Hello all. I'm interested in familiarising myself with and chatting about The 'Ring. No doubt many of you have driven on it, so I was wondering if I could ask a few questions: Does it have no speed limits? Can anyone drive on it at any time, like an Autobahn? Which particular section of the track (I have a few maps of it) is used for Forumla One? Lastly, which (if any) section(s) of the track is generally regarded as being the most dangerous, infamous, etc? Thanks in advance.
Thanks for the reply. I just remembered the 360 crash last year at the 'Ring involving two Ferrarichat members. :-( How exactly did this crash occur and what part of the track was it? Are there many disastrous accidents like the one above occuring regularly?
Mr. Shnug, Tell on! Im super interested too, it really is such an important part of both motorsports and the modern development of some really awesome cars (namely porsches) but also others Im sure (lotus, lamborghini). I think ferrari stays at fiorano no? Maybe Lamborghini mostly at Nardo?
During the summer of 1970 I travelled across Europe camping, following the F1 Circuit. I spent a week around Nurburgring camping next to the track. Each day I spent my $.50 per lap to drive the rented Renault around the 14 kilometer track. Each day I saw 2 to 3 Porsches wrapped around trees. I took care to stay to the right, watched my mirror carefully, and went as fast as I could to reduce closing speed. There were some real serious street racers having fun on the track. The biggest thrill was getting airborne with a quick right turn upon landing. What a beautiful setting for an F1 race. Jim S.
Twice I have done three day schools at the Ring, put on by BMW. It is simply unbelievable. I lost it big time at Bergwerk due to missunderstanding with my memory cells. The sense of history was overwhelming,the old Sporthotel was still there, along with the old wooden grandstands. The little gasthaus in the Sporthotel only had about eight stools at the bar.You just wondered what historic people had sat there. I was in awe the whole time.
That's probably the best question to ask regarding the ring... the ring... what are the best schools for learning it? If you are flying in, what's the best source for renting a suitable car for driving it at said schools? Any schools that provide cars?
Don't have any experience with schools at the ring but one important piece of advice I can give you is that when you're a newcomer don't take a "suitable" car but take a SLOW car. Go around the track in a SLOW car 10, 20, 30 or more times and memorise the track, keep a good eye on faster and slower vehicles and only when you can DREAM each of the 70-or-so turns, each of the 100's of bumps etc THEN take a "suitable" car. A car capable of 150 MPH+ will only hit 120 in two spots or so, so high top speed is definitely NOT the fun of the 'Ring. DON'T get carried away in thinking that you're an excellent "racer", especially when it starts to rain as the track gets VERY slippery. DON'T get loomed into a false sense of security by following a faster car with a driver that apparently knows the track by heart. There are probably about 10 potentially lethal bends per lap so start slow and slowly increase your speed lap after lap until you REALLY know it. Most accidents happen because of too big egos and failing memory... Jack
While the rest of your advice is sound and for all, I think that advice is just for those lacking self-control. Flooring it on a straight and listening to some beautiful exhaust sound, and then slamming on the brakes is fun and reasonably safe anywhere... but even more fun on a historic racetrack and even more safe given people are expecting such behavior. What is true, though, is that trying to take each corner at the limit of the car is way safer in a slow car than a fast car. But you really shouldn't be doing it in either car until you've been driving the ring a few weeks (given how long the course is). All modern cars are fast enough to kill you. So, when I visit, I plan to get an M3, 911, or Ferrari... drive the first lap where I assume every blind corner is really really slow... memorize the slowest corners... and then drive every lap as if every blind corner is just like one of the slowest ones (because some of them are, and I'll surely forget which is which). But in between blind corners, I'll have a blast flooring it and braking hard... and I want a car that does those things well! But that's just me!
It's really, really hard to memorize the Ring, since it's a track of ~10 km orso. some corners are fast, some are realy, really slow. Lots and lots of blind corners which can only be memorized, as Helmut said, in 20, 30 or more laps. If you search the net you'll be able to find some info about all the corners, if not I'll be willing to scan my course notes Jens provided before we went to the Ring. Be very carefull when driving the Ring, don't expect to be the best driver and certainly don't try to race anyone. Drive at your own speed and enjoy, it's a great track. Bart
Here's something that helps enormously, go buy the following: Xbox Video Game Console Project Gotham Racing 2 Video Game Outside of Grand Prix Legends (an old game on the PC), Project Gotham Racing 2 is the only video game that offers a scale complete version (even with elevation changes) of the entire North long course of the Nurburgring. It also offers about 100 street cars, including the M3, NSX Type-R, various Ferraris, etc, simulated quite well (but with slicks permanently mounted so lap times are faster than normal by a bit). It allowed me to totally memorize the Ring, to the point now that when I watch internet video camera footage of a ring lap, I anticipate exactly when the driver should slow down, where the shift points are, etc, the direction, everything. I'm amazed, I thought I'd never get it. Even the graffiti and roadside houses are correct in the game. It will take about 100 laps of experience to be able to race the Ring in the fog mode the game offers without crashing, meaning that the fog is a test to see if you're bulletproof.
Just a few words to get you ready. I raced on the old track on bikes and cars. I did the 24 hors bike and 84 (yes 84 eighty four) hours. Even after so many laps, you still make MISTAKEN... Take it easy, it's 164 turns and your brain will trick you. When you think it's left coming, you'll find a right.... You'll have a ball if you just stay under control. No need to have a big fast car, just a good one that will help you to have FUN. You can have rain on one side and dry on the other, fog and during the night ...some souvenirs. Good luck and enjoy that great opportunity to drive that amazing track Roland F40LM
That's correct it's a 100+ turns lots of them blind and 22Km will take quite a while to get them memorized quickly. If you are going to be doing often a yearly pass maybe the way to go , for a single ride is about 14 Euro and there are some discounted passes for a number of laps. Here there's another web-site that might be helpul www.nurburgring.org.uk/ringers-faq.html Ciao
The only downside is that there are no cheats for PGR2, so you will have to play through the whole game (40 hours worth of playing) until you can access the full Nurburgring Nordschliefe (20.8km track).
Alternatively you could get Grand Prix Legends and start racing the Nordschleife instantly. It's part of the base package.
Easy there. You better explain why or somebody will bring out the flame throwers. Not me (yet), but there are some diehard GPL fans on this board.
Here's an excellent recap of someone from the S2000 community who wanted to go to the 'ring and prepped himself and went over there. This also includes some cost breakdowns, turns and turn names, and even what to look out for when renting cars. http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=122111