Nurbergring

first... I am not a 1000% experienced track driver, had 6 events so far, and enjoy what I regard a learning curve.. ;-) the traffic is quite bad, as it is motorbikes and cars mixed. And at least for me there is cars/drivers that know the track much better than I do so far, that are driving better/quicker/more risk and the opposite less experienced, less power, less guts... I met MB Sprinter Busses, you can basically take a fiat 500 with a Caravan, a fullsize Bus etc. and go on Occasionally there is a towing car !! (->A after a crash) Also very important to read the rules !!! you should pass and let pass only left lane !! opposed to what you learned on trackdays (to clear the ideal line for the quicker car) as the Nordschleife is a toll road (20Euro a turn 10,12,less and year tickets available) under normal german road regulations !!! unlimited topspeed only as it's a "multi lane road" no markings of course... see www.nuerburgring.de (opening times and probably rules etc. as well) It is good to be there early and good if it's NOT the weekend (I've heard) sunday track opened 9.30 rather than 8.00 as the wet/ice conditions were too bad before. Still wet spots and no guarantuee for dry iceless roads implied of course ! The good thing was, I had my friend, plus Quicktime films from the net and we spent the evening before looking at those, and he explained every single bend, curve, gets narrower, gets wider, changes road condition, slippery when wet, where to break how, how to take bends, how a number of bends can be driven like one big bend etc etc to me. First I had a lap in his car with a firsttime 3D experience, then he played leader for a number of med speed laps... after that I tried to remember... It's 22km long loads and loads of silly names and things to remember, my friend says it took him approx 50-70 turns to get a perfect "line" for himself Then again doing quick laps following my friend was great as I know he's an excellent driver and conaisseur of the track and so I could follow "blind".... with breakes and 2 interruptions cause of accidents I was able to get a 12 lap ticket through by 14.30 ... I figured that to be enough and enjoyed two more laps with my friend and went home after that (long ride to Munich ... 4-5 hours) Other than that great fun, passing Nicki Lauda's "toast spot" and seeing all the famous curves from old b&w fotos trees, concrete and steelfences are fucking close all around the track, luckily (or due to my brilliant driving and my relaxed attitude) I didn't spin or drive off... but I was overtaken by a 160hp Mini, Golfs, Corsas, BMWs... a shame really ;-) I'll attempt to fix that soon :) Jo PS give me a mail if you go there, maybe I can join for the day ! ok ? - Jo - Joachim Grueninger [jo_list@magicon.de] - 12th March, 2002