My Nurburgring Nordschleife experience
10-26-2005, 07:39 AM
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My Nurburgring Nordschleife experience
I was a little hesitant to post this here at first because I know there are some true 'Ringers here, not to mention this isn't a Porsche experience. Nonetheless, I thought I would share my recent experience on the Nordschleife with you all as I was on my 10th Wedding Anniversary with Food Angel (active poster in Off Topic) and picking up a new BMW 330i on European Delivery.
They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To
A Trip to the Nürburgring Nordschleife, October 2005
Much has been written about the Nürburgring and its most notable course configuration, the Nordschleife. Normally I might not feel compelled to add to the collection of books, articles, and websites that describe the circuit. However, after visiting the ‘Ring for two days, I find myself anxious to document my experience – and share my enthusiasm.
Prior to visiting the Eifel Mountain region, the circuit had almost iconic status to me. As an avid and serious driver, I had been hearing about the Nordschleife for many years. What serious motorsports enthusiast, particularly a German sports car fan, has not heard of the unique Karussell turn or noted manufacturers’ ‘Ring laptime boasts? With the increasing detail of modern racing simulation video games, awareness of the ‘Ring, and the Nordschleife in particular, has grown. More enthusiasts are able to “drive the ‘Ring” as it is included in most best selling simulations. One of my primary motivations for purchasing Forza Motorsports for the Xbox this past year was to drive the Nordschleife. The game is excellent and you definitely receive the sensation that the Nordschleife is a mammoth place, unlike any other track in the world. Perhaps the point of my writing this recollection is to convey to the fellow driving enthusiast: do not settle on a video game for your Nordschleife experience. The real thing is mind-blowing and not reproducible in a video game (yet).
For those not as familiar with the Nürburgring Nordschleife, here is a brief background. The track began construction in 1925 as a public works project involving 60 men funded jointly by local government money and from federal government funds. By the time of its completion in 1927 over 2500 men were working on the circuit – carving out completely new roads around the small town of Nürburg. The full circuit measured an immense 28.265 km (17.5 miles!). Not unlike large (for the U.S.) tracks, such as Virginia International Raceway (VIR), the Nürburgring could be divided into three sections, the Nordschleife (North Ribbon or Curve) measuring 22.81km, the Sudschleife (South Ribbon) measuring 7.45km, and a start-finish loop of 2.24km. Today, the Nordschleife is basically as it existed in 1927, save for occasional Armco and one or two run-off sand traps. The Sudschleife is gone, buried beneath trees and other undergrowth. The start-finish loop is now encompassed in the Grand Prix circuit which links to the Nordschleife.
At 14.1 miles in length, the Nordschleife is 3.5 times the size of the largest road course in the U.S. that I am aware of, Road America. It is over 4 times the length of Watkins Glen! You can travel within the confines of the circuit and visit four towns. More over, there are 170 bends, 73 official turns, and greater than 1000 feet of elevation changes (with ascents of 17 percent and descents of 11 percent)! Any rookie driver that found Watkins Glen’s 13 turns challenging to remember, the Nordschleife would seem to be an insurmountable challenge. To many it is: there are blind brows such as do not exist anywhere else (to paraphrase former Porsche factory driver Derek Bell’s words), off camber and on camber turns, changing grip levels, turns that almost never see sunlight, a front straight almost as long as Lime Rock (the whole track), and at least three jumps. Yes, jumps. There is a reason one of the course’s nicknames is “Gröne Hölle” (Green Hell)! You might suspect that with all its challenges and mammoth size, that only those with proper training are permitted to take-on the Nordschleife. In fact, it only requires 15 Euros and a street legal car…
With this last fact in mind, I made sure that when planning a trip to celebrate Katie and my 10th wedding anniversary that we just happened to be in the Eifel Mountain region of Germany during at least one public lapping day! With luck, I was able to plan around two consecutive public lapping day
Katie and I had a rather modest three day honeymoon trip to Maine back in 1995. To celebrate our 10 years of marriage I wanted to “go big” and take a trip such as I would have wanted to do 10 years ago. I have always thought of the Alps as a scenic and romantic location, so our primary destination was Bavaria, Austria, and Switzerland. In conjunction with the trip, we picked up a new BMW 330i in Munich which will ultimately replace our 8 year old, 166k mile Toyota 4Runner (some NNJR-PCA folks might remember this truck pulling our green ’74 914 and silver ’01 Boxster S to/from track events – yes, we still have it!). Katie and I have chronicled the rest of the trip elsewhere, so I will fast forward 6 days and 1400 miles later when we arrived to the Nürburgring for the first time.
Signs begin to point to the Nürburgring when you are within about 30km of the circuit. The signs, however, direct you to the Grand Prix circuit, museum, and indoor go-kart course. We arrived at the large facility on a Saturday afternoon while it was bustling with activity. We ate “F1 Burgers” in the café before visiting the gift shop. Tempting fate before we had even ventured onto the course, we bought shirts, hats, and stickers in the gift shop (I showed great restraint). After watching some go-karting, we went in search of the Nordschleife. I finally spotted the “Zufahrt Nordschleife” signs indicating the entrance to the Nordschleife circuit. When we arrived at the entrance, I noted from the signs that indeed Sunday was an open track day. We also took note of the home of the BMW M Ring Taxi (for a mere 179 Euros you can be chauffeured around the Nordschleife by a pro driver, such as the now-famous-thanks-to-Top-Gear Sabine, in a M5). To our excitement we noticed there was a race going on. The race appeared to be some sort of SCCA-like race with many different car makes, from VW, BMW, Porsche, Mini, Opel, Lotus, etc., participating. The vantage point from the Nordschleife entrance is not great as it looks out on portions of the massive 2km long Döttinger Hohe. Watching cars go fast is fun, but we wanted to see some in-turn action, so we set off to look for a better vantage point.
Recalling that the track drives over the town of Adenau (actually, Adenau is nearby, the town the track crosses at that point is Breidscheid), we set the BMW’s navigation system to guide us to Adenau. Sure enough, we found throngs of fans watching the race. We parked the car and headed up to look at the track. My first impression was, “Holy mackerel, look at that hill!” We were standing at the entrance to Breidscheid, the turn that crosses over the town below. Although I have driven at least 50 laps of the Nordschleife in Forza, I was not prepared for the incredibly steep climb that is that makes up the Ex-Muhle turn right after Breidscheid. At this point, I immediately recalled that my video game experience driving Road America prior to participating in the Road America PCA Club Race had only given me a suggestion of what the track is like in real life. Elevation changes, in particular, are hard to appreciate in the current crop of racing simulations. It did not take much more than a hike up the hill leading to Breidscheid to confirm that Forza had not prepared me for the real thing.
The descent down Metzgesfeld through Kallenhardt to Wehrseifen is, frankly, insane to look at. Actually, it was downright intimidating. I have been driving on tracks since 1994, instructing since 1998, and recently ventured into Club Racing. I have not been nervous about simply driving on a track in years (there are some butterflies before Club Races, but those stem from anticipating the competition). I was definitely nervous after looking at this small section of the ‘Ring – and this was not even the portion of the ‘Ring that I thought was scary from the video game! I think Katie made up her mind at that point that she was not interested in putting our six day old car on the track under her control.
That did not stop me, of course! After a pleasant dinner and night in our hotel (we can make a great hotel recommendation in the area that is English-speaking friendly and serves great food!), we returned to the Nordschleife bright and early. The scene on public session days at the Nordschleife would make some hard-core Driver’s Education participants pale. There is no tech line, there is no staging, there are no safety requirements other than your car being street legal. Why? Because on public road days the Nordschleife is quite literally a one-way public limited access toll-road by German law. That is right, the Polizei are there to monitor the situation and issue citations if you break the rules. Perhaps the single most important rule is that overtaking can only be done on the left. In turns or on straights, pass wherever and whenever you want, it just has to be on the left. Whose responsibility is it to accomplish the mandatory left-side pass? The car being overtaken! That is right, if you do not move to the right when being overtaken and you are rear-ended or otherwise cause an accident, you are responsible!
The paddock was dominated by the familiar growl of air-cooled Porsche engines and various vintage BMWs primarily, but there were also several Ferraris, Lotus, Alfa Romeos, a Viper, and on the second day a Carrera GT. Of course, there were also VW Golfs, family sedans, and touring buses! They are all out there with you.
Much to my disappointment, it had rained very heavily the night before and the track was very wet. I ventured out on my first lap and found out no sooner than the second mild bend, Tiergarten, that the track was slippery. The car stepped out under braking at about 120 mph (despite entering the track mid-way down the straight, it is so long you can still accelerate to a quick pace – even in my 3400 lbs 255 hp family sedan!). Despite 12 years of active autocrossing and driver’s education participation, I credit my recent foray into club racing for pushing me to the next level of driving ability. As such, the slight misbehavior of the car at speed on this unfamiliar setting was easily controlled and actually put a smile on my face. “So you are as nasty as they say,” I thought to myself as if talking to the circuit itself.
I will not bore you with the turn-by-turn details of that first lap, but I returned to the pits 11 minutes and 47 seconds later with a sense of relief, satisfaction, and excitement. I had made it around once in the wet, had a good feel already for the track, and felt I knew where I was going (I tend to learn new tracks quickly – an ability I attribute to my experiences with autocrossing and NNJR-PCAs Driver’s Education program that visits many different race tracks).
I drove two more laps improving to a 10:47 minute lap time. Not bad in a new car, on a new track, and in the wet, I thought. My benchmark: the 9:59 lap posted by Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson in a Jaguar (in the dry).
While I was out on the circuit, Katie had stayed in the paddock (“We have two kids!”) and met a gentleman from Philadelphia. Dave is a BMW-CCA driving instructor who was bitten by the ‘Ring bug a few years ago and now flies over for open track days whenever he can. Being a BMW fan he took note of our easy-to-spot-red BMW and its European Delivery license plates and had come over to say “Hi”. BMW people are as nice as Porsche people! Dave very graciously took me for a ride in his automatic BMW 320 rental. I welcomed his explanation of the approach to the various turns and made particular mental notes of areas where his advice and line were different than what I had done on my last few laps. Of particular help was his “miss, hit, miss” guidance for Wehrseifen and positioning advice entering into Pflanzgarten I where I had been consistently early.
After my ride with Dave, I coaxed Katie into taking a ride with Dave as well. She rode up front while I was in the back. Dave was notably more aggressive in this run as the track started to show a dry line. Only once or twice did we hit the wet non-line but Dave’s skill easily handled the BMW and we had a great run.
With her bravery partially restored as a result of the run with Dave, Katie agreed to take a lap with me next. Thankfully the dry line persisted, so I was able to drop my time to 9:56. Clearly the two laps with Dave helped, and I was happy to have beaten Jeremy Clarkson! Katie was a bit flustered after the run as it was dry enough out to carry serious speed through the Flugplatz to Schwedenkreuz, down the Fuchsröhre, and up through Kesselchen I & II.
I took my fifth and final lap for the day (I had purchased a 5 lap ticket) by myself and finished in 9:37, a time I was very pleased with given the damp conditions, new 3400lbs, 255hp sedan, and only fifth driving lap on the Nordschleife. Take that, Jeremy Clarkson! (Note that the lap record is held by Stefan Bellof in a Porsche 956 at 6:25.)
It began to rain heavily after that so Katie and I decided to explore Belgium, Luxembourg, and France that afternoon (where, incidentally, it was beautifully sunny). I could not resist the temptation to return to the Nordschleife on Monday however, so we returned for Monday afternoon’s open lap session. Unfortunately, a steady drizzle persisted, but I wanted to log a few more “memory laps” before we went home. Katie rode with me for the first lap and then positioned herself in Brünnchen to take some pictures. Incidentally, pictures or video in-car is strictly forbidden for reasons that are not entirely clear. I suspect it is the one liability consideration the track gives to the otherwise carefree air of the public lapping days. Given that I fully plan on finding a way back to the ‘Ring in 2006, I did not want to risk putting my name on a black list as a result of in-car pictures or video. I respect the rules and do not want to jeopardize losing privileges to the marvelous place. The mere existence of the circuit is practically a miracle, we all need to respect its sanctity.
My overall impressions of the Nordschleife are hard to put into words. There are at least three to four places where I would chuckle out loud. The jump in the Flugplatz is the first and never ceased to entertain me. I do not have enough seat time to describe the subtleties of the Nordschleife, so at the risk of sounding like the common ‘Ring rookie, I will note that Flugplatz to Schwedenkreuz, diving down flat out through Fuchsröhre into Adenauer Forst, the Karussell (faster, but bumpier and tougher on the car than I imagined), and the steep downhill in Plfanzgarten II are perhaps my favorites. Hell, it is hard to choose any favorite section as everything is challenging and there is so much! It is more than simply combining Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen, Mosport, and Road Atlanta together. The elevation changes, blind turns, blind brows, and long flat out sections through even more turns and brows, and hills are simply unlike anything I have ever driven. As Jackie Stewart once put it, “There were so many sections where you were just a passenger”.
I now fully agree with the ‘Rings other nickname, “The World’s Greatest 14 miles”. It is certainly not a modern and safe race circuit, but it is memorable and unique. They certainly do not make them like they used to.
They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To
A Trip to the Nürburgring Nordschleife, October 2005
Much has been written about the Nürburgring and its most notable course configuration, the Nordschleife. Normally I might not feel compelled to add to the collection of books, articles, and websites that describe the circuit. However, after visiting the ‘Ring for two days, I find myself anxious to document my experience – and share my enthusiasm.
Prior to visiting the Eifel Mountain region, the circuit had almost iconic status to me. As an avid and serious driver, I had been hearing about the Nordschleife for many years. What serious motorsports enthusiast, particularly a German sports car fan, has not heard of the unique Karussell turn or noted manufacturers’ ‘Ring laptime boasts? With the increasing detail of modern racing simulation video games, awareness of the ‘Ring, and the Nordschleife in particular, has grown. More enthusiasts are able to “drive the ‘Ring” as it is included in most best selling simulations. One of my primary motivations for purchasing Forza Motorsports for the Xbox this past year was to drive the Nordschleife. The game is excellent and you definitely receive the sensation that the Nordschleife is a mammoth place, unlike any other track in the world. Perhaps the point of my writing this recollection is to convey to the fellow driving enthusiast: do not settle on a video game for your Nordschleife experience. The real thing is mind-blowing and not reproducible in a video game (yet).
For those not as familiar with the Nürburgring Nordschleife, here is a brief background. The track began construction in 1925 as a public works project involving 60 men funded jointly by local government money and from federal government funds. By the time of its completion in 1927 over 2500 men were working on the circuit – carving out completely new roads around the small town of Nürburg. The full circuit measured an immense 28.265 km (17.5 miles!). Not unlike large (for the U.S.) tracks, such as Virginia International Raceway (VIR), the Nürburgring could be divided into three sections, the Nordschleife (North Ribbon or Curve) measuring 22.81km, the Sudschleife (South Ribbon) measuring 7.45km, and a start-finish loop of 2.24km. Today, the Nordschleife is basically as it existed in 1927, save for occasional Armco and one or two run-off sand traps. The Sudschleife is gone, buried beneath trees and other undergrowth. The start-finish loop is now encompassed in the Grand Prix circuit which links to the Nordschleife.
At 14.1 miles in length, the Nordschleife is 3.5 times the size of the largest road course in the U.S. that I am aware of, Road America. It is over 4 times the length of Watkins Glen! You can travel within the confines of the circuit and visit four towns. More over, there are 170 bends, 73 official turns, and greater than 1000 feet of elevation changes (with ascents of 17 percent and descents of 11 percent)! Any rookie driver that found Watkins Glen’s 13 turns challenging to remember, the Nordschleife would seem to be an insurmountable challenge. To many it is: there are blind brows such as do not exist anywhere else (to paraphrase former Porsche factory driver Derek Bell’s words), off camber and on camber turns, changing grip levels, turns that almost never see sunlight, a front straight almost as long as Lime Rock (the whole track), and at least three jumps. Yes, jumps. There is a reason one of the course’s nicknames is “Gröne Hölle” (Green Hell)! You might suspect that with all its challenges and mammoth size, that only those with proper training are permitted to take-on the Nordschleife. In fact, it only requires 15 Euros and a street legal car…
With this last fact in mind, I made sure that when planning a trip to celebrate Katie and my 10th wedding anniversary that we just happened to be in the Eifel Mountain region of Germany during at least one public lapping day! With luck, I was able to plan around two consecutive public lapping day
Katie and I had a rather modest three day honeymoon trip to Maine back in 1995. To celebrate our 10 years of marriage I wanted to “go big” and take a trip such as I would have wanted to do 10 years ago. I have always thought of the Alps as a scenic and romantic location, so our primary destination was Bavaria, Austria, and Switzerland. In conjunction with the trip, we picked up a new BMW 330i in Munich which will ultimately replace our 8 year old, 166k mile Toyota 4Runner (some NNJR-PCA folks might remember this truck pulling our green ’74 914 and silver ’01 Boxster S to/from track events – yes, we still have it!). Katie and I have chronicled the rest of the trip elsewhere, so I will fast forward 6 days and 1400 miles later when we arrived to the Nürburgring for the first time.
Signs begin to point to the Nürburgring when you are within about 30km of the circuit. The signs, however, direct you to the Grand Prix circuit, museum, and indoor go-kart course. We arrived at the large facility on a Saturday afternoon while it was bustling with activity. We ate “F1 Burgers” in the café before visiting the gift shop. Tempting fate before we had even ventured onto the course, we bought shirts, hats, and stickers in the gift shop (I showed great restraint). After watching some go-karting, we went in search of the Nordschleife. I finally spotted the “Zufahrt Nordschleife” signs indicating the entrance to the Nordschleife circuit. When we arrived at the entrance, I noted from the signs that indeed Sunday was an open track day. We also took note of the home of the BMW M Ring Taxi (for a mere 179 Euros you can be chauffeured around the Nordschleife by a pro driver, such as the now-famous-thanks-to-Top-Gear Sabine, in a M5). To our excitement we noticed there was a race going on. The race appeared to be some sort of SCCA-like race with many different car makes, from VW, BMW, Porsche, Mini, Opel, Lotus, etc., participating. The vantage point from the Nordschleife entrance is not great as it looks out on portions of the massive 2km long Döttinger Hohe. Watching cars go fast is fun, but we wanted to see some in-turn action, so we set off to look for a better vantage point.
Recalling that the track drives over the town of Adenau (actually, Adenau is nearby, the town the track crosses at that point is Breidscheid), we set the BMW’s navigation system to guide us to Adenau. Sure enough, we found throngs of fans watching the race. We parked the car and headed up to look at the track. My first impression was, “Holy mackerel, look at that hill!” We were standing at the entrance to Breidscheid, the turn that crosses over the town below. Although I have driven at least 50 laps of the Nordschleife in Forza, I was not prepared for the incredibly steep climb that is that makes up the Ex-Muhle turn right after Breidscheid. At this point, I immediately recalled that my video game experience driving Road America prior to participating in the Road America PCA Club Race had only given me a suggestion of what the track is like in real life. Elevation changes, in particular, are hard to appreciate in the current crop of racing simulations. It did not take much more than a hike up the hill leading to Breidscheid to confirm that Forza had not prepared me for the real thing.
The descent down Metzgesfeld through Kallenhardt to Wehrseifen is, frankly, insane to look at. Actually, it was downright intimidating. I have been driving on tracks since 1994, instructing since 1998, and recently ventured into Club Racing. I have not been nervous about simply driving on a track in years (there are some butterflies before Club Races, but those stem from anticipating the competition). I was definitely nervous after looking at this small section of the ‘Ring – and this was not even the portion of the ‘Ring that I thought was scary from the video game! I think Katie made up her mind at that point that she was not interested in putting our six day old car on the track under her control.
That did not stop me, of course! After a pleasant dinner and night in our hotel (we can make a great hotel recommendation in the area that is English-speaking friendly and serves great food!), we returned to the Nordschleife bright and early. The scene on public session days at the Nordschleife would make some hard-core Driver’s Education participants pale. There is no tech line, there is no staging, there are no safety requirements other than your car being street legal. Why? Because on public road days the Nordschleife is quite literally a one-way public limited access toll-road by German law. That is right, the Polizei are there to monitor the situation and issue citations if you break the rules. Perhaps the single most important rule is that overtaking can only be done on the left. In turns or on straights, pass wherever and whenever you want, it just has to be on the left. Whose responsibility is it to accomplish the mandatory left-side pass? The car being overtaken! That is right, if you do not move to the right when being overtaken and you are rear-ended or otherwise cause an accident, you are responsible!
The paddock was dominated by the familiar growl of air-cooled Porsche engines and various vintage BMWs primarily, but there were also several Ferraris, Lotus, Alfa Romeos, a Viper, and on the second day a Carrera GT. Of course, there were also VW Golfs, family sedans, and touring buses! They are all out there with you.
Much to my disappointment, it had rained very heavily the night before and the track was very wet. I ventured out on my first lap and found out no sooner than the second mild bend, Tiergarten, that the track was slippery. The car stepped out under braking at about 120 mph (despite entering the track mid-way down the straight, it is so long you can still accelerate to a quick pace – even in my 3400 lbs 255 hp family sedan!). Despite 12 years of active autocrossing and driver’s education participation, I credit my recent foray into club racing for pushing me to the next level of driving ability. As such, the slight misbehavior of the car at speed on this unfamiliar setting was easily controlled and actually put a smile on my face. “So you are as nasty as they say,” I thought to myself as if talking to the circuit itself.
I will not bore you with the turn-by-turn details of that first lap, but I returned to the pits 11 minutes and 47 seconds later with a sense of relief, satisfaction, and excitement. I had made it around once in the wet, had a good feel already for the track, and felt I knew where I was going (I tend to learn new tracks quickly – an ability I attribute to my experiences with autocrossing and NNJR-PCAs Driver’s Education program that visits many different race tracks).
I drove two more laps improving to a 10:47 minute lap time. Not bad in a new car, on a new track, and in the wet, I thought. My benchmark: the 9:59 lap posted by Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson in a Jaguar (in the dry).
While I was out on the circuit, Katie had stayed in the paddock (“We have two kids!”) and met a gentleman from Philadelphia. Dave is a BMW-CCA driving instructor who was bitten by the ‘Ring bug a few years ago and now flies over for open track days whenever he can. Being a BMW fan he took note of our easy-to-spot-red BMW and its European Delivery license plates and had come over to say “Hi”. BMW people are as nice as Porsche people! Dave very graciously took me for a ride in his automatic BMW 320 rental. I welcomed his explanation of the approach to the various turns and made particular mental notes of areas where his advice and line were different than what I had done on my last few laps. Of particular help was his “miss, hit, miss” guidance for Wehrseifen and positioning advice entering into Pflanzgarten I where I had been consistently early.
After my ride with Dave, I coaxed Katie into taking a ride with Dave as well. She rode up front while I was in the back. Dave was notably more aggressive in this run as the track started to show a dry line. Only once or twice did we hit the wet non-line but Dave’s skill easily handled the BMW and we had a great run.
With her bravery partially restored as a result of the run with Dave, Katie agreed to take a lap with me next. Thankfully the dry line persisted, so I was able to drop my time to 9:56. Clearly the two laps with Dave helped, and I was happy to have beaten Jeremy Clarkson! Katie was a bit flustered after the run as it was dry enough out to carry serious speed through the Flugplatz to Schwedenkreuz, down the Fuchsröhre, and up through Kesselchen I & II.
I took my fifth and final lap for the day (I had purchased a 5 lap ticket) by myself and finished in 9:37, a time I was very pleased with given the damp conditions, new 3400lbs, 255hp sedan, and only fifth driving lap on the Nordschleife. Take that, Jeremy Clarkson! (Note that the lap record is held by Stefan Bellof in a Porsche 956 at 6:25.)
It began to rain heavily after that so Katie and I decided to explore Belgium, Luxembourg, and France that afternoon (where, incidentally, it was beautifully sunny). I could not resist the temptation to return to the Nordschleife on Monday however, so we returned for Monday afternoon’s open lap session. Unfortunately, a steady drizzle persisted, but I wanted to log a few more “memory laps” before we went home. Katie rode with me for the first lap and then positioned herself in Brünnchen to take some pictures. Incidentally, pictures or video in-car is strictly forbidden for reasons that are not entirely clear. I suspect it is the one liability consideration the track gives to the otherwise carefree air of the public lapping days. Given that I fully plan on finding a way back to the ‘Ring in 2006, I did not want to risk putting my name on a black list as a result of in-car pictures or video. I respect the rules and do not want to jeopardize losing privileges to the marvelous place. The mere existence of the circuit is practically a miracle, we all need to respect its sanctity.
My overall impressions of the Nordschleife are hard to put into words. There are at least three to four places where I would chuckle out loud. The jump in the Flugplatz is the first and never ceased to entertain me. I do not have enough seat time to describe the subtleties of the Nordschleife, so at the risk of sounding like the common ‘Ring rookie, I will note that Flugplatz to Schwedenkreuz, diving down flat out through Fuchsröhre into Adenauer Forst, the Karussell (faster, but bumpier and tougher on the car than I imagined), and the steep downhill in Plfanzgarten II are perhaps my favorites. Hell, it is hard to choose any favorite section as everything is challenging and there is so much! It is more than simply combining Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen, Mosport, and Road Atlanta together. The elevation changes, blind turns, blind brows, and long flat out sections through even more turns and brows, and hills are simply unlike anything I have ever driven. As Jackie Stewart once put it, “There were so many sections where you were just a passenger”.
I now fully agree with the ‘Rings other nickname, “The World’s Greatest 14 miles”. It is certainly not a modern and safe race circuit, but it is memorable and unique. They certainly do not make them like they used to.
10-26-2005, 07:39 AM
#2
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Here is a map of the Nordschleife with names. The scale of the map doesn't do the course justice, sadly, as there are many more twists and turns than named turns, but this should provide somewhat of a reference for my writeup above.
It is hard to read the corner names in this one:
It is hard to read the corner names in this one:
10-26-2005, 07:40 AM
#3
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
The Nav shows the way!
The way to the 'Ring is well marked!
The sign says it all!
One's ticket to ride!
It is always good to know where to Zufahrt...
At Zufahrt, about to head out for a lap:
Entering Bruennchen in the 330i.
Leaving Bruennchen in the 330i.
Yes, the Nav will show you the circuit as you drive on it - not that there is any time to look down for a hint of what is next!
The time for my 5th, and partially dry, lap.
Try to note the downhill grade!
Ex Muhle has a very pronounced uphill, easily as steep as the toe at the Glen.
Fine German autos...
The way to the 'Ring is well marked!
The sign says it all!
One's ticket to ride!
It is always good to know where to Zufahrt...
At Zufahrt, about to head out for a lap:
Entering Bruennchen in the 330i.
Leaving Bruennchen in the 330i.
Yes, the Nav will show you the circuit as you drive on it - not that there is any time to look down for a hint of what is next!
The time for my 5th, and partially dry, lap.
Try to note the downhill grade!
Ex Muhle has a very pronounced uphill, easily as steep as the toe at the Glen.
Fine German autos...
10-26-2005, 09:40 AM
#5
Rennlist Member
Glad you enjoyed it! We are going to organize a return visit to the ring. Either including the BMW drivers school (which closes the track to only the school) or deal with only public laps. The school is great because the likes of veterans such as BMW test drivers show you the "line". I took the school and would guess it dropped a full 90 secs off a lap. Amazing enough you know the complete track after the school and will not forget it? Interested in 2006 Summer/Fall?
10-26-2005, 09:47 AM
#6
Rennlist Member
Great write-up! Thanks! Congrats for surpassing your goal!
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10-26-2005, 09:56 AM
#8
Three Wheelin'
Charlie,
That is absolutely awesome. Getting down to the 'Ring was one of the few things I missed when studying abroad, but your writeup will be part of the guide when I return! Congrats on the awesome trip.
That is absolutely awesome. Getting down to the 'Ring was one of the few things I missed when studying abroad, but your writeup will be part of the guide when I return! Congrats on the awesome trip.
10-26-2005, 10:06 AM
#9
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Very nice - I went for my 40th bday in June. Happy anniversary :-)
10-26-2005, 04:27 PM
#12
Sounds like a great trip. I picked up a 2002 M5 in 11/2001 using European delivery. I planned our vacation similarly to include a day at the Ring. Unfortunately it snowed the day I arrived so I was unable to take my car on the track. I did have some fun driving the indoor go carts.
Paul
Paul
10-26-2005, 07:42 PM
#13
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by bobt993
Glad you enjoyed it! We are going to organize a return visit to the ring. Either including the BMW drivers school (which closes the track to only the school) or deal with only public laps. The school is great because the likes of veterans such as BMW test drivers show you the "line". I took the school and would guess it dropped a full 90 secs off a lap. Amazing enough you know the complete track after the school and will not forget it? Interested in 2006 Summer/Fall?
10-26-2005, 09:02 PM
#14
Race Director
Nice write-up, in many ways similar to my first experience at the ring, except for being Married and driving a 20 year older car.. 
Take it easy with lap times though, that is not really what the TF days are for.
Take it easy with lap times though, that is not really what the TF days are for.
10-26-2005, 09:57 PM
#15
1st Gear
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Instructor will work for smiles...
Charlie:
A friend of mine forwarded your thread to me today to ask if I was the mystery instructor, and I was happy to confirm.
Anyway, that was a great piece, and thanks for the kudos.
The pictures and all of the content was extremely well put together...
I was very glad to help! It is such fun meeting other Americans who have taken the oddball quest to heart to make the dream into reality! You guys are the kind of explorers that the ring needs more of. (Not so crashy!)
As a result of the wet conditions, I personally made huge progress in "slaying the dragon" that is the reputation of the Ring in the wet... Our "gang" had a great time... as we always do if there are no incidents.
Dave Flogaus
BMW CCA #123862
Cars: Previous
'95 M3, '98 M3/4, '00 M Coupe, '89 M3
'95 M3 Repro LWT, '04 WRX STi
Cars: Current
'95 M3 (Heavy)
'95 M3 LWT (Real)
Nürburgring Experience: 175+ Laps Driven
Thousands watched and played on TV
On Track Instructor since 1998
Car Guys, BMW CCA, One Lap of America, NASA
One Lap of America: '98,'02,'03 and 2005
A friend of mine forwarded your thread to me today to ask if I was the mystery instructor, and I was happy to confirm.
Anyway, that was a great piece, and thanks for the kudos.
The pictures and all of the content was extremely well put together...
I was very glad to help! It is such fun meeting other Americans who have taken the oddball quest to heart to make the dream into reality! You guys are the kind of explorers that the ring needs more of. (Not so crashy!)
As a result of the wet conditions, I personally made huge progress in "slaying the dragon" that is the reputation of the Ring in the wet... Our "gang" had a great time... as we always do if there are no incidents.
Dave Flogaus
BMW CCA #123862
Cars: Previous
'95 M3, '98 M3/4, '00 M Coupe, '89 M3
'95 M3 Repro LWT, '04 WRX STi
Cars: Current
'95 M3 (Heavy)
'95 M3 LWT (Real)
Nürburgring Experience: 175+ Laps Driven
Thousands watched and played on TV
On Track Instructor since 1998
Car Guys, BMW CCA, One Lap of America, NASA
One Lap of America: '98,'02,'03 and 2005