The big day arrived, and we got ourselves down to Ashford for the Eurostar. The four of us all had a nervous sort of anticipation as to what lay ahead. None of us have been there before, and i have not even done track days or the like for years.
The crossing went well, with the train acting as a mobile garage for the last minute checks (remember the engine only went in two days before
)
We then had a fun if rather noisy run down through France, Belgium and the Germany. The car ran well, handling quite smoothly, and the engine seemd ok so far. We arrived at the Nurburgring about 3pm, and landed straight in the waiting car park.
I never expected the atmosphere to be so friendly, nor the noise to fill the air the way it did. There's cars and bikes testing, running, and in the distance, racing and sliding.
We were blessed with good weather, and the people we met over there were on the whole, very friendly.
The car park was littered with everything from Ferrari's and Porsche's to , erm, our 20 year old un tested BMW!
A sample of what was there were-
And having planned to do the first run on Saturday,but having been bitten by the 'Ring bug already, the first laps were done on Friday before we'd even found the hotel.
The first lap i did was something i'll never forget. Those of you who've done it might recall the aniticpation building as you approach the barrier for the first time, then gently build your pace up as you approach the first brow, and then the road drops away ahead of you and you see the first bends, as soon as I saw it for myself i knew i was going to have a fantastic time.
And luckily the car even came back in one piece!
The specs of the car worked well, the spax PSX kit worked well, not being too upset by the lumps and bumps of the 'Ring, but allowing the tyres to work really well. The brakes worked well, after some concerns were expressed about the Green stuffs being up to it. We were able to read the track fairly well, and after a few laps, the brakes were nt getting nearly as much use once we started to improve the lines between bends.
After a few laps we finished for the night, and retired to the hotel (Am-Tiergarten if you are interested), and we were really impressed with the location, staff and food at this great place. We were lucky and got an upgrade to "Sabine's House", which is a house consisting of 6 apartments, and a triple garage.
So after a busy first day, we put the old girl to bed for the night (The car, not Sabine)
After a great Pizza and a few beers, we started Saturday a little bleary, more through tiredness than drink.
The car had a good nights kip, but mis-behaved coughing and farting (as opposed to the boys, who snored and farted ALL night)
The atmosphere was a little different on Saturday, there were not only more people, but a slightly edgier feel. On track, we all were suffering a little at the hands of people pushing us of line, and cutting us up. My only observation would be, it's better to back off and let them get on with it, than get over involved and crash. There were several crashes that day, with bikes cars and a combination coming together.
This particular Evo was mullered
These however survived!
We did nt bother with a Ring Taxi, as they did nt seem to be going that quick, looked cool though
And there still seemed an endless line of cars to drool over queing to get on (and over take me
)...
In all the videos I've watched, and features i've read, i was nt prepared for the cambers, inclines,declines and run-offs (or lack of)
After the car seemed to be devloping a mis fire, Nigel discovered a vacuum hose had split with a two inch hole in it. After half an hour, he'd fixed it, and it ran faultlessly. The owner of the M5 Touring (above) came over a gently laughed at the hose, as if to say, "been there, had that"
The laps continued, and we all went through a process of improving lines and corners, but the guys did a great job of getting to grips with the car and the track, and put together some respectable laps considering the lack of power it's got.
I struggled a bit on Saturday, trying a bit too hard, and getting lines messed up. It did nt help having car after car pushing through.
The following day though, things settled, and got a better lap in the bag, and was very happy to call it my last on this trip.
I say this trip, because we'll be back next year, with a better car, and possibly others to go with it!
Thanks to all those that took the time to chat to the new boys, there was nt the snobbery you get at some events.
)
i took it slower after that!!!!! i can't say the massive runoff inspires confidence when the steering wants to lock at half what you need to make it round!!!!!
