Nurburgring
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:31 amI’ve gotten a couple of emails from people wanting to know what a day at the Nurburgring is like, thought you guys might like to hear too, so here goes.
Got to Adeau and stopped at the Aral Gas Station, only car wash in town and got her washed. Then stopped and picked up some supplies.
Got to the Apartment I’d rented. Would you believe 5 stars, nice, very very nice. Large rooms, full bath (even have bubble bath), large dining and front room, full kitchen, and parking right outside the door. Anyway, got unloaded and started to get unpacked when the doorbell rang.
It was Martina, my landlord. She said her husband saw the RS America and said to put it in the garage. How cool is that, so she gave me the remote and moved her car out of the garage. I really like it here.
Got cleaned up and headed for the Ring, bought a 25 lap ticket and just watched the cars enter the track. Track was closed when I arrived and soon opened only to be closed again. Both times accidents. I didn’t go on the track today. I’d just driven over a 1000 miles, took about 16 hours with rest stops and I took a few rest stops. Not a good idea to go on the Nurburgring tired.
When the track opened right after I got there, there were 2 lines of cars and 2 lines of motorcycles entering the track at the same time. Rush hour traffic on the Ring. Not for me, thank you. 30 minutes later closed again, accident. I try never to go on the track when it opens because of there being so many bikes and cars bunched up.
Couple of things about the Nurburgring. 1 lap is 14 miles (21 kms) long, there are 145 corners, according to Top Gear. A lot of elevation changes, elevation changes in the corners too. A lot of the corners are Blind corners, I came around one corner one time and there was a Tour Bus in Front of me, yep. There are only a couple of spots where you can leave the track with out destroying your car. The rest of the track the guard rail is only 2-3 feet from the asphalt. It is not a forgiving track at all. There are very few days when there is not a accident. I’ve had 1 off and 1 360 degree spin, stopped about 2 feet from the guard rail.
The only qualification you need to get on the track is a car or motorcycle and 26 euros. That’s it. No safety checks of your vehicle or of you, NO safety equipment (helmet, 5 points, etc) required. No checking of drivers qualifications, they don’t even check if you have a drivers license. I have had idiots try to pass me in the middle of a chicane, middle of the “S’s”, the inside of corners, etc, etc. Not only do you drive the Ring, you have to drive very defensively too. People DIE on this track every year.
You will be out on the track with cars, everything from full blown race cars to Mom’s Toyota station wagon, motorcycles, and the occasional Tour Bus. Skill levels, 1st time drivers to professionals.
If you think you’re going to learn this track in one afternoon, you’re thinking like a idiot and not dealing with reality at all. I don’t care how many times you’ve watched it on You Tube or played it on some video game.
Learning a track with 20 corners is a lot different than learning a track with 145 corners. The word of mouth at the track is that it takes about 100 laps to learn the track, then 100 more to learn the banking and 50-100 laps a year to remember it all. I was finally able to visualize the whole track somewhere in the 90’s and I’ve been gone long enough that I need to review the whole thing again.
There’s a couple sections of the track that take special care. The 1st is the corners called Metzgesfeld and Kallenhard. If you’re off line or going too fast, you’re going off. Good news, it’s one of the few places where you can go off, if you do it right. There are a couple of videos on You Tube of this section of corners where the guys have tried to save it and rolled their cars and motorcycles. The curb is ramped, you can go over it without ripping the wheels off your car. This is where I had a full off, I knew I wasn’t going to make it, drove straight off, braked, waited for the pucker factor to go down and then when the track was clear, went back on.
The next is the straight between Quiddelbacher-Hohe and Aremberg. You come off a long left hand high speed sweeper onto this straight. I usually get up to around 220-230 kph (137-143mph) then you have to scrub off around 100 kph (60mph) to make the Aremberg corner at 120-130kph. (75-81). Here’s the deal with this straight, its downhill and then goes uphill and crowns. You go over the crown and you can feel the car go light, but you are also in the braking zone and it’s a short braking zone. I can feel the front tires dig in and also feel the rear try to lift, rear tires stay light. You’d better be braking in a straight line or it’s all over.
The corner I had the 360 spin I think it was Eschbach, it’s a uphill right going into a downhill left. I’m still not sure why it happened. I came out of the corner and lifted to start braking when she broke loose. Talked with Jay Lee while I was at home about it. I have a Quaife LSD in the RSA, he said when I lifted it might have unlocked and that’s why I lost equal traction to the rear wheels. Could be. Anyway, stopped about 2 feet from the barrier facing in the right direction, so put her into 1st gear and went for 3 more laps.
Took a break to go set up the RS America. Adjusted tire pressure to 37 cold, adjusted the PSS-10 suspension to 7, fitted the 5 point harness, cleaned out stuff. She’s all ready.
Back to the Ring. The most laps I’ve done in one stint is 12, there were 4 accidents during that stint. Out of 12 I probably got only 2-3 clean laps. Clean lap, I don’t pass anyone and no one passes me, no accidents. It’s like you’re the only one out there, so very nice. I’ve also done 10, 8, and 6 lap stints. A good day is 4-6 laps. Think about it. 12 laps = 168 miles, 1740 corners of intense concentration. I was pretty well knackered after I came off the track.
Average day 4-6 laps. 56 to 84 miles, 580 to 870 corners. That’s enough for anyone.
Typical lap for me is to wait about 20 minutes after the track opens to go on the track. That way most of those that rushed to get on the track when it opened have finished and come off the track. Get to the gate and check the Track Map, it’s a LED map, if it’s clear, you’re good to go, if part of the map is flashing, it means there’s either a accident or track repairs are being made. 1st lap is reconnaissance and warm up the engine and tires. 2nd lap, hit it.
When I hit the 2nd carousel, that’s when I start checking me and the RSA out, do we want to do another lap, call for a break, or call it a day? If it’s call it a day, loosen the 5 point and start the Oil Cooler Fan to start cooling off the engine, slow to around 90-100 kph. I don’t like putting a engine that’s just been driven hard to rest before cooling it off.
Track etiquette. Turn on your headlights. Check your mirrors frequently, if you see someone gaining, pull to the right, turn on your right turn signal to let them know you’ve seen them and they can pass safely, only pass on the left. There will be plenty of drivers who don’t do any of this, so drive defensively.
Fuel, I’ll use about 1 1/4 gallons a lap. 12 lap stint used over 15 gallons and cost over $120. With track fees, fuel, and tire wear. I figure 1 lap costs about $50. Expensive hobby, but I could be wasting my money on women and booze. This hobby causes me fewer problems and is cheaper in the long run, lol.
Eat a light meal about 2 hours before, you don’t want a full stomach, you’re going to be feeling a lot of lateral G’s, neither you or I want to be wearing your lunch. I’ll ask you before you get in my car, the smell is hard to get out.
I try to do all my laps in one stint; otherwise you have to warm everything up again.
Ok, I’m off my soapbox.
7/17/13
Got antsy around 1600, so packed up and headed for the Ring. It didn’t open until 1730 so went over to Ed’s Gas Station, closest station to the track. They have a incredible collection of Car Models for sale, unfortunately no RSA. They also sell Nurburgring souvenirs, T-shirts, key rings, decals, etc.
Went back to the track and spent the time reading the book The Plantagenets. Around 1700 the cars and bikes started showing up. Track opened on time and the rush started. I waited until the rush was over before I went out. So far the track was still clear.
I ran 3 laps today. the 1st lap was warm up. There’s a lot of the track that has fresh asphalt on it. The 2nd lap was the best, not much traffic and I was smoother. The 3rd lap, lots of traffic, I moved off line to let them all pass several times. By the time that lap was over I was debating whether to go for another one. When I got up to the exit, they closed the track, accident, answered the question for me.
Parked her and took Tire Pressures, RF 45, RR 46 ½, LF 43, LR 46, started at 37 all around, they tell me the right side is loading up more, or there’s more left hand corners on the track. Towards the end of the track, there are a couple of off camber left hand corners right before the small carrousel. Then went for a walk around the parking lot and met a few people, that’s always nice.
I need more practice, I got most of the line and gearing right, but I need to get my braking points down again. Most corners I had the braking down ok, but some of the others I was braking too early, especially that uphill corner where I had the 360 spin last year. With Porsche 911’s it’s, “In Slow, Out Fast” on the corners, I was maybe a little too slow. But better safe than into the barrier.
Guess that means, I’ll just have to go back tomorrow and run some more practice laps. Oh the pain, the pain.
Got back to the apartment, cleaned her up for tomorrow and relaxed.
7/18/13
Today was just one of those sort of Off Days where nothing is wrong, things are just off.
Checked cold tire pressures before I left for the track, all were still at 37 psi.
Went to the track, 1st lap was ok, 2nd not so good, lots and lots of traffic, fast traffic, cars and bikes, think I spent most of it off line letting them go past. Oh yeah, just loved the idiot in the BMW that tried to pass on the right, inside a right hand corner.
I was planning on at least 4 laps today, after the 2nd, I’d had enough.
7/19/13
Track is closed today. So I went out castle hunting. Got to the village where the first one was, lots of road construction going on. Only place I could find to park caused a bottleneck on the road, really didn’t like that, then found out the castle was closed for work.
Left to go to the next one, got about 3 kms away from it and the complete road was tore up for repair. Told the GPS to find a detour, it couldn’t, that’s a first. Anyway, I’m not even sure what village I was in, but parked, found a café and had a espresso.
Then I just went for a drive. Driving through the forest is just so nice and I was enjoying the views and driving slowly. When someone would come up behind me, I’d pull over and let them pass. I was in no hurry at all.
Drove into Adenau and had another espresso.
Got back to the apartment and Hans Peter & Martina invited me to a BBQ tomorrow at 1830. I’m looking forward to that. The Ring opens at 1730 tomorrow, I might just skip it and go to the BBQ. The Ring is open for 10 hours on Sunday.
Right up the street from the apartment is a vantage point for the Ring, I recognized the corner, think its called Bergwerk. It is the corner I came around last year and found a Tour Bus in front of me.
7/20/13
Went into Bonn for laundry, it’s a nice drive, around 48 kms, most of it through the Eifel Forest. Came back and just hung out for the afternoon.
Went to my landlords BBQ around 1830. It was Hans Peter & Martina’s oldest daughter’s birthday (10), so the whole family was there. It was nice to meet them all and I had a good time. Made future reservations for 9-16 Sept here. I think I’ve found a new home here at the Ring.
7/21/13
Ring’s open 10 hours today. I got there around 1000 and went on the track. 1st lap, pretty good, getting the braking points down again. 2nd lap, 4 Yellow Flag accidents, with 1 more I don’t think they knew about yet.
Track closed around 10:30.
Parked in the overflow parking, then went up to the Ring Boardwalk and did a little shopping, had a double espresso, cleaned the RSA, just wasting time. Went back to the track around 1200, still closed.
Drove over to the Ed Gas Station, had some more coffee, just what I needed, right. From the Ed parking lot there’s about a 20-30 foot break in the trees where you can spot the cars going by in the gaps of the barrier. I saw and heard them start to go by, means the tracks open. Drove back to the track and as I got in the track entrance lane, they closed it again. Just parked it and went and got a ice cream bar.
Track finally reopened around 1400. I got in 2 more laps before it was closed again, another accident. As I was leaving the track again there were 2 Flat Bed Tow Trucks going onto the track.
The Tow Trucks were doing a lot of business today. All the accidents I went by looked like complete Totals of the Cars and Motorcycles.
There’s a saying at the Ring, “If you get in an accident and that doesn’t kill you, you’ll wish you were dead when you get the Bill for the Track Repairs”. That’s right; you are responsible for any and all repairs and clean up costs. So not only do you lose your car, you get a nice fat bill on top of that. They take Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.
When the track closed the 3rd time, I called it. I went back to the apartment, still needed to pack and load the RSA and clean the apartment.
Leaving in the morning to go see Jon, Natasha, and the girls in Luxembourg.
I have future reservations for a couple more weeks at the Ring in August and September. Then depending on weather, I might start heading South to spend the winter in Spain again on the Mediterranean coast.
That’s all for now, Don
Got to Adeau and stopped at the Aral Gas Station, only car wash in town and got her washed. Then stopped and picked up some supplies.
Got to the Apartment I’d rented. Would you believe 5 stars, nice, very very nice. Large rooms, full bath (even have bubble bath), large dining and front room, full kitchen, and parking right outside the door. Anyway, got unloaded and started to get unpacked when the doorbell rang.
It was Martina, my landlord. She said her husband saw the RS America and said to put it in the garage. How cool is that, so she gave me the remote and moved her car out of the garage. I really like it here.
Got cleaned up and headed for the Ring, bought a 25 lap ticket and just watched the cars enter the track. Track was closed when I arrived and soon opened only to be closed again. Both times accidents. I didn’t go on the track today. I’d just driven over a 1000 miles, took about 16 hours with rest stops and I took a few rest stops. Not a good idea to go on the Nurburgring tired.
When the track opened right after I got there, there were 2 lines of cars and 2 lines of motorcycles entering the track at the same time. Rush hour traffic on the Ring. Not for me, thank you. 30 minutes later closed again, accident. I try never to go on the track when it opens because of there being so many bikes and cars bunched up.
Couple of things about the Nurburgring. 1 lap is 14 miles (21 kms) long, there are 145 corners, according to Top Gear. A lot of elevation changes, elevation changes in the corners too. A lot of the corners are Blind corners, I came around one corner one time and there was a Tour Bus in Front of me, yep. There are only a couple of spots where you can leave the track with out destroying your car. The rest of the track the guard rail is only 2-3 feet from the asphalt. It is not a forgiving track at all. There are very few days when there is not a accident. I’ve had 1 off and 1 360 degree spin, stopped about 2 feet from the guard rail.
The only qualification you need to get on the track is a car or motorcycle and 26 euros. That’s it. No safety checks of your vehicle or of you, NO safety equipment (helmet, 5 points, etc) required. No checking of drivers qualifications, they don’t even check if you have a drivers license. I have had idiots try to pass me in the middle of a chicane, middle of the “S’s”, the inside of corners, etc, etc. Not only do you drive the Ring, you have to drive very defensively too. People DIE on this track every year.
You will be out on the track with cars, everything from full blown race cars to Mom’s Toyota station wagon, motorcycles, and the occasional Tour Bus. Skill levels, 1st time drivers to professionals.
If you think you’re going to learn this track in one afternoon, you’re thinking like a idiot and not dealing with reality at all. I don’t care how many times you’ve watched it on You Tube or played it on some video game.
Learning a track with 20 corners is a lot different than learning a track with 145 corners. The word of mouth at the track is that it takes about 100 laps to learn the track, then 100 more to learn the banking and 50-100 laps a year to remember it all. I was finally able to visualize the whole track somewhere in the 90’s and I’ve been gone long enough that I need to review the whole thing again.
There’s a couple sections of the track that take special care. The 1st is the corners called Metzgesfeld and Kallenhard. If you’re off line or going too fast, you’re going off. Good news, it’s one of the few places where you can go off, if you do it right. There are a couple of videos on You Tube of this section of corners where the guys have tried to save it and rolled their cars and motorcycles. The curb is ramped, you can go over it without ripping the wheels off your car. This is where I had a full off, I knew I wasn’t going to make it, drove straight off, braked, waited for the pucker factor to go down and then when the track was clear, went back on.
The next is the straight between Quiddelbacher-Hohe and Aremberg. You come off a long left hand high speed sweeper onto this straight. I usually get up to around 220-230 kph (137-143mph) then you have to scrub off around 100 kph (60mph) to make the Aremberg corner at 120-130kph. (75-81). Here’s the deal with this straight, its downhill and then goes uphill and crowns. You go over the crown and you can feel the car go light, but you are also in the braking zone and it’s a short braking zone. I can feel the front tires dig in and also feel the rear try to lift, rear tires stay light. You’d better be braking in a straight line or it’s all over.
The corner I had the 360 spin I think it was Eschbach, it’s a uphill right going into a downhill left. I’m still not sure why it happened. I came out of the corner and lifted to start braking when she broke loose. Talked with Jay Lee while I was at home about it. I have a Quaife LSD in the RSA, he said when I lifted it might have unlocked and that’s why I lost equal traction to the rear wheels. Could be. Anyway, stopped about 2 feet from the barrier facing in the right direction, so put her into 1st gear and went for 3 more laps.
Took a break to go set up the RS America. Adjusted tire pressure to 37 cold, adjusted the PSS-10 suspension to 7, fitted the 5 point harness, cleaned out stuff. She’s all ready.
Back to the Ring. The most laps I’ve done in one stint is 12, there were 4 accidents during that stint. Out of 12 I probably got only 2-3 clean laps. Clean lap, I don’t pass anyone and no one passes me, no accidents. It’s like you’re the only one out there, so very nice. I’ve also done 10, 8, and 6 lap stints. A good day is 4-6 laps. Think about it. 12 laps = 168 miles, 1740 corners of intense concentration. I was pretty well knackered after I came off the track.
Average day 4-6 laps. 56 to 84 miles, 580 to 870 corners. That’s enough for anyone.
Typical lap for me is to wait about 20 minutes after the track opens to go on the track. That way most of those that rushed to get on the track when it opened have finished and come off the track. Get to the gate and check the Track Map, it’s a LED map, if it’s clear, you’re good to go, if part of the map is flashing, it means there’s either a accident or track repairs are being made. 1st lap is reconnaissance and warm up the engine and tires. 2nd lap, hit it.
When I hit the 2nd carousel, that’s when I start checking me and the RSA out, do we want to do another lap, call for a break, or call it a day? If it’s call it a day, loosen the 5 point and start the Oil Cooler Fan to start cooling off the engine, slow to around 90-100 kph. I don’t like putting a engine that’s just been driven hard to rest before cooling it off.
Track etiquette. Turn on your headlights. Check your mirrors frequently, if you see someone gaining, pull to the right, turn on your right turn signal to let them know you’ve seen them and they can pass safely, only pass on the left. There will be plenty of drivers who don’t do any of this, so drive defensively.
Fuel, I’ll use about 1 1/4 gallons a lap. 12 lap stint used over 15 gallons and cost over $120. With track fees, fuel, and tire wear. I figure 1 lap costs about $50. Expensive hobby, but I could be wasting my money on women and booze. This hobby causes me fewer problems and is cheaper in the long run, lol.
Eat a light meal about 2 hours before, you don’t want a full stomach, you’re going to be feeling a lot of lateral G’s, neither you or I want to be wearing your lunch. I’ll ask you before you get in my car, the smell is hard to get out.
I try to do all my laps in one stint; otherwise you have to warm everything up again.
Ok, I’m off my soapbox.
7/17/13
Got antsy around 1600, so packed up and headed for the Ring. It didn’t open until 1730 so went over to Ed’s Gas Station, closest station to the track. They have a incredible collection of Car Models for sale, unfortunately no RSA. They also sell Nurburgring souvenirs, T-shirts, key rings, decals, etc.
Went back to the track and spent the time reading the book The Plantagenets. Around 1700 the cars and bikes started showing up. Track opened on time and the rush started. I waited until the rush was over before I went out. So far the track was still clear.
I ran 3 laps today. the 1st lap was warm up. There’s a lot of the track that has fresh asphalt on it. The 2nd lap was the best, not much traffic and I was smoother. The 3rd lap, lots of traffic, I moved off line to let them all pass several times. By the time that lap was over I was debating whether to go for another one. When I got up to the exit, they closed the track, accident, answered the question for me.
Parked her and took Tire Pressures, RF 45, RR 46 ½, LF 43, LR 46, started at 37 all around, they tell me the right side is loading up more, or there’s more left hand corners on the track. Towards the end of the track, there are a couple of off camber left hand corners right before the small carrousel. Then went for a walk around the parking lot and met a few people, that’s always nice.
I need more practice, I got most of the line and gearing right, but I need to get my braking points down again. Most corners I had the braking down ok, but some of the others I was braking too early, especially that uphill corner where I had the 360 spin last year. With Porsche 911’s it’s, “In Slow, Out Fast” on the corners, I was maybe a little too slow. But better safe than into the barrier.
Guess that means, I’ll just have to go back tomorrow and run some more practice laps. Oh the pain, the pain.
Got back to the apartment, cleaned her up for tomorrow and relaxed.
7/18/13
Today was just one of those sort of Off Days where nothing is wrong, things are just off.
Checked cold tire pressures before I left for the track, all were still at 37 psi.
Went to the track, 1st lap was ok, 2nd not so good, lots and lots of traffic, fast traffic, cars and bikes, think I spent most of it off line letting them go past. Oh yeah, just loved the idiot in the BMW that tried to pass on the right, inside a right hand corner.
I was planning on at least 4 laps today, after the 2nd, I’d had enough.
7/19/13
Track is closed today. So I went out castle hunting. Got to the village where the first one was, lots of road construction going on. Only place I could find to park caused a bottleneck on the road, really didn’t like that, then found out the castle was closed for work.
Left to go to the next one, got about 3 kms away from it and the complete road was tore up for repair. Told the GPS to find a detour, it couldn’t, that’s a first. Anyway, I’m not even sure what village I was in, but parked, found a café and had a espresso.
Then I just went for a drive. Driving through the forest is just so nice and I was enjoying the views and driving slowly. When someone would come up behind me, I’d pull over and let them pass. I was in no hurry at all.
Drove into Adenau and had another espresso.
Got back to the apartment and Hans Peter & Martina invited me to a BBQ tomorrow at 1830. I’m looking forward to that. The Ring opens at 1730 tomorrow, I might just skip it and go to the BBQ. The Ring is open for 10 hours on Sunday.
Right up the street from the apartment is a vantage point for the Ring, I recognized the corner, think its called Bergwerk. It is the corner I came around last year and found a Tour Bus in front of me.
7/20/13
Went into Bonn for laundry, it’s a nice drive, around 48 kms, most of it through the Eifel Forest. Came back and just hung out for the afternoon.
Went to my landlords BBQ around 1830. It was Hans Peter & Martina’s oldest daughter’s birthday (10), so the whole family was there. It was nice to meet them all and I had a good time. Made future reservations for 9-16 Sept here. I think I’ve found a new home here at the Ring.
7/21/13
Ring’s open 10 hours today. I got there around 1000 and went on the track. 1st lap, pretty good, getting the braking points down again. 2nd lap, 4 Yellow Flag accidents, with 1 more I don’t think they knew about yet.
Track closed around 10:30.
Parked in the overflow parking, then went up to the Ring Boardwalk and did a little shopping, had a double espresso, cleaned the RSA, just wasting time. Went back to the track around 1200, still closed.
Drove over to the Ed Gas Station, had some more coffee, just what I needed, right. From the Ed parking lot there’s about a 20-30 foot break in the trees where you can spot the cars going by in the gaps of the barrier. I saw and heard them start to go by, means the tracks open. Drove back to the track and as I got in the track entrance lane, they closed it again. Just parked it and went and got a ice cream bar.
Track finally reopened around 1400. I got in 2 more laps before it was closed again, another accident. As I was leaving the track again there were 2 Flat Bed Tow Trucks going onto the track.
The Tow Trucks were doing a lot of business today. All the accidents I went by looked like complete Totals of the Cars and Motorcycles.
There’s a saying at the Ring, “If you get in an accident and that doesn’t kill you, you’ll wish you were dead when you get the Bill for the Track Repairs”. That’s right; you are responsible for any and all repairs and clean up costs. So not only do you lose your car, you get a nice fat bill on top of that. They take Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.
When the track closed the 3rd time, I called it. I went back to the apartment, still needed to pack and load the RSA and clean the apartment.
Leaving in the morning to go see Jon, Natasha, and the girls in Luxembourg.
I have future reservations for a couple more weeks at the Ring in August and September. Then depending on weather, I might start heading South to spend the winter in Spain again on the Mediterranean coast.
That’s all for now, Don