Day 1 - Lakes to Belgium (Ypres)



This time we were not travelling alone. For the first part of the journey our friends in a Gallerdo and F430 would be joining us.

We left on a Friday at 5am, destination Ypres. This was our first stop over and the plan was to eat the mileage without losing our license but still moving at a reasonable pace. Day 2 and Day 3 were at the Ring so we needed a stop-over in Belgium. In the past the stop has usually been Brugge but for something different, we decided on Ypres. As with most of these trips I have an obsessive need for decent parking and the wife has to have good beer and food on tap.

The hotel we chose was Flemish owned Hotel Kasteelhofthooghe - http://www.hotelkasteelhofthooghe.be/Engels/Ehome.... and was approximately 90 Euros.

Here are some day one images.

Bye Bye British Weather



Channel Tunnel Departure Area



Driving on the train. We booked the SUV/Camper part of the train. It has more room and is much wider for sports cars.



In Belgium.



At the hotel, time for beer (albeit Cherry), that's my wifes, honest.



Lambo owner looking lovingly on. Note the great parking.



Actually the hotel was great, plenty of room and places to chill.

A trip I want to do so will be watching this topic...

Day 2 Belgium (Ypres) to Germany (Nurburgring)



After the previous 0(oh my god its early)5:00am start, we left at 9am with a plan to hit the Ring by mid-afternoon. We took the most direct route which included some autobahns and top speed runs (video to be uploaded) and then an hour or so of Eiffal mountain roads to the Ring. The plan was for us to use our own cars on Saturday afternoon, and we had pre-booked some track prepped cars with Rent4Ring for the Sunday (Day 3).

This was my third or forth trip to the Ring this year and I decided to book a hotel based on a recommendation. The hotel is called Foxhole Guest House (foxhole-guesthouse.com) and is approximately 3kms from the Nurburg (and the Ring). Michaela is the owner/manager and is awesome, parking and amenities were great. Food was so/so, and Michaela did offer to drop/pickup our group from local restaurants if we wanted. The only caveat is the relatively thin walls and VERY creaky staircase, overall a great place for car nuts, excellent parking and a very friendly atmosphere.

Fun Fun Fun on the Autobahn, I think we all managed 160/170+. I have some in-car footage which I need to edit and post on YouTube.



A few miles from the Ring we found a convoy of Porkas joing our trio:



Car Mecca







Still a few hours till the TF session opened but cars were already arriving:



Moi parked up:



Time for Lunch



Its easy to describe the Ring to anyone who has not been. As mentioned above its Car Mecca, where every car park and road is stuffed with motoring exotica and GT3s outnumber them all.





After lunch at the best Schnitzel place (and excellent Pizza or Pasta next door) it was back to the hotel to clean the cars before the TF session opened.

Hotel Parking and if you ask nicely, you can hookup a hose and steal the bucket to clean your cars.





Nice shoes, do they come in mens sizes as well?



Back to the Ring for TF! We arrived about an hour before it opened and found a good spot, it soon filled up though.

Great thread. Less value bks talk and more driving roads

Thanks, in the spirit of full disclosure, its my wife (Emi) that is the photographer.

We are interlopers to Cumbria, moving here about two years back. Wow, what a place. Some fantastic scenery and great roads. The car is serviced at TechArt dealer (Tech9) in Liverpool, so the only time I go to Porsche in Kendal is to drool over the 991s. The Fezza and Lambo drivers are from Cumbria too so we often get together for Sunday morning blast and breakfast. I also head to the Preston Breakfast meet on the second to last Sunday of each month, if you are ever interested in meeting up and convoying down.

We have driven to Slovenia 3 times now and to Croatia once. I look forward to seeing where you went to in Slovenia. My favourite is following the river up from Most na Soci to Bovec. Or running along the bottom of the valley from Kranj to Tolmin.


Allan

Hi Dan,

I was also staying at the Foxhole when you were there. It was good to meet you all.



Joel.

Day 3 - At the Ring in Rent4Ring track cars

We booked track cars for Sunday (Day 3), so glad we did as it poured down for a fair part of the day. We hired the Artega GT and Stage 3 Corsa.

Firstly a shameless plug for Rent4Ring (http://www.rent4ring.de/) awesome bunch of chaps. I have rented from them a number of times and cannot recommend them highly enough, especially Dale who is always willing and able to impart local knowledge and Ring tips, as very nicely and high speed passenger laps can also be arranged.

Parked Up and Ready to Roll





Our Artega GT Being Warmed Up



Inside the Artega







Andy in Action in the Corsa



By Lunchtime some Belgium Friends had arrived with their toys (GTS, GT3 and Vantage). The rest of day went well alternating between the rentals, passenger rides and then back in our own cars by late afternoon.

A few more car-park pictures:

Aston Ring Taxi (on my last visit, this particular Taxi rear-ended a TF car. Although to be fair, the same day the BMW Ring Taxi crashed as well. Just shows that the Ring can bite veterans, as well as new folks.





Colour Coded Parking

Day 4 - Evening

A quick stop at the Porsche Baden Baden for some new wiper blades (40 Euros fitted) and we spied a GTS4.







Then onto the hotel (Heiligenstein - http://www.hotel-heiligenstein.de) just outside Baden-Baden. We stayed here four times this year and every time its been great. Excellent food, room and fantastic parking.







A Room key



Restaurant and Food











When on holiday we really try to find hotels that are also recommended for their food, or have good food locations close-by. In Germany finding great food, for a reasonable price can be an issue but Heiligenstein is an exception. It has a really good restaurant and has been full more or less on every visit. Coupled with the location and excellent parking it is a great stopover when heading south.