En fajn Nurburgring write up

Just on the train to Paris now....currently doing about 300km/h over the Belgian countryside. Love European train travel.

Well, I survived the Ring & kept the car in one piece. Yesterday we got a very early train out of London into Brussels, with a transfer to Koln Hbf, picked up a car there (Punto 1.4...crap) and drove approx 1hr south to Adenau - the main town of the region.

The train station is smack bang in the middle of Koln, which is a pretty bloody busy place. Cars just seem to drive everywhere, so it was a baptism of fire for LHD. Figured it out though and once we got out of the city the drive was great. We got straight onto the autobahn and wound it up to as fast as it would go and pretty much cruised at 150km/h for much of it. Every couple of mins you notice a flicker of xenon lights in the rear view mirror, and by the time you look up to check there's an Audi A8 going past you at 200+. They drive so well over here, I love it. Everyone gets out of your way, you do the same and it all just works.

After the autobahn you take a scenic tourist drive into the Eifel mountains. This was dead set one of the best roads I've driven, open, flowing beautifully surfaced and the view would make your jaw drop. I wasn't expecting the drive in to be so enjoyable.

As you get closer to the Ring the cars get more interesting. We started coming across things like RS Focus, lots of bikes, Caterhams, countless M3s, 911 GT3s, F430 Scuderias, etc all on their way to the track. It's great.

We checked in at the hotel (which was built in 1578) and had to go straight there after a quick lunch. It's about 10km to where I needed to go, but given the "Touristenfahrten" was 30mins from starting every car on the road by now was there for the Ring and it seems they practice on the road in. So that 10km took about 3min because every one just goes flat out & you need to go hard to avoid being driven off the road!

We got to RSR Nurburg, where I hired my car. They have a workshop out the back of some blokes farm, just a basic looking old shed. I pulled up out front and parked in there was probably 2 dozen Alfa 75s (seriously), 3 911 GT3s, about 5 s/c Exiges, 2 M3s (incl CSL), 308GTB, Delta HF Integrale, and more. Amazing. Went upstairs and there were 4 other guys there doing the same package as me. Did the polite "hello" not sure if they spoke English and then quickly realised they were all Aussies. So got talking to them, they were good blokes (2 of them are at Monash building & engineering their own race car as part of a competition, the other 2 were Qantas pilots). We were given a safety briefing ("if you crash the excess is 8,000 euro for the car and 5,000 euro for the track") and by this stage Laura is ready to leave. The main thing to remember is to get out of the way of the guy behind you. They say "if he's behind you, he's quicker than you" so just move. Trying to race the guy behind you is the main cause of accidents there they reckon.

Then it was back downstairs to be assigned to our cars and wait for the track to open. There were 2 older Clio 197s and 1 new 200 Cup. I was lucky enough to get the new 200 Cup which is supposedly more agile, lighter, more powerful & bigger brakes. We had to wait for a few mins as the track was late opening, but RSR are located about 300m from the front gates so once you start hearing engines screaming it's game on.

So we went up the road to the front gates & the machinery there was absolutely unbelievable. RS Porsches are like taxis. They're everywhere. There were about 10 Audi R8s there (one of them supercharged). Just incredible.

By this stage I was starting to crap myself. But because it was late opening I thought I'd better just get into it in case there were further closures. So I got in line for about 30 seconds & next thing I know I'm swiping the card & the boom gate is open in front of me. Holy crap.

The entrance is at the back end of the main straight, so you get out of the gates & just open it up. The little Clio is quick! Pretty soon I'm well over 100mph and then hard on the brakes for the first few corners. The track is just incredible. The games like GT4 do recreate it reasonable well in that it gives you an idea of which direction the track goes (which was extremely handy), but you don't get an appreciation for the gradient changes. It rises & falls over 300m.

Out on the track is chaotic, there are cars going everywhere. It would be a difficult track to drive if you were the only car there, but you not only have to watch the track & stay on the road, but also overtake slower cars while staying out of the way of faster cars all at once. It is total sensory overload.

It's amazing what's quick & what isn't. I got the doors blown off me BY A VOLVO WAGON. I have a video of it. I thought I was going along pretty well & then a Volvo overtakes me at double my speed! It's hilarious. And then just up the road I'm overtaking bikes, M3s & 911s!

The first lap feels like it's taken me about 3 minutes (it was probably 15 though!). I get back to the parkplatz to let the brakes cool & check the car. Then I notice that my shirt is stuck to me - I am sweating like a pig. The Clio Cup is amazing. It has so much top end power, it's great fun. The handling & brakes are the best thing though, it just turns in as hard as you like & keeps hanging on and on and on. What a brilliant little car. Also has a great 6sp, brilliant seats and well placed pedals which are a godsend on the track. I had a quick stretch & cool down, then back out again.

Despite it being such an intense experience I seriously enjoyed it. It's just awesome fun....laugh out loud fun. I was really getting into it on the second lap as I had a mostly open track (nobody behind me) so could just concentrate on the track. Then I noticed some guys on the track up ahead I think near the Hohe Acht section. I was thinking "WTF are they doing on the track!" and as I approached they were motioning to me to slow down. Then another guy on the opposide side of the road saying slow down...and more further up. I thought "uh oh, crash". Sure enough a few hundred metres up a biker had dropped his bike heavily on a very fast section of track. The bike was wrecked....it was against the wall heavily damaged. Some spectators had lifted the rider over the barrier & were looking after him until the ambulance arrived. Yellows came out & everyone coasted the remainder of the track back to the carpark (thankfully only a small distance for me). A few hundred metres up from the bike a 911 had gone into the wall. Track closed.

Everyone sat around at the carpark for a while & let their cars cool until the ambulance went & got the biker and the towies salvaged the 911. This was kind of good as it allowed me to have a look at some of the other cars there. I parked behind a 430 Berlinetta & went for a walk. The highlights here were the SV Murcielago, Lexus LFA and 5 Audi R8s in a line. I also went to the merchandise shop and spent too much money on Nurburgring crap which I will never use. I spoke to some of the other Aussies who said they were passed by an SLR Mercedes & a very fast heavily camoflaged BMW 5 series which they thought was the new M5.

After about 30mins the track reopened. An "attention in the paddock" message went over the loudspeaker letting everyone know and every guy there went running (literally) back their cars! The sound of Lambos, Porsches, etc all being started at the same time is impressive.

I was one of the first back out after it reopened & had a great lap. There were some idiots getting in the way (a slow guy in a 350Z just sitting on the racing line not letting people pass) but all in all a good lap. One of the highlights was being passed by a VERY well driven 997 GT3 RS at 250+...just seeing it squirming & sliding all over the road on the limit was awesome. Also got passed by the Ring taxi, I wonder if it was Sabine?

After that I had a quick cool down, and then got straight back out there as the track closed in 5 minutes! This was definitely the best lap as the traffic had mostly thinned out - many of the locals just went home when it closed earlier so I had a totally clear run this time. I had a great time with an early 911 - he was much quicker on the straights but I had him in the corners. We were pretty even for the first part of the track & then eventually passed him into Flugplatz.

After that lap the track was closed for the day. I parked to take my helmet off & get a drink, and the Murcielago SV reversed in next to me with the doors up & instantly drew a crowd of people taking photos. What a beast! From there we headed back to RSR & Ron the legend that owns it was waiting out front to greet us with a dozen 500mL Erdingers. What a champ! It's warm here & it was hot out on the track so the beers went down very well. We had a chat & beers with the other guys for about half an hour which was a great way to wrap the day up, then went our seperate ways.

It was just an awesome experience, you have to do it. One of the best things I've ever done in my life. Next time you are over here you must do it. I was expecting it to be more intimidating, but I just had so much fun, I could do it every day. I have no idea what my lap time was & don't really care, just keeping it smooth & safe is so much fun in itself. It was about 9pm by the time we got back to the hotel, so we went downstairs to the 500yr old pub & had a huge schnitzel & more Erdingers!

Adenau (& the whole Eifel mountain region) is just beautiful. It's like something out of a nursery rhyme. There are castles, old pubs, cobblestone streets, etc - just amazing. Next time we come here we will spend a week here, not only for the track but also just seeing the area. Everywhere you look is another postcard view.

One thing to add to this is while we were having beers, we heard this screaming V12 go past (RSR are located basically on one of the straights) at 300km/h+. We all just looked at each other & even Ron was shocked at the noise/speed of it. Turns out it was the Zonda R on one of it's flying laps when they set the record lap time.

They drive so well over here, I love it. Everyone gets out of your way, you do the same and it all just works.