Story by Peter Brock • Photograph by J.G. Pasterjak
My wife, Gayle, and I recently had the opportunity to revisit the Nürburgring, the famous and historic track in the small town of Nürburg, Germany. This is the place that gave rise to such amazing images as Dan Gurney getting …
The Ring is one of those fantasy land bucket list excursions in my mind.
Although I have not been to most of the great or small notable tracks in north america, I have been to the Nürburgring / Nordschlife/Grüne Hölle.
It was an awesome experience, got to drive 2 laps on it in my rented Nissan Qashqai. We were on our honeymoon and I would like to go back someday for an event of some sort.
Covid19 makes me lust for exceptional car dreaming trips like that again!
Greg
Yes, yes - I was fortunate to be able to attend the "Old-Timers" weekend in 2012 & 2013. There was an open paddock so pictures were so available, and not huge crowds, so track action shots weren't difficult either. Probably my best race attendances ever - (includes Spa and Monza F1).
Walking in from parking we spotted a pristine '54 Vette in the lot. living in Europe was a dream
Kevin
probably 20 years or more VW had an event with the most one make car driving at the same time ....
of course it was the Golf and one of the most boring events I ever went too.....
at least the other time when the vintage VW club got permission and all of us got to lap it in out street VW , I had my VW camper then,.....
its far enough away from any big cities that they will not be building housing tracks nearby like Laguna Seca.
Peter,
I would love to tour the track, let's make a date and you can drive... let's try one of our Daytona Coupes....
Larry
As a 23-year-old, I attended the Scuderia Hanseat driving school there for four days in Sep 61. We got to use both the Nordschleife and Sudschleife courses. 61 years later, my best-in-class trophy still holds a place of honor over my desk.
In the name of safety, the track has been much-modified (some would say "emasculated") since then, but it's still a great challenge. It's just less lethal than it once was.
In the past 76 years, I've attended races at over 100 tracks worldwide; the 'Ring is still tops in my book!
Somehow, I still haev not been there, despite many trips to Germany.
As beeing fairly local (German), I've driven the 'Ring several times. Done it early on "Tourist days" and "test-days", done the Scuderia Hanseat thing twice, and in consequence raced there with some success (trophies to prove).
And having raced on several other classic European circuits (Hockenheim, Spa, Zolder, Assen, Most (CZ) Silverstone, Brands Hatch et al) in my FIA Historic saloon Morris Cooper S, the 'Ring scores high above all these other venues, with Spa a distant second IMHO.
No other circuit will give you the succession of rhythmic swings at the Hatzenbach, the sensation of near-bottoming at the depression of the Foxhole, to be succeeded by mostly two-wheeling the exit at the entry to the Adenauer Forst, the incredibly quick and tempting downhill portion of Kallenhard-Wehrseifen-Breitscheid, separating the Men from the Boys, the determination-testing going into the and exiting from the Karussell, the breathtaking Hohe Acht-Wippermann-Brünnchen downhill stretch - to be greeted by an incredibly fanatic spectator horde there on race days, and then getting airborne at the Pflanzgarten ! Not to mention numerous other character-building parts of this circuit..... No, nothing really coming close to the satisfactory feeling to have mastered those challenging 27 kms/15 mls., once - and in succession.
Delivering and surviving this on race-weekends makes you feel MUCH tougher than during the Monday-to-Friday grind, no matter what job or position.....weekend warriors morphing into heroes !
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