going? There is a week called "the Swedish week" when I know a few people that are going down. I can probably get you in contact with some of the more experienced guys for some hot laps.

If you are there during a VLN race I recommend contacting a team and buy a passenger lap during practice, let me know if you need some contacts for that.

DrRon

Hey Rich,

check out the following site:

http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/

Ben Lovejoy (who runs this site) is a Ringer, and has a ton of information on the Ring, including very entertaining trip reports.

For me: I prefer the Spa/Francorchamps track anyday, but I can seen the attraction of the legends...

DrJupeman

Hmm, what are the chances I can learn all the corner names before my trip?

FixedWing

Why??

Stephen

jasoncuk

They are completely different propositions surely? The 'ring is not a normal track. Spa is a great racetrack though.

Rich Sandor

Anders, my flight arrives in Frankfurt on Sept 16th. I haven't checked to see if there are any other events going on, I only checked the tourist track times.

I won't spend too much time there though, max 1 night, because we are moving on to Paris, Geneva, Turin, Monaco, Rome, Naples, and then Hungary afterwards.

Yeah, it's gonna be a LOT of fun driving...

ed devinney

If you're doing all that driving, rent a diesel or you'll go broke on fuel costs. The BMW 320d I rented from Sixt had plenty of hp (163) and was fun as long as you remembered to shift before it pulled the boost back at 4500rpm...

Rich Sandor

Thanks Ed! Yes we are planning on renting a 318d - I think. We might have to settle for an Opel, it's almost $1000 difference over the course of a month, but I can't bear the thought of putting so much mileage on a FWD car! blech.