One lap at the Nürburgring
09-29-04 | 04:53 PM
#1
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 46
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From: Germany
One lap at the Nürburgring
Hey guys, some of you might have been following my quest to drive on as many European Circuits as possible. Well today I finally conquered my fear (at least the initial portion) and got some lap time on Nürburgring, the original Nordschleife, aka Green Hell as it is affectionately called.
No pictures as I did not bring my camera long. But you can be sure there was all manner of exotica there, from Ultima GTR to Ferraris to overblown Clios that can beat the Ultima and Ferrari.
Got to the track at about 9 am, the sky just cleared and the track was somewhat wet. I went out as a passenger on two laps to get a feel of the circuit. The speeds were cut down a bit due to the slick surface, but it was an experience being driven around the Ring. And than it was my turn to go around. This is a description of my first lap at the Nürburgring.
Bought myself a 6 lap’s ticket for 76 Euros. I than don my helmet and gloves and went out onto the track. First is the gate, insert ticket than you are off.
Section 1: Antoniusbrucker
A simple matter of accelerating as this is a fairly long straight right out of the gate. I hit about 100mph going into Tier Garden than a quick series of chicanes as I enter Hohenrein. This is my first initial taste of the circuit; it was slippery and quite jumpy to say the least. It continues onto a series of turns, one of which has a view of the modern Nürburgring which F1 races on. Somewhat dissappointing first series of corner, but oh my is it misleading.
Section 2: Hatzenbach
This section was something else. I think I did more turns here than Silverstone and Hockenheim combined. The turns just come up on you like nothing else, almost out of nowhere, like playing an old NES racing game. A great series of undulating curve that ends with Hoheichen and leads onto a LONG LONG straight call Quiddelbacher Hohe.
Section 3: Flugplatz
This was kind of weird. I felt the wheels loosing traction mid way into it as the ground basically falls away. The amazing thing is that the entrance and exit of this two small right hander create a small hill of sort, kind of like a rollercoaster ride.
Section 4: Schwedenkreuz
Ok this is right after the Flugplatz, another long straight that leads to a nice radius left hander. I got scare [shizzle]less and back way off the throttle. I think I went from like 120 down to about 80 and almost [shizzle] myself as I come out of the sweeping left hander to Arremberg.
Section 5: Aremberg
Ok, Hockenheim was crazy with the tight turns, but this is ridiculous. I think I took it at like 30mph as I was completely out of my wits as I realize that a mistake will put me right smack into a wall. I don't think I've seen curves like these except when playing Gran Tourismo. Hockenheim and Silverstone has curves, but this thing is absolutely wild. This is of course follow by another high speed series of large radius turns. I was pushing close to 100 at the Fuchsrore and than I did what I was told not to: BRAKE
Section 6: Adenauer Forst
Ok, as you come off the straight on Fuchsrore there is a slight left hander that rises about 200 feet in front of you. It is just a trip because it looks like stairs, imagine stairs in an escalator now take that same angle and turn it into a road. I was told not to brake at the beginning of the turn which is at the bottom. Well guess what I did brake and when I let go of the brake right as the turn start to rise my car got a slight bit loose. That isn't the real fun part as I had to make a series of turns right after catching my car from going into the barrier (Armco.) So as I barely regain control of the car I am thrown right into a series of turns. This is my first sense of what the track can do to a car. I never felt as useless in a vehicle before as the law of physics took over. I honestly have never felt weight shift the way I did in that one corner before in my life. It sure hell wasn't the last since I'm not even half way done with the track yet.
Section 7: Kallenhard
Coming out of Adenauer Forst is Metzgerfeld, a long wide left that ends in a tight left hander. Quite amazing, it has a feeling of being squeezed into a small bottle with a siphon. If you want something similar line up a series of cone and make it smaller and smaller as the turn progress. Than of course I came into a place called Kallenhard, when I hear the word hard I know it's going to be hard. A bunch of crazy little turns and a thing called "Hit Miss Hit" apparently one of the corners in Kallenhard but I am too distracted to notice where or when I was supposed to do it.
Section 8: Wehrseifen
Oh yeah, as I am barely recovering from Kallenhard, they decide to throw in a tight chicane at Wehrseifen. Yeah by this time I am like completely spent from a normal race track. I have never even driven on any racetrack anywhere near this long and you guessed it, I'm still not at the half way point yet. As I exit, it seem to be somewhat nice, than I noticed spectator on the next corner. I took the corner reasonably well but got the car a bit loose near the entrance of it. I than remember why all those spectators are there: CRASHES. PHEW!Section
9: Bergwerk
Right after that slight little squiggle I entered Ex Muhle and it was a bit hair raising. Bergwerk was actually fairly enjoyable as it leads onto a series of long sweeping turns. Of course I didn't know that so I kept it below 80 mph all the way.
Section 10: Steilstrecken
A fairly uneventful long blast down a country road until I approach this little beauty. The entrance was nice and wide; than I remembered it TIGHTEN right at the exit. Almost bit the dust there for a bit. I was later told that this is the corner that separates those that are brave and those that are crazy from each other. It is just another unbelievable turn that would never exist on a modern day circuit.
Section 11: Karusell
Well some of you should be familiar with this thing. It’s like I entered the world of 60 degrees banked turn of NASCAR racing....ON A ROAD TRACK. It was kind of cool though as I kept it at fairly high speed going through this corner. Oh and it is made up of concrete slab so it felt like a machine gun as I went through it.
Section 12: Wipperman
I must be near the end of the track by now, oh wait, a quick right hander and what's this.....a smack load of turns at Wipperman. Just when you though it was over there it is, a bunch of high speed turns thrown in just for the hell of it. By this time I am just completely spent as far as even remembering anything about the track. I just drove it the most cautious I can possible muster. I am now almost near the end of the first lap. Most of my fears has subsided and I am actually somewhat enjoying myself; but not for long
Section 13: Eiskurve
SCREECHHHHHHHHHHH
My car started SLIDING, all I did was slightly tap the brakes and there it was, the rear came out from under me, time slowed for a split second. Thank god for traction control as it pulls me back down. Yup, I have just past Eiskurve and yes the name is just as it sounds ICE CURVE. This corner has shade on all 4 sides and remains damp and slippery for most of the day. Even on a hot day this corner can be wet as I've been told by my friends. I was cautious going into it but I took a different line than was told. Apparently I was supposed to enter it on a normal line than keep it in the middle, but my dumbass enter the curve in the middle of the track. I guess no one has driven in that portion of the turn and it was slippery as heck. Well at least I survived it.
Section 14: Pflansgarten
A bunch of turns, oh yeah, I am just oblivious to the track now, trying to just finish my first lap. How many turns do you think is too many? Well how about the fact that there's a Pflansgarten II in there! Though my adrenaline is bumping enough to keep me going. But ah what's this.....
Section 15: Schwalbenschwanz
Oh yeah another tight left hander out of freakin nowhere. Oh wait not 1 but 2 hard left hander. Than a hard right just to make sure I'm still awake. Not a bad series of corner really, by this time I knew I was near the end of the first lap so I was quite relaxed.
Section 16: Dottinger Hohe
Just shooting out of the curve and down a long long striaght. You wouldn't believe the sense of relief I felt seeing that road open up wide and striaght.
Ok, I'M DONE.
If you read through all of that you might get a sense of what it felt like to drive one lap on this monster. This thing is the lenght of a 4 page essay in Word and that's not even using double spacing. And actually, that's not really the entire thing, only small 16 encapsulated sections. I could have made it even LONGER, there are 76 official corners and 164 unofficial one as no one is quite sure what a corner is on the RING.
And if you want to have a feel of what the track felt like, jump up and down as fast as you can and you get an idea. This is LITERALLY like a roller coaster. I swear at least 20% of the turns I couldn't see the crest at all since I was staring STRAIGHT at tarmac. To me it felt like the song Stairway to Heaven, except this one might end with a crash. Truly an unbelievable racetrack.
That's right 20.832KM long just 13 miles long.
Call it coincidence that it just happens to be 13 miles long.
Prologue: I went out and did another 3 laps than it got too crowded and I decided to leave. I will be back, probably sometime this coming week to make it an even 10 laps.
(This was done in an 04 M3.)
No pictures as I did not bring my camera long. But you can be sure there was all manner of exotica there, from Ultima GTR to Ferraris to overblown Clios that can beat the Ultima and Ferrari.
Got to the track at about 9 am, the sky just cleared and the track was somewhat wet. I went out as a passenger on two laps to get a feel of the circuit. The speeds were cut down a bit due to the slick surface, but it was an experience being driven around the Ring. And than it was my turn to go around. This is a description of my first lap at the Nürburgring.
Bought myself a 6 lap’s ticket for 76 Euros. I than don my helmet and gloves and went out onto the track. First is the gate, insert ticket than you are off.
Section 1: Antoniusbrucker
A simple matter of accelerating as this is a fairly long straight right out of the gate. I hit about 100mph going into Tier Garden than a quick series of chicanes as I enter Hohenrein. This is my first initial taste of the circuit; it was slippery and quite jumpy to say the least. It continues onto a series of turns, one of which has a view of the modern Nürburgring which F1 races on. Somewhat dissappointing first series of corner, but oh my is it misleading.
Section 2: Hatzenbach
This section was something else. I think I did more turns here than Silverstone and Hockenheim combined. The turns just come up on you like nothing else, almost out of nowhere, like playing an old NES racing game. A great series of undulating curve that ends with Hoheichen and leads onto a LONG LONG straight call Quiddelbacher Hohe.
Section 3: Flugplatz
This was kind of weird. I felt the wheels loosing traction mid way into it as the ground basically falls away. The amazing thing is that the entrance and exit of this two small right hander create a small hill of sort, kind of like a rollercoaster ride.
Section 4: Schwedenkreuz
Ok this is right after the Flugplatz, another long straight that leads to a nice radius left hander. I got scare [shizzle]less and back way off the throttle. I think I went from like 120 down to about 80 and almost [shizzle] myself as I come out of the sweeping left hander to Arremberg.
Section 5: Aremberg
Ok, Hockenheim was crazy with the tight turns, but this is ridiculous. I think I took it at like 30mph as I was completely out of my wits as I realize that a mistake will put me right smack into a wall. I don't think I've seen curves like these except when playing Gran Tourismo. Hockenheim and Silverstone has curves, but this thing is absolutely wild. This is of course follow by another high speed series of large radius turns. I was pushing close to 100 at the Fuchsrore and than I did what I was told not to: BRAKE
Section 6: Adenauer Forst
Ok, as you come off the straight on Fuchsrore there is a slight left hander that rises about 200 feet in front of you. It is just a trip because it looks like stairs, imagine stairs in an escalator now take that same angle and turn it into a road. I was told not to brake at the beginning of the turn which is at the bottom. Well guess what I did brake and when I let go of the brake right as the turn start to rise my car got a slight bit loose. That isn't the real fun part as I had to make a series of turns right after catching my car from going into the barrier (Armco.) So as I barely regain control of the car I am thrown right into a series of turns. This is my first sense of what the track can do to a car. I never felt as useless in a vehicle before as the law of physics took over. I honestly have never felt weight shift the way I did in that one corner before in my life. It sure hell wasn't the last since I'm not even half way done with the track yet.
Section 7: Kallenhard
Coming out of Adenauer Forst is Metzgerfeld, a long wide left that ends in a tight left hander. Quite amazing, it has a feeling of being squeezed into a small bottle with a siphon. If you want something similar line up a series of cone and make it smaller and smaller as the turn progress. Than of course I came into a place called Kallenhard, when I hear the word hard I know it's going to be hard. A bunch of crazy little turns and a thing called "Hit Miss Hit" apparently one of the corners in Kallenhard but I am too distracted to notice where or when I was supposed to do it.
Section 8: Wehrseifen
Oh yeah, as I am barely recovering from Kallenhard, they decide to throw in a tight chicane at Wehrseifen. Yeah by this time I am like completely spent from a normal race track. I have never even driven on any racetrack anywhere near this long and you guessed it, I'm still not at the half way point yet. As I exit, it seem to be somewhat nice, than I noticed spectator on the next corner. I took the corner reasonably well but got the car a bit loose near the entrance of it. I than remember why all those spectators are there: CRASHES. PHEW!Section
9: Bergwerk
Right after that slight little squiggle I entered Ex Muhle and it was a bit hair raising. Bergwerk was actually fairly enjoyable as it leads onto a series of long sweeping turns. Of course I didn't know that so I kept it below 80 mph all the way.
Section 10: Steilstrecken
A fairly uneventful long blast down a country road until I approach this little beauty. The entrance was nice and wide; than I remembered it TIGHTEN right at the exit. Almost bit the dust there for a bit. I was later told that this is the corner that separates those that are brave and those that are crazy from each other. It is just another unbelievable turn that would never exist on a modern day circuit.
Section 11: Karusell
Well some of you should be familiar with this thing. It’s like I entered the world of 60 degrees banked turn of NASCAR racing....ON A ROAD TRACK. It was kind of cool though as I kept it at fairly high speed going through this corner. Oh and it is made up of concrete slab so it felt like a machine gun as I went through it.
Section 12: Wipperman
I must be near the end of the track by now, oh wait, a quick right hander and what's this.....a smack load of turns at Wipperman. Just when you though it was over there it is, a bunch of high speed turns thrown in just for the hell of it. By this time I am just completely spent as far as even remembering anything about the track. I just drove it the most cautious I can possible muster. I am now almost near the end of the first lap. Most of my fears has subsided and I am actually somewhat enjoying myself; but not for long
Section 13: Eiskurve
SCREECHHHHHHHHHHH
My car started SLIDING, all I did was slightly tap the brakes and there it was, the rear came out from under me, time slowed for a split second. Thank god for traction control as it pulls me back down. Yup, I have just past Eiskurve and yes the name is just as it sounds ICE CURVE. This corner has shade on all 4 sides and remains damp and slippery for most of the day. Even on a hot day this corner can be wet as I've been told by my friends. I was cautious going into it but I took a different line than was told. Apparently I was supposed to enter it on a normal line than keep it in the middle, but my dumbass enter the curve in the middle of the track. I guess no one has driven in that portion of the turn and it was slippery as heck. Well at least I survived it.
Section 14: Pflansgarten
A bunch of turns, oh yeah, I am just oblivious to the track now, trying to just finish my first lap. How many turns do you think is too many? Well how about the fact that there's a Pflansgarten II in there! Though my adrenaline is bumping enough to keep me going. But ah what's this.....
Section 15: Schwalbenschwanz
Oh yeah another tight left hander out of freakin nowhere. Oh wait not 1 but 2 hard left hander. Than a hard right just to make sure I'm still awake. Not a bad series of corner really, by this time I knew I was near the end of the first lap so I was quite relaxed.
Section 16: Dottinger Hohe
Just shooting out of the curve and down a long long striaght. You wouldn't believe the sense of relief I felt seeing that road open up wide and striaght.
Ok, I'M DONE.
If you read through all of that you might get a sense of what it felt like to drive one lap on this monster. This thing is the lenght of a 4 page essay in Word and that's not even using double spacing. And actually, that's not really the entire thing, only small 16 encapsulated sections. I could have made it even LONGER, there are 76 official corners and 164 unofficial one as no one is quite sure what a corner is on the RING.
And if you want to have a feel of what the track felt like, jump up and down as fast as you can and you get an idea. This is LITERALLY like a roller coaster. I swear at least 20% of the turns I couldn't see the crest at all since I was staring STRAIGHT at tarmac. To me it felt like the song Stairway to Heaven, except this one might end with a crash. Truly an unbelievable racetrack.
That's right 20.832KM long just 13 miles long.
Call it coincidence that it just happens to be 13 miles long.
Prologue: I went out and did another 3 laps than it got too crowded and I decided to leave. I will be back, probably sometime this coming week to make it an even 10 laps.
(This was done in an 04 M3.)
Last edited by parisifal; 09-29-04 at 05:00 PM.
Trending Topics
10-04-04 | 12:20 AM
#8
very nice... what traction control do you have? Is this on a FD? Very fun lap story too. Thank you. A in car camera would be great next time if possible. I am sure that would make everyones day
10-04-04 | 02:54 PM
#9
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
iTrader: (1)
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 3,106
Likes: 0
From: London, Ontario, Canada
Thanks for sharing. I knew Nürburgring was a beast to drive, but judging from your story I don't think I had any kind of appreciation for just how difficult it truely is.
BigIslandSevens: Note at the end he says it was in an M3.
BigIslandSevens: Note at the end he says it was in an M3.
10-04-04 | 06:30 PM
#10
2/4 wheel cornering fiend
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 3,090
Likes: 3
From: Pasadena, CA
Must have been fun.
Now put on a full leather racing suit, and then do a lap of the 37.73-mile Snaefell Mountain Course at the Isle of Man on a motorcycle at speed. Actually, do four laps as required when racing in the Junior or Lightweight TT. Then tell me if you're "completely spent".
Now put on a full leather racing suit, and then do a lap of the 37.73-mile Snaefell Mountain Course at the Isle of Man on a motorcycle at speed. Actually, do four laps as required when racing in the Junior or Lightweight TT. Then tell me if you're "completely spent".
10-04-04 | 07:59 PM
#11
Originally Posted by Snrub
BigIslandSevens: Note at the end he says it was in an M3.
D'Oh!! After all that excitment i guess i just skipped it. Kinda like a legal disclaimer in small print.
Thanks for pointing it out though.
10-05-04 | 03:33 PM
#13
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 46
Likes: 0
From: Germany
Originally Posted by Kento
Must have been fun.
Now put on a full leather racing suit, and then do a lap of the 37.73-mile Snaefell Mountain Course at the Isle of Man on a motorcycle at speed. Actually, do four laps as required when racing in the Junior or Lightweight TT. Then tell me if you're "completely spent".
Now put on a full leather racing suit, and then do a lap of the 37.73-mile Snaefell Mountain Course at the Isle of Man on a motorcycle at speed. Actually, do four laps as required when racing in the Junior or Lightweight TT. Then tell me if you're "completely spent".
Last month i was at Hockenheim and the first lap (they seperated cars and motorcycle outing) for the bikes, 3 of them went down, 2 of the riders had to be airlifted and than it continued. When I was at Silverstone i saw 2 bikes wiped out right before my eyes; that wasn't too comforting because I was going out with the next group, albeit in a car.
And the Ring was full of MOTOPSYCLIST; I saw everying from old Honda 650's to R1 hauling *** to a big *** Honda Gullwing cruising. But the craziest was an R6 that went on the pavement at Carousel with me, I was in a banked curve he was on flat ground and I barely pulled past him, I could have sworn his knees was scraping the tarmac the entire way.
BOW DOWN!
10-05-04 | 03:42 PM
#14
Rotary Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 795
Likes: 0
From: Baltimore
Originally Posted by Kento
Must have been fun.
Now put on a full leather racing suit, and then do a lap of the 37.73-mile Snaefell Mountain Course at the Isle of Man on a motorcycle at speed. Actually, do four laps as required when racing in the Junior or Lightweight TT. Then tell me if you're "completely spent".
Now put on a full leather racing suit, and then do a lap of the 37.73-mile Snaefell Mountain Course at the Isle of Man on a motorcycle at speed. Actually, do four laps as required when racing in the Junior or Lightweight TT. Then tell me if you're "completely spent".
10-05-04 | 04:50 PM
#15
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
From: Germany
we were 2 weeks ago at the ring.
this was the second time in my life there. allthough i raced for 10 years, the nordschleife has nothing to do with traditional courses. it's really more than roller coaster, that's the perfect term.
there was the toyo tuning day 2 weeks ago, and we drove the **** out of a poor civic type R (meaning always between 6k and rev limiter, plus we killed M3s and a porsche GT3 - ok the drivers were unexperienced )
maybe the video will be released in a few days on
www.asia-unlimited.com
some impressions: http://www.asia-unlimited.com/index....nts?id3=seite1
back to the topic: i never understood why the nordschleife was hyped so much. but since i was there for the first time, i really know why.
a lotus guy from the UK fucked up pretty bad though
the car got UNDER the metal, only the rear got stuck under the metall. the guy was very lucky, since he was sitting beside his car and had a few scratches
this was the second time in my life there. allthough i raced for 10 years, the nordschleife has nothing to do with traditional courses. it's really more than roller coaster, that's the perfect term.
there was the toyo tuning day 2 weeks ago, and we drove the **** out of a poor civic type R (meaning always between 6k and rev limiter, plus we killed M3s and a porsche GT3 - ok the drivers were unexperienced
)maybe the video will be released in a few days on
www.asia-unlimited.com
some impressions: http://www.asia-unlimited.com/index....nts?id3=seite1
back to the topic: i never understood why the nordschleife was hyped so much. but since i was there for the first time, i really know why.
a lotus guy from the UK fucked up pretty bad though
the car got UNDER the metal, only the rear got stuck under the metall. the guy was very lucky, since he was sitting beside his car and had a few scratches
10-05-04 | 05:39 PM
#16
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 46
Likes: 0
From: Germany
OMG, I was there on that exact same day, did you guys roll in around noon? I left the Ring at noon because there was too many new drivers from the Toyo tuning turning up and f'in up the driving.
Or were you the guy with the turboed Type R??? In any case you probably saw a short asian guy with glasses in a grey M3 and that would have been me.
Was the incident early in the day as I remmeber a group of about 12 Lotus leaving the Ring after there was an incident.
Well no VIDS of the ring, I will go again this coming monday and will try to sneak in a video camera. But to tide everyone over here's a video of me driving on Hockenheim. The chase car is being driven by a fellow M3 owner name Leo. You can see my car (a Grey M3) at the start of the video one car in front of him (a black SLK was between us) and about a minute in he got right behind me.
http://www.leo.nutz.de/videos/bmw/Ho...02.09.2004.wmv
Or were you the guy with the turboed Type R??? In any case you probably saw a short asian guy with glasses in a grey M3 and that would have been me.
Was the incident early in the day as I remmeber a group of about 12 Lotus leaving the Ring after there was an incident.
Well no VIDS of the ring, I will go again this coming monday and will try to sneak in a video camera. But to tide everyone over here's a video of me driving on Hockenheim. The chase car is being driven by a fellow M3 owner name Leo. You can see my car (a Grey M3) at the start of the video one car in front of him (a black SLK was between us) and about a minute in he got right behind me.
http://www.leo.nutz.de/videos/bmw/Ho...02.09.2004.wmv
10-05-04 | 06:00 PM
#17
2/4 wheel cornering fiend
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 3,090
Likes: 3
From: Pasadena, CA
Originally Posted by SkEltAh
IMHO the races on the Isle of Man are the single most exciting races to watch.. There something pretty amazing about watching them drive all out on public roads...
Originally Posted by parisifal
I could have sworn his knees was scraping the tarmac the entire way.
Sorry, don't mean to hijack this thread. I've never ridden or driven the Nordschleife, but several friends that have told me it was a blast.
10-06-04 | 04:52 AM
#18
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
From: Germany
Originally Posted by parisifal
OMG, I was there on that exact same day, did you guys roll in around noon? I left the Ring at noon because there was too many new drivers from the Toyo tuning turning up and f'in up the driving.
Or were you the guy with the turboed Type R??? In any case you probably saw a short asian guy with glasses in a grey M3 and that would have been me.
Was the incident early in the day as I remmeber a group of about 12 Lotus leaving the Ring after there was an incident.
Or were you the guy with the turboed Type R??? In any case you probably saw a short asian guy with glasses in a grey M3 and that would have been me.
Was the incident early in the day as I remmeber a group of about 12 Lotus leaving the Ring after there was an incident.
no we had a normal 02 Type R with exhaust and some minor other stuff.
i think we rolled in at around 2 p.m.
well the lotus thing was around 3 p.m. i think. i'm relly not sure, but it was when we were sitting around and waiting for the drift-show - which was senseless btw. because the "drift-show" was a bunch of visitors that toyed around with their cars.
10-24-04 | 05:49 PM
#20
Rotary Freak
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,890
Likes: 4
From: Belgium
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