Ronan

the traffic lightens as the day wears on ,and its time to go out.

I had done a lot of GT4 Laps in the last month and studied the tapes of my last time here in an RS. I had used an superb instructor called Daniel Scherwzfeld, an ex Mercedes test driver, and had kept the videos of my laps so I could remember the mistakes. Also , Dale from Bridge to Gantry had posted a video of what changes had been made to thew track for the current season which was very useful.

The track feels much more familiar that I feared so after a few laps I begin to feel comfortable. The car is amazing for what is basically a station wagon. Totally predictable and handles like a much smaller car. With still fairly heavy traffic and my windshield getting smeared with sticky flies I only do ten laps. It will be quieter tomorrow.

Ronan

Dinner with Jochen that evening to catch up on what's happening locally. He has photographed all my cars here for years. Nürburg is quite a small community despite the events and visitors from everywhere.The Pistenklause is one of the great motorsport restaurants. The obscure and the famous have signed its walls and left photographs everywhere. I came here many years ago when a mate of mine signed the wall. I check to see if it's still there. It is.
Despite the many changes at the Nürburgring the PK is the same as ever - even the menu. It may be the most male-oriented place outside of the Vatican.





Edited by RDMcG on Wednesday 26th June 01:27

Ronan

Next morning I managed to get the car washed...a great place called PopUp car wash near the track. Highly recommended. I took a look at what was happening with the Industry pool. You never know what you will see with the rest cars and prototypes in the mornings...

Never imagined I would see two Bugatti Chirons getting the wheels driven off:





[IMG]https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n29/RMcG/Germany%202019/171A5996_zpsvhjriyfq.jpeg[/IMG


or the glorious sounds of a Lexus LF-A...apparently being used for brake testing as its long out of production:





The Porsche Taycan sounding odd of course, and looking ugly- hopefully this is a disguise:





A variety of other stuff:

Ronan

Car finally clean, I headed down to Manthey Porsche for an oil change. Had been a lot of hard driving in the first part of the trip;




At any Canadian Porsche dealership, the customer parking would be about 50% Macans, another 25% Panameras and Cayennes, and the rest a mixture of Caymans and regular 911s, with the occasional GT3.

Manthey Porsche was....different.












In the showroom a GT2 RS MR.

If the GT2RS is simply not up to your talent level, Manthey is there is oblige, with completely rebuilt suspension, braking ,aero and other improvements, though the engine is is standard:







Back to my humble Panamera and some more Ring sessions.

Ronan

It is less crowded from then on, and the car feels better as I get a bit more comfortable. Jochen takes a few more shots. He really is a great photographer:







[IMG]https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n29/RMcG/Germany%202019/TF19B_0281_zpsxj72ihgx.jpg[/IMG






Some shots over the years:










Overall the car is certainly not a GT3, but performs exceptionally well for something of its size and much better than some sports cars that Have tried.

Ronan

I thought I would take another look at the industry pool ,but next the track was silent. I noticed a camera helicopter hovering overhead.



A quick check revealed that VW had hired the track - they were aiming for the EV record. I waited for a long time on the silent track....and then it appeared..so quick and eerily quiet. A 6:05 lap...a glimpse of the future on a track with such a magnificent past and such a powerful connection with the internal combustion engine. Of course it is a new and undeveloped technology right now, and one lap will not change the world.






However all new technologies are deeply imperfect when they emerge. The first cars, computers, mobile phones and so on were terrible things requiring expertise to use. This is the future, I would bet.

Still, for now we have a rich and varied set of cars at all prices, both new and old. It will be a number of years before the IC engine fades away.

Leaving Nürburg is a mixture of relief that it all went well, satisfaction that it was still so completely engaging, and that sense of regret about leaving a party much too early when it is still going on.....

Ronan

The next part of the trip is to get over to Spa. Unlike the Nürburgring, it has been a long time since I have been there, and I do not have a good track memory. Booking with RSR for the track day I will start with an instructor. The forecast is once again miserable. I check into the hotel early- ( Manoir des Lebioles which is empty, but has excellent parking) . As the afternoon wore on it began to rain. Not good.

Tomorrow will start at 7am:

Ronan

Ronan

Its a fifteen minute drive to the track. It had rained heavily overnight but the track has dried out mainly. Still threatening. Checking in to the trackway is easy. There is a check in bracelet, and then a second check in bracelet after the safety briefing. The marshals will check both bracelets every time you enter the track- no exceptions. As it turns out they do just that.



The safety briefing is good and to the point. Big rule is no passing on the left- this will end your track day. After the briefing there is an optional track drive in procession with stops on the track where Ron Simons who runs RSR provides some advice.

The first stop ( of course) is Radillon, looking back down to Eau Rouge. Ron says the the right speed of you have never done it before if about 150km into Eau Rouge at the bottom. He also says that if you are not an F1 driver the idea of tasking it flat is nonsense. The idea is to add about 10 km/h a lap and stop increasing when you cannot repeat the line exactly right.






We walk down to Eau Rouge. You can take the wrong line easily and not know it because you are carrying so much downforce coming up the hill. Looking back up from the bottom the top is completely blind. When you are on the wring line you find out when the car suddenly unloads when you come over the crest. If you try to correct there is a good chance of ending up in the wall, and Ron says it happens every single week.

We stop at various locations including a fast double apex left hander. As with most F1 track these days there is a lot of run off area, a huge contrast to the Nürburgring. Ron shows the line but makes the point that there is a narrow strip of astroturf jus outside the stones about a foot from the ideal racing line. If you hit it, you are heading for disaster. Does not look too bad to me,.the runoff area is immense.

He reiterates the no passing on the right rule, and says " If there are any Americans here , you don't get to drive all over the place like you do at home"....

We complete the track drive. On the way back some people are slowing down to practice corners...in the procession. My tires are cold, I am not in an F1 car, so I pass.

The cars are varied and all more track focused than the Panamera. As with the NS, GT3s are the default, but a few more McLarens here.
And Donkervoorts- these are locally built absolutely fearsome track cars.

Ronan

pics from Spa..the car is on its lowest and hardest suspension....

Ronan

But., as Ron warned...its at your own risk, and we had some red flag periods,- mistakes that day were expensive....





..and so it was time to hit the road again....for just a few more adventures. More tomorrow.

Ronan

At the end of the track days, it remains humbling to me to drive on tracks where truly great drivers have done things I cannot begin to emulate, and where so much history.


Over the years Jochen has taken some great photos for me ( and of course for many. My two Nordschleife favourites below are not so much about the cars, but about the track and its relationship to the cars:







Both tracks are where great moments in the history of motorsport occurred, and I cannot get excited by the modern F1 tracks no matter how well designed...they have no past at least for me.

Ronan

After Spa there is time for a side trip to Antwerp

Well, this driving feels more like home.

There is a certain randomness here that is a contrast to Germany. On the main autoroute I am in the middle lane at normal traffic speed when I see someone drifting right into me from the right ,unaware of my presence . Luckily there is space on the left to avoid a collision but it requires a very quick correction.

Five minutes later a huge cloud of dust appears about ten cars ahead. Heavy braking for everyone. Turns out the an individual with a light van decided to load up a small trailer with bricks.- lots of bricks. Traffic suddenly slowed, trailer jackknifed violently, turned van on its side and ran off down the road before colliding with the centre median.
I pick my way through an obstacle course of crumbled brick and head for Antwerp.


Antwerp is another city where it is best to dump the car as soon as possible. The hotel entrance is on a narrow tram track so that unloading the car only takes place between tram traffic. The Pana feels huge here. Parking is not far away but the mishmash of one way streets and pedestrian areas makes for a complex route. Hotel is quite ok once the car is gone. View from the roof patio is good.

Hotel Julien:




The city centre is an excellent walking area with very lively patio dining over a large area, some varied architecture and a pleasant place to walk around.








The Hotel recommended Sir Anthony Van Djick which is down a narrow alley and is superb if you want more than the mussels and beer on the patio ( which are excellent by the way)




Being Antwerp they do Rubenesque quite well:



The Cathedral is a big draw, but the most unusual item was a modern sculpture that reminded me of Elton John juggling a crucifix:



Now banned in Amsterdam, Antwerp still has the beer bikes




There is a very original sculpture of a child and dog in the old city, a gift from China. It is often mobbed by Chinese tourists...



On the bridge is a statue of Minerva. This has an automotive connection because Minerva car were built in Belgium for a long time, and in the thirties luxury straight eight Minervas were close to Rolls Royce in status and were even prized in Hollywood. They later build Land Rovers under licence, got into a lawsuit with LR and eventually folded:



The art galleries are quite good and grouped together- another award for a washroom sign for the gents::





Nearby Ghent is just a train ride. Like Antwerp ( and Bruges) it is compact and walkable. This makes it a Mecca for bus tours, and is is best to be there early or late to avoid the long lines of people with earphones and a leader telling them what they are seeing.
To get to the train you pass through an absolutely stunning railway station. Anwterp was once very powerful, the centre of the diamond industry and a bustling port. Diamond cutting has long since gone to India.








Ghent has picturesque canals, a great deal of architecture that reflects its long history. It is more of a day trip than an overnight place.







The city fathers had and inspired idea to combat graffiti. They designated a street where it was not just tolerated but encouraged, so an ever changing gallery exists on the street.






A strange item in Belgium ( a fairly liberal country) is the use of old fashioned black figures like these- it seems to be at variance with the lack of racism I experienced.

Ronan

And so its time to get on the road for a final automotive destination in Germany.

Sinsheim


The Museum Auto & Technik about an hour from Frankfurt is a strange jumble that mixes some very rare vehicles with the mundane; a fair number or duplicates, and at least one is a replica.

There are a number of unusual aircraft such as the TU144, the unsuccessful Russian SST:





That being said,if you are interested in German military vehicles and aircraft of WW.2 there are some unusual items. Of course they have the tanks and 88mm guns etc, but the rarer items are the transport and haulage equipment- I had not realized that Wehrmacht soldiers shaved their legs:





















This Tempo was something I had never seen before. I believe it has two engines one in the front and one in the back:








Some Luftwaffe aircraft are also on display:















Tractors are not a major interest of mine, but there was one that seemed to be prophetic- the Lanz Bulldog Roadster:



Yes, a high stance,impractical convertible with a tractor underpinning. Now Lamborghini, a former tractor maker is thinking about a high stance Lambo. Interestingly, this thing was made in 1944. No idea why.

Ronan

If you want to make a big impression, driving a Lanz Bulldog roadster should do the job.


A German loco stands above a fairly average display of American cars. On one side is shows its civilian livery, and on the other its wartime finish:









There is an F1 display of no great interest, though they do have a six wheel Tyrrell:



The automotive display is quite quirky, with very regular cars like the MGB and a variety of 300 SLs, and then some very unusual cars. As is normally the case, the attendance is overwhelming male, but there is somewhere to sit. ( the Bugatti Royale in the shot is a movie replica).




A lovely Lambo 350 GT:



The obligatory 540K Spezial roadster. Were they all originally red?



Mercedes transporter with a wrecked Gullwing. These days, if it had a VIN plate it would probably be restored:





Competition Gullwing:



Ferrari 250 GT. Worth huge money nowadays:




More fun - Opel


The museum is strong on both Horch and Maybach:









This was once a very rare and luxurious Maybach limo., which in the lean times after WW.2 was turned into a mobile sawmill: