textIt's great living at the Nurburgring, but it's even better when you've got a car that can lap it comfortably and reliably.
Not a week goes by that I don't have one of those lovely, "ahhhh" moments. Looking out of the kitchen window and seeing the hairpin at Wehrseifen. Or when taking a screen break and walking the dog over to Tiergarten to watch the industry pool.
Oh deer, etc... German wildlife battles German steel
And a substantial part of this quality of life is my trusty 328i. A reliable ring-tool that lets me scratch the Nurburgring itch whenever I want. Even if I don't use it for a couple of weeks, I know it's there, and it makes me happy.
And so it was, a beautiful Spring morning, I was leaving Adenau and driving up to Nurburg. Bloody early, so I could get to the office before the customers.
Because the weather was nice, I was in the BMW, just for the hell of it. But rounding the bend I see a solitary deer. He's looking down at the road from the embankment. I back off the gas. He looks up, stiffens and flinches back. I ease back on the gas and Mr Bambi launches himself off the slope and straight in front of my car. A millisecond after the deafening impact, my foot finally reaches the brake pedal and the ABS brings us safely to a halt. Damn you, Bambi, and your suicidal ways.
Thankfully didn't stop pre-N24 trackday fun
Later inspection around lunchtime confirms that it won't be a simple fix. Well, not if I want to fix it properly. Bumper cracked, headlight surround bent, headlights smashed off their lugs, corner light and kidney grilles missing.
So after spending all that money and time on my 328i, I still end up stressing and tinkering, ordering parts and trying to get the thing roadworthy again.
I shouldn't complain too loudly though, because it could have been much worse. Check out my fellow 'ringers' video from last Sunday just here . Same size rack of vension as the one that hit me, but damn if he wasn't doing at least three times the speed. Makes me happy not to be riding a bike on the 'ring, as that's the third time this month I've seen video of wildlife on the track.
Anyway, after a bit of judicious Buy It Now clicking, I had some cheap kidney grilles and headlights in place. My friend Jaco even lent me a corner light. And why the quick and dirty fix? Because I had a place booked on not one, but TWO track days!
Six cylinders versus four in fraternal fight
Skylimit
event held just before the N24. A chance to drive through the smoke and enjoy the buzz of
the N24 crowd
, albeit on a track day. In the end it was a little bit wet and I had to leave early to attend to a crashed customer.
The next track day was a more regular event with Trackdays.de but it resulted in another great "ahhhh, Nurburgring" moment when my boss and buddy Fredy Lienhard challenged me to a race against his little E30. Four-cylinders versus six. 80s versus 90s. And thanks to Youtube, I can share it with you guys. Enjoy! [Contains strong language and scenes that may be distressing for GT3 drivers from the beginning - Ed.]
Fact sheet
Car: 1997 BMW 328i SE
Run by: Dale Lomas
Bought: September 2012
Purchase price: £950
This month: Crashed into a deer. Bought ridiculously cheap and horrible pattern parts and raced my boss.
Additional photos: Joerg of www.ring-bilder.de, Michael Bertram www.mbmphoto.de