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SCOTTISH ELISES AT NURBURGRING
Nurburgring Safety Leaflet
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Author: Ross taylor
I'm pretty slack at writing these reports (as Cameron will
testify RE: the TSE page... ;o), but thought I'd knock something together while
it's still fresh in my mind, and I've no inclination to do any work at this late
stage in the day... ;o))
Thursday
--------
Rumour had it, that the track was going to be open all day Saturday, so
suggestion was made that we get our act together, and head out a day early to
take advantage of this.......unfortunately this severely limited the time
available to attempt to remedy the numerous niggles which seem to afflict 'ringward
bound Elises, and ambitious plans to remove the front clam and change the
radiator had to be shelved...
It was already late by the time we packed the necessary, and four hours sleep
seemed even less...
Friday
------
4am start saw us make good time on the road down to Scotch Corner, and we were
supping coffees comfortably before 7...
Unfortunately the M1 wasn't about to let things flow so smoothly, and it wasn't
long before the traffic slowed to a standstill for reasons still unknown...
Despite this, and another crawl toward the Dartford crossing on the M25, we
reached the Chunnel around 2pm, where Robin charmed the ticket clerk into
letting us on the next train, despite being a day early... ;o)
(She admired the Elise, but preferred the new Beetle Cabrio behind us...!!)
A reasonable speed blat was had through France, slowing only for Belgium and its
somewhat draconian traffic cops... Obi Wan and the others had already arrived in
Nurburg, and kindly collected our room keys from Frau Daniels, as it was likely
we'd be rather late...
Having dispatched Belgium (thank goodness!), Germany was next, but we became
aware of a tell-tale wheel bearing rumble from the car, and a worrying tendency
to wander at speed...At first we'd put this down to the Maxspurts, but it was
now apparent that something was amiss...
Finally arrived at Nurburg, and Sabine's old bar (now 'Maggies Boxenstop' and
rather different...!!!) around 9pm, more than a little frazzled after 17 hours /
770 miles of travelling...
Looking at the car could wait till Saturday...For now, we needed beer, and lots
of it...
Saturday
--------
Early-ish start, and a chance to check out the handling problems - We set up
camp in some waste ground opposite the hotel, and utilised the mobile Hoy
Motorsport workshop facility to diagnose a shot front right wheel bearing, a
knackered lower front ball joint...
(Not good when you're about the attempt driving down the Foxhole at
130mph+...!!)
Bob van M was travelling down from Holland to meet us at lunchtime, and had
managed to procure a handful of suitable bearings / balljoints from one of his
contacts...(Impressive on a Saturday morning! :o)
In the meantime, the hub was stripped from the car, and disassembled so that
Ring Racing would be able to press the new part in...
No time for standing around though, as Obi wans car had blown it's silencer, so
a repair was made using loft insulation, a kitchen pot and some tigerseal...Very
much in the spirit of S_E... :o)
Bob arrived, and work recommenced in earnest - It had become apparent that the
'ring was *not* open during the day as originally anticipated, but the 6 ->
7.30pm evening session was still happening, and this was now our target...
The FBF/Obi/Bob van combo worked great guns, and the car was more or less ready
around 5pm....
Whereupon we discovered that in a change to the advertised schedule, the track
wouldn't be opening...Bummer! :o(
Still, this left some time to drop the undertray of Frazer's 135R, and check the
toe links - Which happened to be loose... =8-O
Ended the day was a drive down to Brunchen to watch the end of the race which
had caused the public session to be cancelled...(Bob and I had caught a glimpse
earlier...Amazing to see the Vipers / M3 GTR's blitzing the main straight at
180mph, 20 ft away from where you
stood...)
Such was our luck, that by the time we'd got there the ting had just
finished...(!!!)
More worrying, was the fact that Robin's car seemed very edgy (I'd driven it
round to the spectator point), and the steering made no attempt at self
centering... Hmmm
Still - Pistenklause for dinner, and numerous Weiss beers...Geo stuff could wait
till Sunday...
Sunday
------
Crawled from bed with a mild hangover and severe sunburn...Doh!
After brekkie, it was decided that the cars toe settings had been affected, so
some ad hoc adjustments were made which seemed to improve things...
We headed down to the track for the 11:15am opening, and were amazed by the
amount of cars in the carpark - It was almost as busy as it was last Easter, so
I just headed straight out on track with Frazer, to show him round and do a
couple of sighting laps...
Track wasn't too busy, but the S1 was taking a bit of getting used to - Felt
quite edgy in the fast stuff, and I wasn't keen to be winding on lots of lock at
120mph... ;o)
Another problem soon became apparent - The car didn't want to rev at all, and
was really struggling up Kesselchen...The origin was unknown, but it was decided
to let the car cool down before trying again...
After a few hours I took it out, and the problem had vanished - No problems
whatsoever, pulling to the red line with ease...
It was now felt that the roots lay in the fact that the car was slightly over
filled with oil, and windage was causing problems...The track wasn't open till
1pm the next day, which gave us a chance to acquire some oil, and attempt a car
park oil change...
Dinner at Pistenklause once again; it was Sabine's mum's 60th, so they had a
'karaoke come oompah band' giving it large, with a somewhat inebriated Sabine
leading the pack... ;o)
We were all completely knackered, so off to bed early after saying our
good-bye's to Bob, who had to leave due to w*rk the next day...
Monday
------
Dull start to the day, with ominous clouds overhead...Oil acquired, the gang set
about dropping the undertray and changing out the old stuff...Unfortunately a
huge cloud burst spoiled the show, and drenched poor Robin, whilst we all hid
under the Hoy Motorsport gazebo... ;o)
Job done, we ventured down to the track for a cautious afternoon session...
The track was very quiet, and little passed me all day - The engine seemed to be
back to rude health, but the conditions were too slippery to be a
hooligan...It's one thing sliding round KH on Maxpurts in the wet, but quite
another at the 'ring when armco is but feet away and the speeds are much
higher...
After a few exploratory laps, I blagged a spin with Obi wan / Frazer and Martin
(a 'ringer) in his extremely rapid Caterham Blackbird...190+bhp / 460 kgs...
:o)))
As the day wore on, and the rain grew increasingly intermittent, we decided to
go while the going was good, and head for the Chunnel that evening, rather than
leave at 4am the next day...
A blat through Belgium and France had us at Robin's in-laws in Croydon just
after 1am...
Tuesday
-------
Mid-morning start from London, had us back in Edinburgh around 7pm...Pretty
tiring, but painless in the end, and avoiding an overnighter on the ferry, aka
the Geordie express...
So in all, quite a few mechanical maladies...But no real show stoppers...
Unfortunately the suspension problems sapped confidence in the car's ability to
handle the very high speed corners the 'ring throws up...Which was a shame, as
the potential is most definitely there...
I guess, if anything, a return visit will be due to test this theory... ;o)
Cheers,
Ross.
Author: Kelvin Hughes
These Ring trips sure come around fast
(-: I had my new SO2's fitted Friday am just before I left for the ferry. I
quickly checked the tyre pressures and was impressed that Coopers had remembered
that one set of tyres should be inflated to 1.9 bar but not the fronts (-: In
typical Scottish_Elises style Peter and I arrived at the ferry within 10 mins of
each other, it only ever seems to go wrong when we actually try and plan
anything. Ahead of us in the Q was a Lambourghini Espada looking very 70's in
red with white leather. The bonnet was almost as long as the Elise. The journey
over was fairly uneventful although this time we had booked a cabin rather than
going steerage class. We also watched The Parole Officer at the Ships cinema,
funny in places but not great. As I had hoped the A22, A9 and early part of the
A2 through Holland were very quiet and we covered this part of the journey in
half the time we normally do. However, my temp reading was very erratic and
eventually settled around the mid 60's. I had a fiddle with the cables for the
temp sender and this seemed to do the trick as my temp reading was back to its
usual 87C for most of the rest of the trip.
As a result of the good run down, we arrived at the Finkenburg early afternoon.
The Finkenburg is a big hotel set off the main road hidden by trees. It's not so
up market as the Sonnenhof but clean and the people are friendly. The food
wasn't the same standard as the Sonnenhof either but perfectly edible and loads
of it. It had plenty of car parking right at the front of the hotel and
due to the location should be nice and safe from the Romanian car thieves that
seem to be doing the rounds near the Ring. I noticed that they did have some
garages at the rear (3 I think) but I didn't think to ask if they could be
booked. It's also very cheap, costing 86 quid each for 3 nights b&b, 2
nights dinner and drinks. The Finkenburg is about 40Km's North of the Ring
on the 258. At first I thought the distance would be a PIA but it turned out the
perfect way to warm the cars up before hammering around the Ring and the journey
home helped us unwind.
On the way up to the Ring we passed Keith, again Scottish_Elises perfect
planning (-: There was an endurance race on at the Ring so we decided to find a
good vantage point and watch the race until it the Ring opened to the public. We
stood at the bottom of Pflanzgarten II and got a great view of the cars coming
down the drop then along the bumpy straight until they disappeared heading
towards Schwalbenschwanz (sp). We also walked up the hill a bit to watch them
coming down PFZ I. Quite a mix of cars from the
usual Porsche's and Beemers to Caterhams, a Sport 160 Elise (quite slow, we
reckoned we were quicker through PFZ I and II (-:) various Golfs and a Viper
that was grounding out in a shower of sparks coming down PFZ II. We paid
particular attention to the line they took between PFZ I and II with a view to
copying this when it was our go. By this time it was getting close to 5pm so we
headed off to the Ring car park. The public opening time came and went and the
race was still going. After a while we found out that the race had started late
and being a 6 hour endurance would continue until it finished.
As a result the Ring wouldn't be opening to the public! We were of course pissed
right off but consoled ourselves with the fact that the weather looked likely to
hold through Sunday at least. We hung around for a while before heading off back
to the hotel where we met up with Hazel, Jamie and Bob. Hazel was having car
trouble (battery not charging possible knackered alternator) which ended her
Ring trip early unfortunately. Malcolm and his wife turned up shortly after we
arrived and we all went to dinner. Later in
the evening Hazel produced a bottle of Laphroaig and even I had a wee dram and I
actually quite liked it. BTW My uncle told me that Laphroaig means something
like the beautiful hollow by the wide bay.
The previous evening we agreed to get up at the crack of dawn to make the Ring
for 8am and get in some early clear laps. There was the usual Eifel mountain
early morning mist but it felt as if it was going to be a great day weather
wise. As we climbed up towards the Ring the mist started to clear and we
had a fantastic view of the early morning Sun burning off the mist. It's times
like this that I regret not bringing all my 35mm camera gear. We arrived in the
car park just after 8 and immediately went and bought some lap tickets. I had a
quick look around to see what was about then headed out for my first lap. There
was still a bit of mist hanging around and the track was a bit damp in places
and a wee bit slippy but nothing too dramatic.
Every day for a week or so leading up to the trip I watched Robins video lap and
my video lap. If you watch them back to back you can see that Robin more often
than not is using a lot more of the track than me and is nailing all the turn,
apex and exit points. My main aim for this trip was to get the line consistently
right with fewer corrections when in the corners etc. I actually surprised
myself on my first couple of laps as I more or less achieved my goal. So much so
that by the third lap I was over 5 secs faster than my previous fastest lap (I
didn't know this until I got home right
enough) I also wanted to work on my choice of gear. I am quite guilty of
changing down to 3rd when I should be in 4th particularly going from Metzgesfeld
to Ex Mhule. Watching the videos back made me realise that I am constantly
changing up and down and all because I was going into third at Metzgesfeld which
is a 4th gear corner and then can't quite decide which gear to be in. I figured
out on Monday that this was down to my poor line into Metzgesfeld which was
unsettling the car, putting me off for the fast
dowhill section through Kallenhard etc. By the afternoon Peter and I were
getting a little ragged in places as we were trying to go faster without
thinking about what we were doing well and what we needed to work on. However,
we both kept it together and at the end of Sunday we had completed 30 odd laps
between us and our times were down around the 9min 14-20sec mark. Keith had to
shoot off home part way through Sunday so was doing back to back laps and having
a ball. Hazel, Bob and Jamie had to shoot off as
well to catch the AA tow truck that had been organised to pick up Hazel's car.
We also met Marcel from Belgium who is on the Ringers list. He went out with
Peter and Malcolm as I had stupidly forgotten to re-attach my passenger
seatbelt. I meant to do it that morning at the hotel. By the time I got hold of
some spanners and bolted it all back together again Marcel had disappeared. I
got an e-mail later from him explaining that something had cropped up at home
and he had to shoot off.
On Monday we said our goodbyes to Malcolm and Tracy. The Ring didn't open until
12:15pm so we decided to go up to the Grand Prix circuit for a look around and
visit the Faszination Nurburgring leisure park. We watched a Clio 3.0 V6 being
put through its paces on the Grand Prix track for while then went into the
museum. Well worth a visit and quite cheap. The three highlights were, watching
Peter in the barf machine (G force simulator - like a washing machine drum
mounted on its end and spun round until either
you barf or it stops) He came off looking very green and struggled to recover
for the rest of the day. The Bilstein suspension simulation (or sex chair) This
consisted of a chair with 2 controls, one allowed you to vary the suspension
from comfort to sport and the other simulated different kinds of road surface.
Basically you bounced up and down at various speeds. Peter is thinking of going
back for his honeymoon. We also had a go in the kids slide that went from Hall 3
to the cafe area. It was well after 12pm so it
was time to head up to the Ring car park for some more fun. Our first few laps
were a little ragged so we had a breather and decided that we should go out
together and do some slow laps talking our way round and correcting each other.
This proved very worthwhile and we alternated between slowish laps and quick
laps through the afternoon. Late in the afternoon we got chatting to a bloke
that turned up in BMW 530i (tiptronic). His name was WillieMoore ( go here
to see a picture of him
http://www.sport24.be/belcar/nl/pil_teams/overzicht.html
). He races an M3 and had been racing that weekend. He does the 24 hour
endurance race at the Ring and once a year instructs at it. Anyway, we blagged a
lap with him in the big Beemer. Bloody hell it was fantastic. He talked us
through every corner and gave us some general advice on how to go quickly
safely. We talked about the dangers of the Ring a bit and he had a view that
bikes shouldn't be allowed on it. He told us of an race accident last year where
a
Porsche GT driver was killed just after the bridge on the start finish straight
(max speed) He hit a Renault Megane as he tried to pass it and ploughed into the
armco. The force of the impact ripped the engine out of the car and sent it
through the fence on the other side landing in the grass (I guess beside the
main road). We both learned loads and set our fastest laps after this passenger
lap. We both recorded much higher max speeds at various points on the circuit
e.g. 124 along the straight leading into
Schwendenkreuz thus arriving at Aremburg faster which allowed us to carry more
speed down Fuchsrohre where we hit 125mph again , previously we were doing about
120mph. We both agreed that 124mph down Fuchsrohre was as fast as we wanted to
go in the Elise as it gets very very light as you come out of the bottom and
back up the hill, I could feel my heart beat faster at this point but what a
rush. I am still struggling with Bergwerk mainly braking too early and turning
in too early. However, I am taking Angst Kurve a lot quicker although still
lifting off. I can't imagine taking it flat out, even Willie lifted off. We've
renamed the section from Bergwerk to Angst Kurve More Power Straight (-:
My last three laps were 9.10, 9.10 and 9.09 and Peters were all under 9 minutes
with a best of 8.54. As usual, I could feel myself physically relax as I went
under the gantry for the last time. When Peter came back in off his last lap I
could hear that there was something seriously amiss with his exhaust. Turns out
it has failed at the same place Robin's did. We met up a bunch of C130 military
pilots from
Puerto Rica. I can't remember their names but something like Georgie, Carlos,
Juan etc. What a laugh they were, they hired an Astra and were caning this
around the Ring. Peter and I gave them all passenger laps and they had a great
time. At one point I caught up with them going into Eiskurve and they
understeered right off the track onto the grass laughing the whole time. One of
them had a 700bhp Supra back home and he was thinking
about fitting a Nox kit! We swapped e-mail addresses and gave them the
Scottish_Elises group site. Georgie especially liked the Elise and had never sat
in one before. I also took round an old British bloke who was at a Triumph Stag
German get together funnily enough at the Sonnenhof (which partly explains why
we couldn't get in)
All too soon it was over and time to head off for a rest and some food. We
decided to go to the Fuchsrohre bar in Nurburg run by the now famous Sabine
Schmidt (recently divorced we discovered but courting heavily) Peter took some
secret photographs of both Sabine and her barmaid because he was too chicken to
go and ask. All I can say is that Sabine has a great job. She runs a bar
dedicated to motorsport which less than a mile from the Ring car park, she
wouldn't even have to start up her car to get there as it's all downhill. Then
of course she spends all day driving an M5 at warp factor 9. Suitably refreshed
and all letched out we headed back to the Finkenburg. I figured that Peter's
throaty exhaust note would sound great going through the short tunnel that takes
you under the Ring onto the 258 so we headed off with the video running, it
sounds fantastic.
On the journey home we stopped off at Euskirchen (sp?) to get some presentsfor
the folks back home. The rest of the journey was fine and Peter's exhaust held
out. We met another Elise owner at the ferry terminal. Spookily enough in a
green and fawn leather combo just like Peters. This car had been an accident
write off that the owner fixed himself (he runs a garage that specialises in
Citreon and Peugeot) Can't recall the guy's name but he races 2CV's at Knockhill
and abroad (Spa, Zaandvoort as well as other UK circuits)It cost us 20 quid to
upgrade from steerage to a cabin and well worth it.
I'm getting better with the whole Mal de Mer thing as this was the roughest
crossing yet and I forgot to take my anti vom tablets but felt fine. Peter liked
the ships cabaret group so much (The Pink Panther Band from Puerto Rica or some
such place) that he booked them for his wedding next year.
No sooner had I set off down the M74 to the Ring than I was heading back up the
M74 and home. My car hardly missed a beat despite the errant temp reading and
something rattling under braking when turning left (it either fixed itself or
whatever was rattling fell off as it stopped soon after it started) However,
there was a pool of oil under it on the driveway after I parked up when I got
home that I need to investigate. All in all I had a great time, learned loads
about the Ring, what works and what doesn't. Peter and I really helped each
other to stay the right side of the armco too as it was getting a little hairy
at times.
My next visit will be in May around the same time we went this year with a
follow on in September. I've already squared two trips per year away with Vicky
and in fact she is keen to come along too on one of them if there are other
partners going. Although, not to spend all weekend at the Ring. Her plan would
be to hire a car over there (or take her car) and go touring. It's a bit early
to start planning I guess (-:
Kelvin.
Author: Peter Bennet
All back home by now (I hope). Fantastic weekend away including brown
face,brown pants etc. Wait for the stories that will probably include:-
Wings and noisy locals on the ferry out
Beer Beer Beer
Lost again and again
Flying Hedgehogs
****ing clutches
****ing Exhaust manifolds
Overtaking on the Central Reservation (and Carousel)
More Lama's (six legged) and Weiner Schnitzel than you can shake a shitty stick
at.
****ing Armco
Flat out on the Autobahn (again)
Considerate Dutch drivers
And loads more that I can't remember just now
Cheers, Peter
Author : Keith Palmer
Fri.
Excellent weekend, met up with them all after a 360 mile drive up through
Germany. Few beers, and a laugh about a load of randy gordies, fast driving
and Lamas!
Sat.
After a visit to the local Scooby dealer to fix Colins clutch, which of course
involved Elises driving in every direction possible at the same time, we
proceeded to meet up with the Dutch contingent and head for the Ring.
Got
2 pax laps (Kelvin and a 528 tourer) before plucked up the courage to go
out myself.
1st
lap was ok - I was nervous, but went out on my own and it wasn't half as crazy
as I expected. Ok i got out of the way of a few cars & bikes, but was
relatively happy.
2nd
lap was a complete blinder - had a fast beemer at a good distance through the
1st half - so could see if his brake lights were coming on so I had a rough
idea of appropriate speed. Then in the forest section, had the ring
taxi overtake me going into an uphill left-hand corner, I promptly followed him
through (sliding) in front of a Pug 205, then had a superb section with the
ring taxi in front, me, then a new Scooby WRX behind me. Continued like this
for a while, until the Scooby started to gain on me and i let him past.
Decided at that point to call it a day on a high note.
I
then went out for a pax lap with an MGF. Unfortunately was his 1st track day
and i should have known better :-0
Also
saw too many crashes - brand new M3 - rolled, a few bikes, etc....
Sun.
Got seven laps in. took out Colin on my 3rd, and was reasonably happy with all
the traffic.
Went
out with Peter in (one of) green machine, and was well impressed by the
hedgehog splitting suspension. The driving was not too bad either ;-) Peter
drives his car like I drive a go-kart - committed and 110%. I always hold off
that little bit because i don't want to risk it. F*cking superb, though, when
we stormed up to the carousell, biker just dropped in, so Peter goes round the
outside praying that there was enough grip! As we exited (in front of an
astounded biker) we were both in fits of laughter - superb!
I
took out a biker as pax on my 4th lap of the day, and proceeded to have 2
"moments" where i lost, caught, lost and caught it again - luckily
one was in front of the crowd!!! Pax was impressed, even though my tyres were
melting and I was totally out of shape a couple of times. Also didn't help to
exit a fast right hand corner to find a biker picking up his bike in the
middle of the road and his mate helping him!!
I
then took it easy, listened to some advice from my more experienced
elders and then proceeded to do 3 nice (relatively) smooth laps, with a decent
spell with Kelvin following - watching my std suspension wandering all over
the place!!
I
then had a dodgy knocking sound coming from my front offside, brake related,
which I can't solve, so decided to call it a day.
Crashes various included Kyle (Sport 160) (again), AC cobra, porker, fiat Barchetta Astras and a few bikes thrown in for good measure!!! I'm sure there was more, but I forget.
Quiet night Sunday, and then I departed Mon morning for another 6 hour trip south.
Superb time had by all, and can't wait for the next time (still have 2 laps left on me ticket)
Highlights
included:
-
Driving past the police at 120 MPH with a big smile on the German autobahn
-
New top speed of 140 MPH on the way there (playing with Beemers again!)
-
The spell following the ring taxi and with the ugly new WRX behind me
-
Kyle just being generally nuts and crashing all the time!
-
Peter overtaking (one of) the biker on the outside of the carousell
:-)))
-
Almost losing it twice on the same lap trying to show off to a biker as a pax
-
ONLY having 2 moments where I nearly lost it in 9 laps!
-
Peter moaning about all the bikers just "getting in the way"
-
Overtaking lots of bikes, and the odd Porsche :-)))
-
Taking Lawerences advice and using 3rd instead of 2nd for a couple of corners
-
Having the full 2nd half of a lap with Kelvin behind me - after I overtook him
;-)
- Robin using his latex gloves on my car and NOT me!
Hope
everyone else got home safe and sound,
till
next time
Keith
Author : Lawrence Hoy
Thursday (really excited day)
Fitted the PB rear dampers in 50 mins, took
Alistair for a quick blast to check them out, but got caught in some roadworks
and managed to be late for the meet up at my own house, this caused some
confusion for Paul as the skip landmark was no longer there, nor was there any
signs of any Elises. Had a drive full of Elises before we left though
:)) Peter and Carol, Colin, Kelvin, Robin, Paul and of course Katrina'n'me had
a nice drive down to Newky via A68/A697 arriving prompt as usual.....just had
to waste enough time with tyre pressures, coffees, fuel stop etc to ensure
that the pace was fun.
Met Giles and Nick on board our luxury ferry and had a long
search for beer (only available in the cabaret bar) to be served in our choice
of location, much to the annoyance of the staff. After a nice meal, we had had
just about sufficient red wine to enjoy fully, the splendid accommodation.
Chatted with some foreign sounding chaps who Peter later explained where from
"Y EYEMIN Land"
Friday (Paranoia day)
Woke bright and early and soon we were on our way, through
Holland and into Germany, stopping on route for some lunch and the irony of
discovering that my radiator was leaking :)), causing some overheating of
A7CBC. Naturally we later were stuck in traffic so that I could check my fan
operation over and over again :) Car continued to run hot 96 C
Hotels were great (well done Keith) first was a beautiful
picturesque place ( complete with Lamas) while the second was steeped in
history (15 th Century?) and racing paraphernalia. Quick blast up to the ring
(via Kelberg and the Grand prix circuit?) and I arrived just in time to
buy my first ticket. I only just paid the man, and the Gods spoke out loud,
torrential rain causing the short stroll back to the car to render me drookit.
was this an omen? decided not to rush things. Robin eventually persuaded me to
accompany him on a run on those Yokohama's in the rain (doo do doo dooooo!!)
By this time we'd already lost the TVR. Excellent driving BTW from Robin got
us round safe and then after it stopped raining I ventured out onto the
soaking track. At this point I'd decided that one lap was enough, and can I
please go home now. It wasn't as bad as I thought though, only 4 or 5 really
sharp blind corners but the similarity of the track and corners played games
with my poor Short Term Memory. Soon it was over for the day and we returned
to the hotel for beer and dinner. Managed to release some air lock from the
radiator with Kelvin's super multitool, and wiped up the blood from Peter's
attempt (ta much) just as Kyle and Jim (I've got a loud one) arrived. Then
Keith arrived and we had 13 for dinner (doo do doo dooooo!!) Kyle, what can I
say, top man, menus R us, schnitzel or schnitzel, nice 160 sport driven in the
style of tut.
Saturday (Calibra day)
Katrina and I were delayed, and set off last to find the Scooby
dealers, had the now classic, there goes a bunch of Elises in the opposite
direction, followed by the left right right t junction and very near domino
effect, locked brakes, at junction, near misses. Followed Jim lots as his car
was easiest to spot. Colins car was given a good check over and road tested by
one very happy Allard, who was still shaking as he emerged from the 22B and
pronounced it "sOKay", to rounds of laughter. Picked up 3 nice Dutch
Elises en route and got to the ring at 2ish. Quietest laps were after 6:30 pm
and worth the wait. Robin changed his front pads and then we went down to the
village for food. Dinner in the village was unusual? but the menu
similar. We were introduced to new accounting methods by the waitress, anyone
for a beer mat? Deciding on an early start on Sunday, we reduced the red wine
intake to match.
Sunday (RS owners day)
What a day, ran 4 or 5 laps on an empty track at 8 am till the
first stop at 10 ish, back to the hotel for breakfast, luggage and refuel and
then back to the ring for the rest of the day. I took only 1 run during the
afternoon, preferring to wait for the quality 6 till 7:30 period and had a
blast on the final run getting 90% of the corners in the right order. Talk
about motor city, what a place this is, all kinds of exotica, how much was it
all worth? and how much was it devalued in a second? Why is the site of yet
another 911 in the barriers so pleasing? felt sorry for the bikers tho'.
Memory test ( what have I missed?)
Out on to the main straight, then down the hill to a flat right
followed by a reasonable left into a RL chicane. I used Robin's line here but
should have tried a fast entry over the kerb as the little straight wasn't
long enough to justify a slow entry. The on paper 90 R was so wide as to be
much faster than I was taking it, but the Armco blocked the view. Down hill
into a 90 L needing a very late turn in followed by a double R taken as one,
now a lovely series of esses with the last sharp L compromised to get a fast
exit on to the downhill over the bridge, up the other side and watch for the 2
dots on the left, first one before the blind summit, next just at the turn in
were you must apex the next 2 R on the far left, now a fast L , if you believe
it's there and down into a late apex R with negative camber and a bridge going
over then down into the foxes hole like a speeding bullet, back up and hope
you'll get round the L at the top. . Down again into more esses but beware the
last L or you'll miss it, very late compromised entry to help a fast exit,
lots of bikers go off here. Down again towards the L transmitters, the
previous L one being flat, followed by a double R with late turn in and I
still can't find the dots. Down again to the 1st sharper L L R followed a
little later by the faster LLR at Adenau exit, there's still loads of time to
be found here, once this is sorted it'll be a 4th gear exit through the dip
and up the hill. Deja vu as you feel you've already done this next bit as the
3rd downhill double R turns out to be the start of the big flat out climb to
the top, the tiniest lift makes the L easy, it must be flat at 110, Down into
the red and white barriers and a 90 R and uphill turns out to be a hairpin (
definitely 3rd min) and then over the brow into the Karussell loop (whee!
bang! bang! bang! wheeee!) Learn the next curves are safe then brake just
after the dip going into a sharp R as you rejoin the track, followed by some
more safe esses, into a R but pull yourself over to the Right or you'll ruin
the fast L and repeat the sharp R while entertaining the crowds (what a great
feeling), get right for the next L and then blast downhill into the kerbed RL,
then fast R fast R into sharpish uphill L hiding the mini Karussell followed
by a single apex double R and back to the main straight. Still 1 Km to go.
Monday
Got the postcards, drove to Rheinbach, got on the Autobahn,
looking for the A1/A61split I moved right and Colin took off like a scalded
cat, 150 MPH Col? Skipped lunch, learned about metal fatigue thought we were
blown when the Dutch Polis appeared as we cruised the motorway at 110 MPH but
made the ferry bang on time phew! Met Ely, had a lovely dinner, and a full
debrief ( there are no 2nd gear corners someone said) but then I forgot to ask
Kyle.
sorry you had to leave so early. see you next time :))
Lawrence
Author: Kelvin Hughes
What a stunning weekend, one of the best I've had in
my Elise yet. Great company, fantastic weather, and superb roads.
The trip over was fairly uneventful. The highlights were
wondering if Peter was going to get his low rider onto the ferry with his number
plate intact. The insight we got to the lives of some fat farting Geordies that
we very nearly shared a cabin with. ("I'm right Randy me") Zodiac the
semi naked ship dancing troupe. Dale Wintons "twin" brother who was
the "star turn" for the trip over. No barfing from me, for all I know
Ross (my dealer) may well have given me sugar tablets last year but whatever
they seem to be working (BTW Ross, I need some more (-:) Lawrence had some
coolant problems that never really went away all weekend but equally it
never got any worse
The Dutch drivers were as bad as ever with a few close calls and the route south
out of Holland was as busy as expected. However, we made good progress and
arrived at the hotel in plenty of time for some 'Ring action on Friday.
I could hardly remember anything from our trip last August so decided that
trying to remember what was coming up would be a recipe for disaster so I just
concentrated on getting in 4/5 laps to get a feel for the track. Just as well
really, as the minute the gate opened for the start of my first lap the heavens
opened. By the time I got to the chicane there was a river of water running
across the track and the crappy Elise windscreen wiper was struggling to keep
up. The rain continued to hammer down for the early part of the lap and only
started to ease around Bergwerk. There were rivers and pools of water all over
the track. The track dried out quite quickly over the next 3/4 laps and thinking
back I was quite glad it was a bit wet as it made me think more about getting
the line right for the corners I did know. We had a great meal in the Landhaus
Sonnenhof that night and Robin and I came up with a theory as to how they made
the Weisenbier cloudy. We also discovered that Paul liked hairy animals and his
favourite dance is the 6 legged Llama (-:
Unfortunately, Colin's 22B was having some clutch problems and the services of a
Scooby mechanic were required. As luck would have it, a Scooby dealer was only
20km's away. GPS Carol brilliantly navigated us there despite the rest of us
getting a bit lost. Peter nearly ended up in an Elise sandwich between me and
Kyle. Classic Elise convoy move of fast right hander immediately ending in a
junction, driving too fast and too close, much locking of wheels and twiddling
of steering wheels to avoid the mashing of clamshells. The Scooby mechanic had a
fiddle with the 22B and then took it for a drive. We all joked that he'd
probably take it to the Ring for a quick lap as he won't get to drive too many
22B's in his life. Anyway, there wasn't much he could do in reality as the
problem was more involved than the early diagnosis. Fortunately the problem was
intermittent and easily fixed when it happened but it did stop Colin from taking
his car on the track, which was a bit of a bummer. The rest of the day was spent
at the 'Ring in glorious sunshine. Managed to get in 10 laps and by the end of
the day I was reasonably confident which way the track went. That said, I was
still mixing up the section from Miss Hit Miss to Breidscheid. Both sections
have similar looking straights that end in a left hander. However, the left
hander after Miss-hit-miss (can't recall the name begins with a W though) is
much tighter and therefore slower than Breidscheid which is very fast by
comparison. On a couple of occasions I came into the W corner way too quickly
and had the tail swinging from side to side under braking. I reckon I probably
only got this corner right 2 or 3 times out of the 25 laps I did. As I recall
last August we were told of a BMW slam into the bank here and burst into flames.
We decided to eat out on Sat night rather than continue with the excellent and
cheap fare the Sonnenhof had on offer. Can't recall the name of the restaurant
but Schnitzel, Schnitzel or salad seemed to be what they had on offer. To be
fair though they probably don't often have 16 people drop in for dinner
unannounced.
Robin, Lawrence and I decided that we would get up bright and early to get on
the track for it opening at 8am to get in some clear laps.
A lot of bikers had the same idea as well. Nevertheless, we managed to get in
some good laps over the next 2 hours or so before heading back to the hotel for
breakfast and to check out (we were in a different hotel on the Sun night) What
a great way to start the day, 2 hours at the track followed by a leisurely
breakfast in the Eiffel mountains. Wouldn't you just do this every weekend if
you lived there? After breakfast we headed back to the 'Ring where we spent the
rest of the day. The few laps I did in the morning were very rough and I was a
bit all over the place, basically trying too hard. In the afternoon I went back
to my original plan of slowing down a bit and concentrating on learning the
track and the lines. This approach started to pay off late on Sunday afternoon
as everything started to come together. It's incredible how confidently you can
drive much of the circuit if you stay out that wee bit wider and turn in that
wee bit later. Even though you think you are as wide as possible and turning in
as late as possible it's only when you watch the video that you realise that you
still have a few feet to go and you are not as wide and as late as you thought.
Anyway, my last lap with Paul as pax was by far my best and I came back into the
car park on a real high as I really felt I had driven the 'Ring
"properly" for the first time all weekend. I never got it on video
unfortunately as my batteries had run out but I'm not too bothered as I can
remember how I felt as soon as I passed under the gantry on the
start/finish straight where you back off the accelerator. I'm smiling now as I
type this (-: I think Paul enjoyed that lap as well. Then it was back to Blau
Ecke for a well deserved drink and to talk about the days events. We had an
excellent meal in a local Italian (with a German twist obviously). All the rooms
in the Blau Ecke were named after corners at the ring and Klaus, the guy that
owned the hotel, owned a superb looking Renault Alpine. The hotel also had loads
of 'Ring memorabilia around the place. The best was a large hand drawn map of
the 'Ring where people had written their names and the date of where they had
crashed on the 'Ring or at least that's what I assumed it meant.
We decided to make it a late am start on Sunday heading off back to the Ferry
around 10.30. This gave me some time to go shopping for a pressie for Vicky and
the kids. I couldn't really find much for the kids so I bought 2 'Ring stickers,
1 for Ben's car and the other for Rachel's trike. I had to spend a wee bit more
on Vicky and it couldn't be 'Ring related (got her sun specs). The journey back
to the ferry was a bit more eventful than the journey from the ferry. Between
Robin's exhaust manifold falling apart and Peter almost running into the back of
a van saved only by driving onto the grass verge between the armco and the
motorway. Unfortunately the grass verge was a bit lower than the road and all I
could hear was a horrible grinding noise. Fearing the worst I pulled over to the
left to see Peter offroading his car back onto the motorway and casually waving
to the startled van driver before zooming off again. How we laughed. It was
getting a bit touch and go if the others were going to make the ferry but they
arrived with a few minutes to spare. Robin's exhaust manifold was held together
with wire and bits of wood with his undertray lashed to the luggage rack on the
back of Giles Elise which was actually perfect for the job. The ferry back was
the King of Scandinavia and our cabin was luxurious by comparison to the other
ferry (Prince of S.?) The upside, no fat farting Geordies the downside, it was
right on top of the engines or at least sounded like it but it did have it's own
sink. More dancing girls (and a guy) for the stage show.
The highlight of the journey home from Newcastle was following Peter somewhere
near Coldstream. Peter overtakes a car right in front of a Gatso (heading
towards it) flash flash with Peter flicking it the bird as he drove past.
Looking back at the videos I can immediately see loads of places where I
can improve. Stay wider, turn in later, use the brakes less, don't back off so
much when I clearly know I can take some of the corners a lot faster generally.
I am confident between the start and to just before Swedish Cross where I back
right off for Aremburg far too early as I change from 5th to 4th and have to get
back on the power. However, you pay a very high price if you get it wrong here
though which tends to concentrate your mind when you think that you can stay
right on the power (the Fiat Barchetta that hit the armco on the right is
testimony to that) Robin also went off here too in the wet. Just as well it has
a lot of run off and a big gravel trap. The Fox Hole is absolutely stunning and
a real rush when you start to take it flat out through the esses, my ears popped
every time I hit the bottom of the hill. Again I'm braking too early for
the left hander at the top of the hill which is a fast corner. This leads you
into Adenauer Forest, the bikers favourite - not. I saw two bikers go straight
over onto the grass. Loads of cars get the line wildly wrong here and turn in
far too early (it is an unbelievably late turn in) which for most sends them
into terminal understeer towards the kerb. Because everyone gets it very wrong
here there is a lot of dust and gravel on the right hander making it a bit
slippy. Lots of spectators (obviously) and a good tyre squealing opportunity. I
struggled a bit with the next section through Metzesomething, Kallenhard,
Miss-Hit-Miss, the W corner and the bridge (where a biker hit the wall and
destroyed his bike, he didn't come out of it too well either) This whole section
appears to repeat a bit and the corners look similar (they're not as it goes it
just feels like that when you don't know where the track is going) I never
really got this section right all weekend. Then it's a blast up the hill at Ex-Muhle
(where the M3 rolled I think) towards Bergwerk and where Lauda had his huge
crash. Bergwerk is important to get right as it leads onto a long uphill flat
out section although it's actually a very long S bend from Bergwerk to Fear
Corner. It's great following the fast bikes through here as they are
leaning right over for a long long way mad bastards! Fear Corner is well named
and I never once took it flat out which scrubs off loads of speed in the Elise.
This section is key to a quick lap I guess. I was changing to 2nd at Klostertal
for the short blast up the hill towards the Karussell where you aim for the tall
tree that stands on it's own as you come up the hill then the 143 sign on the
armco once you can see it. I had a few moments here. The worst was when I had
Daniel in the car (an American serviceman - Robin took his mate out, Mark I
think). I caught an old Opel Kadett on the straight before the Karussell and
didn't want to get stuck behind it. I overtook it on the inside and entered the
Karusell faster than normal and a little too low and early. Half way round I
could feel the car start to slide back up the bank and out and quickly realised
I wasn't going to be able to turn into it so let it drift out. As soon as the
outside wheels cleared the bank and hit the flat section it sucked me straight
out towards the kerb on the right. I did the Elise lift off steer into it
shuffle but I got a bit of fright as it happened so suddenly. You can tell I was
taking the Karussell faster and faster as with each video lap the amount of
"noise" in the picture was increasing (-: I also have a great shot of
a double winged yellow porker going through the Karussell ahead of me and then
leaving me for dead going up the hill to Hohe Acht. From here down through to
Brunnchen is a little hazy, I'll have to watch the video footage over and over
to become more familiar with it. Brunnchen is great though because you feel like
a racing driver as this is one of the most popular spectating points on the
track. On Sunday afternoon there were hundreds of people all around here. The
right hander going back up the hill was quite slippy but it is a very satisfying
corner when you get it right. Then it's onto another favourite part of the track
down through Pflantzgarden I & II (or however the Hell you spell it). At the
end of PFG I there is a nasty bump in the road going downhill. To begin with you
brake well before it but as you get faster and more confident you brake later
and later. You can't brake on the bump obviously so the next step is to
accelerate through the bump and brake on the other side on the short straight
before the next very fast right hander. Once I started to accelerate through it
I could feel my heart beat faster as I approached the bump and it feels as if
you've taken off (you haven't though). For me its the scariest part of the
circuit although there are actually more likely places to go off. A few corners
later and you hit PFGII which has a huge downhill dip, a real roller coaster
ride. Apparently the faster bikes wheely off this?! mad mad bastards The next
section is great staying out on the left to a deceptively tight right hander
just before Sch......wanz or something. I always forgot how tight this right
hander was and had a few heart in month moments. Sch....wanz (left hander)
itself is much tighter than it looks but it never caught me out much (I guess
because the previous corner always did and was a good reminder of the the next
corner - something like oh feck then ah now I know where I am). A short
straight follows and leads into the Baby Karusell. Very easy to get the tail to
step out on the exit caused by a bump which bounces the rear up causing wheel spin.
However, my line through here was completely wrong and it wasn't until I went
out with Robin that I realised this. Then onto the final bend which I forget the
name of. Last year we saw a GT3 and M3 Coupe hit each other here and end up on
either side of the track on the exit. It seems to go on forever and I was
waiting until I could see the exit before flooring it. It took me a load of laps
before I was hammering the car around this bend, there is loads of grip, and
then onto to the start finish straight.
Can't wait for the next visit, so much so that I plan to go again in September
if anyone is up for it.
Kelvin.
PS A highlight I forgot to mention was how Peter lost his number plate. Being so
low his car almost scoops up all the dead wildlife stuck to the road. However, a
recently deceased hedgehog was just high enough to impact his number plate, bang
and then exploding hedgehog everywhere.
Author : Robin Iddon
I am fine, so is car ... for those that have a while sit back and read
this longish write up ...
Gang,
Sorry for the long post, but a lot to say after not posting for nearly 5 days
:-)
Got back from the ring in one piece - shame about the car :-)
Have not had a chance to read any of the groups, so not sure what all has been
happening, but thought I would post a report of my trip before making the final
leg back up to Edinburgh on Thursday and then catching up with everything else.
Trip over to the Ring - day 1.
Was on the 5.44am Euro tunnel; at the ring by noon local time. Checked into
Hotel Zur Burg in Nurburg; cheap and cheerful hotel; very friendly folks,
managers speak English; I would recommend it for people wanting a cheap weekend
at the ring, cos it is on the doorstep. At the ring by 1pm; bought my
season ticket and headed out onto the track. By now it's snowing (yes,
snowing). Luckily the snow isn't lying on the track, so it remains
open if a little slippy. Still, this is a good thing as it allows me to
explore the track and lines, trying to get back to where I was last year without
having to worry about too much fast traffic. I got a couple of laps on
tape; nothing fast, but you can see the snow falling heavily at times.
Went to the Pistenklause at night with Ben Lovejoy and 15 or so other ringers
from the ringers list. That was a good evening with much car talk and
Weizenbier drunk. There were plenty of incidents that day, with one guy
(Chris "Crasher" Rae) blowing his car's engine up and then crashing
his mates Saab 9000 all in just 5 laps - now that was an expensive weekend.
Ring - day 2.
Was at the ring about 9am in glorious sunshine, although it was freezing cold
and there was frost on the ground. Track was open though, and did some
warm up laps. Proceeded to do about 15-20 laps that day, each a little
faster than the last. I recorded the last three and afterwards I split
each one into 10 sectors. I was pleased to see that I was very consistent
for each sector (barring traffic related slow downs). My final lap was a
9:17 bridge-to-gantry, with a couple of mistakes (pushing harder and getting
tired). I will convert this to divx or something like that and upload it
somewhere for your entertainment when I am back in Edinburgh.
The car is definitely better with the new suspension - it gives me more
confidence, though I took the bumpy bits and the bottom of Fuchsrohre easy at
first. Later in the day I pushed harder, and began to notice that under
full load at high speed on the rebound from the compression I am actually
getting some wheel spin (in fifth at 100+mph!). This must be the downside
of firmer springs and dampers - it is a little harder to keep the driven wheels
on the ground. Otherwise the track was much as last year (new bits of
tarmac in Fuchsrohre and Kesselchen, I think). Lowered suspension means
that I scrape the mud flaps in the Karrussel big time, as well as into Ex-Muhle
and in the downhill chicane after Kallenhard. Extra power didn't add much
speed to the high speed sections; just shy of 130 before braking for
Schwedenkreuz; still only 125 at the bottom of Fuchsrohre (though there could be
more to come for both of these; I should be able to carry more speed through the
double apex right hander before Schwedenkreuz, and I should be able to go down
the hill flat in fourth and fifth into Fuchsrohre). Both of these are at
most a couple of mph up on last year. Brakes held up really well, though I
think I have used quite a few millimetres of front pad - will need to check that
out and take some spares in May.
I also got some great pax laps - went out with Ben in his MX5, which was super
smooth (as last year); because I now knew more of the circuit I was able to
leach a couple of improvements to my line by observing his. Then I went
out with Anders in his new Porsche GT3; awesome - whatever you may think about
Porsche, a lap in the GT3 is something else. Handling, braking and, of
course, acceleration are all awesome. Not to mention that Anders is _very_
good. Finally did two laps with Ewan (sp?) in a Lotus cars owner Exige
(was there for a mag article). The Exige is raw as ever, with a so-cool
8,000 rpm limit. Didn't feel that fast, but had tons of grip, and could
easily have gone into most corners faster than Ewan took it (fair enough -not
his car after all).
After my final lap I noticed a squeak/squeal - the kind that the fan belt makes.
At first I though nothing of it, but I soon noticed that it happened whenever I
started the engine and was getting worse, almost metallic and very harsh.
After a while I wondered if it could be an oil problem on startup up/idle with
some upper part of the engine not getting fed properly.
Anyway I decided to ignore it until tomorrow, went out for dinner and beer with
some more ringers tom compare notes and line, then fellasleep.
Ring - day 3 - time to cut and run :-(
The noise is still there and is just as bad. To make matters worse, it is
Easter Sunday with no chance of finding a garage open for the next two days and
there are three inches of snow on the fields. It is raining and the snow
is melting, but the track is closed and probably won't open for at least a few
hours. As I couldn't figure out the noise (could be a bearing, could be
the cam belt tensioner gone, could be the alternator belt, or something else?),
I decided not to risk it on the track any more (imagine the cam belt going at
7,000 rpm at the bottom of Fuchsrohre and the resuling spin- ouch).
So I said my goodbyes and leave a full 36 hours and 30 laps sooner than I wanted
to :-(
So what was the noise?
When I got the car back to my in-laws, I took off the under tray and a bolt fell
out! On closer inspection it was half a bolt (like the old joke - what's
worse than finding a maggot in your apple? half a maggot!). I looked
around for where this could have come from and eventually I noticed that the
alternator was missing one of it mounting bolts. The other half it still
in the block, with no thread exposed. Without this the bracket that is
used to tension the belt cannot work properly, which is why the belt slips and
squeaks. No idea why it stops after a few seconds. Anyway I spoke to
Murrays to see what kind of job it would be, and it looks like if I am lucky
they can do it in-situ by dropping one of the engine mounts; otherwise it is an
engine out job :-( So I won't be on track in my car at KH this weekend,
that's for sure. If I am lucky they will have managed to prise out the old
bolt in time for the next ring trip, though!
On the upside, if they have to take out the engine, I might get them to fit one
of those 4:1 downpipes!
See you all soon,
Robin
Author : Robin Iddon
The trip over was uneventful;
picked Ross up in Alva, then met up with Kelvin at Carlisle and finally with
Peter and Carol in Holland the next day.
Drive from there was slowish, though the last road (about 40-ish miles) was
fantastic. Lots of tight corners and sweeping bends; only spoilt by the
tourists.
Friday evening was our first couple of hours at the track.
We met up with Lewis (yellow Elise - would be ring hero). He passengered
me for a lap to "show me the lines" - I don't believe he had much of
an idea, and ignored his advice on the whole, treating each corner as a blind
one.
Kelvin & I did some easy laps, trying to learn the circuit. Peter was
a little more gungho and scared himself a little, IIRC. Still no harm
done, and an excellent laugh. Ross even ventured out for his first lap in
my Elise - at the ring, that is pretty brave, especially when it is not your
car.
We were all a little fazed by the bikers - you would see one in your mirror a
long way behind, then in a few seconds it was flying past you at 140! The
BMW M5 ring taxis were much the same (though they could take any line easily
enough - not so the bikers who needed to get the knee down on the apex, even if
you were trying to be there at the same time!).
We also met up with Ben Lovejoy, who was lapping in his MX5. Took a few of
us out for pax laps, showing the lines (too many to remember, of course) and the
danger points. Excellent fun, and smooth too.
Friday night spent in the bar at the excellent value hotel - really quite posh
and very cheap. Weizenbier all round :-)
Saturday we went for a blast in the countryside. Relied on
AutorouteExpress and GPS too much though, and spent too much of the day (a) lost
and (b) on gravel tracks through the forest. Moral of the story - buy a
good hi-res map and a coloured pencil! We bought just such a map in the
afternoon and had an excellent blast home (we even turned around to do a bit for
a second time - a mini Stelvio pass).
Saturday evening the track was open for a couple of hours again. Very busy, lots
of bikers. Now we were beginning to wonder if we would ever learn it - so
many corners, and all the traffic to watch out for. Still we had a really
good time and got in a few more laps. One of the bikers had managed a
really fast lap (was it really 8:50 - I cannot remember?) - his rear tyre was
shredded all around the outer right hand edge - most of the fast corners must be
left handers!
Sunday - downpour! The track was open for the whole day, and totally
soaking. Of course most bikers wouldn't venture out in those conditions,
and those that did took it easy. So now we have the advantage, S02's and
all. Suddenly you can concentrate on the lines (because you are going so
slowly and there is noone in your mirror).
You begin to string corners together; no longer is every corner a surprise.
Despite the weather, you are having an unbelievable amount of fun, and it is
getting pretty fast too.
Then Lewis shows up; not sure he is going out today 'cos of the weather.
Too right, I say, those P0s are pants in the wet. Not so, he says, I drive
it in the wet all the time! Anyway, I invite him out for a pax lap in my
car, just to experience the SO2s. Of course by now I know a lot of the
track, and am able to go really quite fast on the early section which I know
best. Lewis is checking his watch frequently :-) So we get right
round, in what was probably quite a good wet lap (for me, anyway), and Lewis is
obviously a little impressed. So I tell him that obviously this is down to
the S02's and there is no way he would be able to take the corners the same way
in the P0s. Red rag to a bull (which was what I had hoped :-). He
decides to go out after all. Not only that, but he wants someone to video
as pax. Ross & I take a step backwards leaving Kelvin as chief video
operator. It turns out he wants someone to video him while he does a
commentary lap (like Martin Brundle from the F1 program:-). So Ross and I wave
goodbye to Lewis and Kelvin. Kelvin and I exchange glances as they pull
away, and simultaneously cross ourselves - jinx!
After about 10 minutes, Ross and I start to scan the far end of the pit straight
- no sign of them yet. By about 12 minutes we're thinking that about now
would be a good time. After 15 minutes we're thinking hmm - what's keeping
them. Then, after 18 minutes, the 4x4 Suzuki Jeep thingmy that left after
them returns; we're thinking -they must have had an off (quelle surprise).
Anyway, bang on 20 minutes they return. Front clamshell muddy, scraped and
split in two, just above the number plate. It turns out they had not just
one off, but two! The first one was at the 4th corner; a slowish right
hander that has little grip in the wet (for Stelvians past (1999) , this is the
corner before the one that Ian smashed his car at - where the GP track runs
right next door); too much throttle too soon, and whey-
hey, around they go. Once the car was restarted, and realigned on the
track, off they go. Apparently none the wiser for it. Three or four
corners later, there is a complex of tightening right/left/right/left corners.
Come the final left hander, Lewis is on the brakes (why?!?), locks up the front
wheels, doesn't lift off the brake pedal and ploughs head on over the kerb
into the armco. Arf. Apparently his first comment on getting out of
the car was "Oh fackin 'ell, that's the second clamshell this year".
The real scream was that it turns out to be daddy's car (like we hadn't guessed)
- I wish I had overheard the call home!
Anyway, now it gets serious. The rain stops, the track starts to dry, and
all of a sudden we're doing 120+ in sections! It is an amazing track once
you get to know bits of it.
I squeezed out for a final lap just before the ring closed - for sure my fastest
(though not fast by the local standards, of course). Just as well that was
all, because the pads were (literally) on the metal by the end of the lap.
Had to limp to the conveniently nearby Lotus dealer to get new pads the next
morning. I asked to keep the old ones, for a laugh, but the guy who
changed them only gave me 3 back - I reckon he kept one as a souvenir - it was
the worst one - a shiny metal slither! Anyway, I am in the market for some
new discs now, as these suffered somewhat:-) BTW, I can recommend the
dealer in Rheinbach - they changed the pads as soon as I arrived and were very
friendly; gave us just enough time to look over their Elise and Exige stock, and
to compare the prices - Sport160 was very cheap, though the salesman said that
was the only RHD car he would be ordering because Lotus gave him a real hard
time over it! They are fighting a losing battle, there, I think - the
Dutch dealers seem more than happy to supply RHD cars for re-import to UK, and I
cannot see Lotus managing to prevent this from spreading (not can I see them
raising their european prices to match UK ones).
Anyway, my favourite section so far is Fuchsruhre - a vicious steep
downhill/uphill (like the A68 roller coaster, but much more so) with a kink in
the bottom, followed by a fast right hander and a much much slower left hander
that is deceptive - called Adenauer something-or-other. You approach the
start of Fuchsruhre at about 90; change up into 5th (or 4th with a std box) as
you start the fall. By the time you hit the bottom you're doing 120!
Then you have to negotiate the kink to the left; if you keep the car tight to
the left kerb, it turns out there is a very favourable camber that rips you
round and spits you out pointing in the right direction to blast up the hill,
with the wind knocked out of you and your stomach in your underpants.
Chicken out and go wide and you have real troubles, as a Golf in front of me
found out the hard way; he only just managed to keep out of the armco. The
front suspension fully compresses at the bottom of the hill, making it very hard
to steer accurately - much better to let the camber do it for you.
Another notable section is the whole uphill drag from Bergwerke; must be a
couple of miles of steep uphill with only mild corners. When you first
come across this section, you lift for every corner; one by one you realise that
the car will go round the corners without lifting, so you force yourself not to
lift. Do this for all but the last two corners and you are doing 110 in
5th (CR box). The car would go round the last but one corner without
lifting, I am sure, but I could not force myself to try it - maybe next time.
In that case you would be doing 120 by the time you hit the last corner (horrid
shift in camber, but very wide, should be no problem to get round at speed).
Then you see the brow ahead that marks the peak of the climb. Don't be
fooled into pushing on at the same pace; 20 meters after the brow is a very
sharp right hander (Steilestrecke or something like that) - 2nd gear required!
There are plenty of other great corners and sections, each of which presents its
own challenges, and like the corners at KH, once you improve on one corner, you
have to recalibrate for the following corners, because you hit them that much
faster.
I cannot wait to get back there, to build up a tighter lap; hopefully to be able
to link together all the sections into one smooth lap. I would say that it
is not as dangerous as it is made out to be, provided you have the right
attitude. Over exuberance will lead to an expensive mistake, however, so
if you ever get to go there, take your time.
I think I can safely say that all those that went want to go next year again.
I might even try and go again this year. So come on folks, plan for a long
weekend in mid-late August.
The trip via Amsterdam on the way home proved a waste of time; you can easily
get from the ring to Ijmuiden or Rotterdam by 4pm, if you leave at 9am.
Next time, I think we'll swerve Amsterdam (and Holland's appalling drivers),
heading straight from Germany (and its psycho autobahns - 135mph in an Elise
approaching the rev limiter in 5th is quite an experience) to the port.
See you all soon,
Robin (ringing-it-faction)
Author : Peter Bennet
Good summary Robin and I agree, it was a brilliant trip
(looking forward to going back ASAP).
I think Robin was the only one to show a 911 something or other a clean set of
S02s obviously spent far to much time memorising the circuit before he got
there. (couldn't get past a Golf 1.1 though ;-) )
Some other highlights:-
911 GT3 + Z3M coupe don't fit into one corner. (Z3M got trailered away)
Moto Guzzi + Wet corner < P0s + Elise (managed to avoid running them both
over when he fell in front of me)
If anyone wants to go again, book the ring taxi now, I think it could be better
than the most scary roller coater in the world.
The Carousels .... wowwwww!
Hull to Rotterdam = great ferry
The Carousels .... wowwwww! (did I already say that?)
Carol downing lots of Weissen Biers. (Hic)
Brilliant Hotel (approx £65 for a double/twin per night) Cheap especially if
you share.
130+ on the Autobahn and still climbing
Some low lights:-
Dutch Drivers
Dutch Drivers
Imjuden - Newcastle ferry = toilet cubicles with bunks
The Carousels .... wooooooo! (whoops got spat out the exit)
Dutch Drivers
Car running out of puff up the back straight
If you like track time in your car then get yourselves out there! Only problem
is that if we get 10+ then probability of one getting broken must be really
high, As Robin says if you treat it with respect then no probs, treat it like
Crail then you won't get off lightly.
Cheers, Peter (hooked on Nurburgring big time faction)
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