So I did a lap at the Nurburgring

I rented a Renault Clio RS from rentracecar.de. A co-worker and I split a 12 lap package. I believe it was 850 euro for that? I was able to get a 9:06 BtG as my best time :) I used race chrono on my droid as a lap timer, it worked out awesome.

That's all the car you'd need for the first couple goes at the ring.. You'll be so focussed on the track that the car will not be a limitation, I promise you that.

In reply to WonkoTheSane:

I took a look and sadly none of the race rentals are available until March/April. At least I'll have a good excuse for my slow times . Love the Renault Clio's btw.

In reply to Hungary Bill:

I have noticed the Germans are quite tough on the speedlimit anywhere that is not unlimited... Challenge taken though.

So psyched about hitting the ring tomorrow. Secured a trusty steed for the trip. 2014 VW CC 6sp Turbo Diesel Cheater Mobile... <img src="" />

Man, I'm jealous! I'd tell ya to have fun, but I don't think we have to worry much about that

Give em hell!

OK - so you may have noticed there wasn't a triumphant post about my Nurburgring laps in February. I got to the track and it was closed for maintenance - could have been a failure in planning on my side but we'll blame the race track.

Don't despair as I am currently sitting in a hotel room in Frankfurt just back from the track. The third time was the charm apparently.

So a new steed - the trusty office Audi A6 3.0 TDI with a 6 spd was the chosen one for today's festivities. Sadly still wearing the high performance winter tires required here which limited our fun to 250kph. The 1.25hr drive at via the unlimited sections of the autobahn gave us a chance to get to know one another The conditions were less than ideal with it being 25 degrees and varying from sunshine, to rain, to sleet, to snow, and then back to ice pellets. Not exactly confidence inspiring given that I intended to roll the dice on a vehicle not quite intended for the trip.

Once at the ring I found a vintage bike event going on at the F1 short course. All manner of strange beasts from Vespa race scooters to goozi aero sidecar machines were in attendance. Have some videos of the obnoxiously loud and barely idling race beasts that I'll get up later if folks are interested.

So did I mention it's cold? I wore my Lotus Kimi Raikonen T-shirt - which should have identified me as one of those Americans in the know. Yeah not so much. It's frickin 23 degrees and I didn't bring anything more than sport coats in the interest of traveling light...

So I finally made it over to the Nordschleife and had to have a moment.

All manner of insanity was there and everyone was rolling around changing tire pressures and chatting like it was the local Autox pits. Took a while to get my head around going out and not wrecking the car.... And then I walked my nervous frozen self up to the dicket booth and plopped down my 29Euros for a lap. You get a cute hotel key thinking (that I will potentially frame).

And then it was time to go out. Oh my god it's so amazing. I was getting my doors blown off by many fast track toys but everyone was cool and I just got out of there way while they found a safe pass. The track has ridiculous elevation change, banks, straights, sweepers, and opportunities for death and dismemberment. Did I mention it was still deciding if it wanted to rain, sleet, snow, or ice on me the whole lap? I'm guessing I was actually lucky to be on the Michi winters given the conditions. Fun times my friends Anyone need an S8 swapped VW Van that moves at lightning pace?

Amazing!!

Congrats Dave!

Looks like it was well worth the wait

Nice!!!

That lucky strike Suzuki: A friend of mine brought a bike that looks exactly like that back here from Hungary. IIRC it's a 250cc 2cyl 2stroke and make a noise all of its own. He never let me ride it though