Nurburgring May 2009 - The FULL Story (EDINBURGHCRUISE) PT2
Discussion
The first lap of that day and the first lap in the dry of the trip I had pulled on behind Deek then Ross. It took at least three corners for me to realise, with all that I was concentrating on, that it wasn’t actually wet anymore and that’s why the other two were chucking their cars in to the bends with gay abandon, much to my initial surprise.
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzEmJ58sYNM&feature=channel"]YouTube - Nurburgring - Bye Bye GTR (Evo Mag Lifer)[/url]
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZRErHDHqHI&feature=channel"]YouTube - Nurburgring - Passing Deeks Smokey Liner[/url]
Needless to say experience of the track showed and within a handful of corners the liner was dropping back in my mirrors. I however was and remain, second to Ross in the total laps covered stakes and he horsed that Puma in the down hill section to Adenau bridge at such a rate that by the climb out the bridge, he was still as far in front as he had been when we went on.
Power always wins through on the second half though and sure enough we were by him by the only bit you can call a straight soon after, about six mins in to our lap.
So late afternoon on the Saturday was upon us, jet washed had been found and used, though it was rubbish and we were getting out again for lap three of the day, the third dry one and we had a reasonably clear run. The brakes were proving to work well with heat in them as were the tyres and by the end of the lap I wanted to head on again right away, though my mechanical reliability head said “no, off you come and let the car cool down again”.
That was until I went to pull off before the re-entrance lanes and clocked a German plated Focus RS, just like mine but with the steering wheel on the right (wrong) side, just heading through the barriers. The a-hah voice went off inside my head and before I knew it we were passing the grand prix circuit leaning the car over harder than in the previous laps and chasing that Focus.
The “on a mission” approach to the lap nearly caught me out a couple of times on the way round, an unplanned understeer towards the grass at about 80 springs to mind and if I’m honest, the Focus still vanished in traffic about half way round but I plugged away as hard as I could and when we came to the gantry at the end of the lap, Graham announced that although the camera hadn’t been running (which was how we’d been looking at the times) he had still been timing it. Sir had just not only nearly killed the pair of us, but put in a 9mins 15secs in the process, his first recorded and as it turned out only, sub ten minute lap.
Having tempted fate enough for one day we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before heading for the Chinese restaurant. Saturday night, I’d love to tell you, was a wild one but we were all done in again and never left the restaurant until nearly midnight. Although it was very close to the cherry bar (strippers) we barely managed two drinks at the hotel before turning in for the night, or at least that was the intention as we returned to the guest house. As had been the case the night before our room became the visitor’s room, as Dean popped in to say hi and to let us know that Deek had popped out to sabotage Ross’ Puma with a whistle exhaust bung he’d brought with him.
This was a bit of a problem as Deek’s car keys had been swiped by his cousin earlier in the evening, about the time we left for the restaurant, and Billy had went back “for his left behind wallet” as the rest of us walked along. In truth Billy had been hiding the liner along the street a bit so we could all have a chuckle the following morning as we went for breakfast together. That had been the plan anyway but it was about to be spoilt as Deek was out at the cars and would see his was away. Or at least we thought he would.
Five minutes passed and in he came, hands manky but pleased as punch. He whispered to the three of us that the bung was too small for the Puma’s exhaust so he’d put it in the Astra’s one instead. He washed his hands and headed off to bed. I had to bite the inside of my cheek so as not to grin when he was telling us this as in the process of not getting the bung in the Puma, he’d walked through the space vacated by his car, to get to the Astra, without noticing it was away! Bless.
Day Four – Sunday
The moved liner prank went well in the morning and Deek took it well, his keys were in his hand, having been returned quietly the night before by his cousin, and he moved it back. He went on to clean his car up a bit as we were all pottering about in the car park checking the motors over. It was during this time that Billy’s son had asked him for a shot of his keys to have a look at cause he was bored. All that can be said is never trust an 11 year old from Shotts.
In the time his keys were being played with, his alarm fob was swapped with an identical spare that Kev had. Keys were returned and Deek went back to his room for ten mins or so. We had a fob without him knowing but how to move the car again? Well that’s where Graham came in to play. Graham that had the Liner for a few hours for a valet during the week before we left and had stopped by the key cutting shop during those few hours. No prizes for guessing that when Deek came back out, keys in hand, no skyline…
He was puzzled that time and didn’t take it quite as well. He finally figured out the fob swap but remained puzzled at how the car had been started until lunch time later in the day was he presented with his new spare key, which he took a little better again.
The weather hadn’t been so great on the Sunday, hence the pranks first thing, but by late morning the road surfaces were drying out again and we headed for the track, some to the viewing areas and some to the entrance to get some laps in. It was about this time, while stood at a viewing area that we established that Astra Coupes driven by someone that likes their track sessions at Knockhill, can lap as fast as an RS4 driven by someone who hasn’t done a track session before. It’s a cliché used for other purposes usually but knowledge really is power.
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCgdmVYHud4"]YouTube - Nurburgring - Kev trailing Nicks RS4[/url]
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9SytdVYON8"]YouTube - Nurburgring - Land Rover at Bridge[/url]
Late morning and both myself and Ross decide to try and beat a big grey cloud that’s coming over and get out on track before we loose the dry surface once more. We fail miserably and end up doing a lap not in the wet as we had done twice on the Friday, but on a damp, lightly rain sprinkled track that was even worse than a piss wet through one. It was slippy in one corner but gripped in the next, you just thought the surface was ok and traction broke again, it was horrible and the pair of us got to the end shaking our heads, no way were we going back again until it was soaking, or dry.
Needless to say the mixed bag of weather and a second day of all day opening at the track brought the crowds once more and the frequent accidents and periodic closures again which lasted all day.
Around mid afternoon, with one lap left on my card we got back out in the sun, on a dry surface and the adrenaline was going again, as was my pace. On camera again and on track for another sub ten mins, until a marshall car slowed us up about six corners before a binned R34 Skyline and wouldn’t let us past until we were by him, a good 30 seconds or so later. We flew the rest of the lap and what did the timer read on the video under the gantry, 10mins 23secs. Bloody skylines!
Having gotten so near yet so far to another sub ten I had a chat with fate and we agreed that I would put another couple of laps on to my card and see what the weather brought. Only by the time I got parked up and went to get the card, guess what, more accidents and the track was closed again.
Cue another 45mins of hanging about. I got chatting to some Dutch guy who was going to be buying a new bumper, headlight and wing when he got home after someone had cut across him entering a corner earlier in the weekend and hit the front of his brand new M3.
Then we started chatting to a biker who was stood with an insurance certificate in his hands. Turns out he was from Birmingham and was waiting to speak to some of the staff about retrieving his mate’s bike that had been binned earlier in the day on track, oh and his mate wouldn’t be getting out of the local hospital for three days to see what was left of his bike either! We left a number in case they couldn’t get the bike back over to the UK, we’re pretty sure it would’ve fitted in Billy’s van but they must have sorted something out as we never heard from them again.
Having spoken to both those guys before the track re-opened, I decided when the barrier finally went up again for me, that one sub ten was fine and went round going fast, but not too hard, that chat with fate earlier was a bit one sided on my behalf and I didn’t want to push my luck. We ended up at 10min 33sec if I recall but it was lap number nine of the weekend for me and the lap times and on track experiences were merging in to one blur of adrenaline fuelled action.
While some of the boys went back out late on that day, I decided enough was enough, I’d done what I went to do and was ready to head home, so while they went out on track, we did some exploring of the German countryside and found a couple of new viewing points we hadn’t been to before.
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlwctwlyAag&feature=channel"]YouTube - Nurburgring - Billy Kev and Deek[/url]
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65-rVmkVF_E"]YouTube - Nurburgring - Clio V6 catching a van[/url]
With the track closed for the night we headed back to the village got freshened up and hit the Italian. Prize for biggest dinner ever goes to Nick. The staff, who’s English wasn’t great, came back twice to check his order was just for him, which appeared strange until his pizza arrived, it was about the size of one of my alloys and tyre in one. Didn’t stop him having a damn good go at finishing it, but I think it finished him and he headed back for a Jacuzzi in his lush hotel. We went back to the bar and while it was our last night and the beers should’ve flowed, the plan for the following day was lurking in everyone’s mind.
It had been a hard weekend but the hardest was still to come, plan for day five, come home in one very long drive. Needless to say we managed about three drinks a piece and most of us headed back to the guest house. Ross and Deek’s co-pilot Dean were the two exceptions, staying out for more drink before joining some of us in Kev & Jamie’s room about an hour later and not long after Jamie had reaped his revenge on Kev. Moral of that story is when sharing a room with someone who you pour water on when they’re asleep, don’t then fall asleep mid sentence with them two nights later. Kev ended up using the spare duvet that night.
Day four was complete, or at least we thought it was. Remember Tiffany? The all things to all men champion karts chick and race instructor that somehow Deek had managed to get the number for then text all weekend?
Well someone obtained Deek’s usually closely guarded phone while he was asleep and sent her a text from it, along the lines of one he might have sent in a drunken stupor himself to a chick at home he actually knew already.
It was around this point that the prank line was perhaps crossed, hence the non-naming of names of those who are probably responsible. Needless to say that at last check, the replies from Tiffany had stopped, since Sunday night to be exact. If you see Deek, best not to mention this bit of the trip, to say he’s not amused would be like saying Mr Button is having an ok season in F1 this year.
Day Five – Monday
It was back to objectives for day five and they went about as well as the objectives for day one had, or hadn’t rather. The plan was to depart about ten, check in to the tunnel about five and half hours away for about half three (last check in 3.50pm) then once off the tunnel on the other side head for home, eta about midnight, maybe 1am, traffic dependent.
So when we left at the back of eleven we were already giving ourselves problems. When Billy had a wheel wobble he wanted to check and we stopped in a service station south of Bonn, we used more time we didn’t have and when in said service station a truck caught fire and some of us became fire fighters for a while, well that used more time again that we never had.
By the time we were on the auto bahns we were late, very late and only running at more than the legal speed limit was going to get us there on time. In a scene straight from Top Gear we had three further problems develop on the run up to the tunnel.
One was sticking together, or rather failing to. We lost Kev & young Jamie in the Astra who ended up in Holland briefly before finding us again on the far side of Brussels.
One was the temperatures, it was nice and hot outside but hot air and a skyline maintaining high revs kilometre after kilometre proved not to mix well and we had to balance mph and degrees Celsius for a lot of the journey back.
Finally, after so much “debate” over the weekend about maps vs navs, the navigator with the map let us down and we had a brief tour of Liege, which I have to put my hand up and say, the nav boys got us out of that one again, but only after a time consuming detour.
So we get to the north eastern corner of France, still with a long way to go and a short time to get there and it became a case of every man for himself. Some stopped for much needed fuel, some gunned it for the port and some did the latter, but not at quite such a high pace as others, cause Focus’ & Astra’s don’t generally reach 160mph.
I balanced out all my options and ended up at the tunnel check in first, only because RS4’s doing warp speed need to stop and fuel up again! We had 3 mins to spare, Nick (after his emergency fuel stop) and Kev came through at the back of us with 2 mins to spare. Billy, Ross and Deek arrived within the next five to ten mins or so after cut off for book in.
No problem we thought as although we made check in, both myself and Nick got a message up at the check in saying that due to under capacity on our train, we would be on the 5.20, not the 4.20.
We weren’t happy that, after all that rushing, we would be sat for an extra hour in the port but I wasn’t fussy since the rest of them, having missed check in, would also be on the same train.
That was until they pulled up with their check in cards hanging from the rear view mirrors. All four motors that arrived after me & Nick, even Billy who was actually booked on the later 5.20, were issued with cards to let them straight on the 4.20 departure. Needless to say I practised my French for a while, about and hour in fact, since there was little else to do.
Once off that later crossing, we then deliberately missed the evening meal stop the rest took on the M25, well, in the services anyway, to catch everyone up once more by the M1 north. Five of us were together once more, the sixth, Nick, was last seen exiting the petrol station in Folkstone at speed and we’ve never seen him since.
Either he got back in time for some sleep before his early morning business meeting he’d arranged for the following day, or he topped the 160mph he’d gotten out the car on a Belgian straight and is still being held at her majesty’s pleasure as a result. The rest of the run home was pretty uneventful.
The only highlight of the A1 was catching Deek at Newcastle about 2 hours after he’d vanished off towards the horizon at warp factor 7. He ended up taking the long way round Leeds and then had to stop feed his hungry liner once more at Washington services, hence our tortoise and hare like closing up on him.
Such was the time we'd spent in the cars over the length of the trip a new reason for stopping developed by this stage, not for fuel or food but a stretch stop, to remind our legs that yes the adrenaline may have have tailed off to memory but blood at least was still being pumped to them as much as the rest of our frazzled bodies.
Day five and the trip itself ended for me about 1.40am on what technically was day six. Having dropped off my co-pilot and heading for home alone I began to think back at what we’d all just done, both that day and over the four previous days we’d just experienced. I use experience deliberately as it’s the only way to describe it.
We did just shy of 800 miles that day, through four countries, or five if you were in the blue Astra Coupe. We did just shy of 1800 miles in the five days. Four of the cars had done over 100 miles each on the “Green Hell”, the other two managing over 100 miles between them. All the time mixing it with and being surrounded by the usual mechanical exotica that adorn the ring.
Only one car came back with any damage and that was merely a burst spoiler mount from reversing in to a bin in a car park, but since the driver also did the most laps completely unscathed on his first trip there, we won’t mention Kev by name.
Chuffed to bits that the motoring had gone so well for so many of us, I pondered about whether ringworm had bitten our never been before guys. As I turned in to my street my phone beeped a text alert from one of them, it read;
“Amazing trip, its as well the place isn’t closer or I’d be there all the time”
Summary
In truth there are still loads of stories I’ve missed from this, there was so much going on all weekend, from sugar coated chips to the Audi S4 that ended up with skyline spark plugs in it.
From beer glasses that would pass as vases, to the lost camera memory card that ended up with me having a nice chat outside a kebab shop with an Essex based RS club member I stumbled across. No doubt the team will have more to add too.
During our time there we all had different on track experiences;
Ross with his Puma put in nine laps as did I with my Focus.
Billy only did four in the Van, but then went nuts in the souvenir shop before we left, spending the euros he hadn’t spent on lap passes and the fuel you guzzle using them. The signed Sabine Schmitz coat that we found being just one of the many items he came back with.
Deek, between being the butt of the pranks all weekend and nearly arranging to meet the perfect woman, well he put that smokey Skyline round six times without disaster, though there was at least one close shave I know of that has been caught on camera.
Nick, on a mission to cook his brakes, that were about to be replaced under warranty upon his return, bunged the big Audi round eight times, with an Astra Coupe filling his mirrors for at least one of them.
However the person to embrace the ring more than any of the trip was Kev who put that poor Astra Coupe round no less than twelve times, that’s 164.4 miles of track action, before returning it home, broken spoiler an all, to his girlfriend, who's car he'd borrowed for the weekend!
Nurburgring - like no where else on earth.
Ross (Yarass)
Aly (Aly77)
Derek (Deekster)
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzEmJ58sYNM&feature=channel"]YouTube - Nurburgring - Bye Bye GTR (Evo Mag Lifer)[/url]
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZRErHDHqHI&feature=channel"]YouTube - Nurburgring - Passing Deeks Smokey Liner[/url]
Needless to say experience of the track showed and within a handful of corners the liner was dropping back in my mirrors. I however was and remain, second to Ross in the total laps covered stakes and he horsed that Puma in the down hill section to Adenau bridge at such a rate that by the climb out the bridge, he was still as far in front as he had been when we went on.
Power always wins through on the second half though and sure enough we were by him by the only bit you can call a straight soon after, about six mins in to our lap.
So late afternoon on the Saturday was upon us, jet washed had been found and used, though it was rubbish and we were getting out again for lap three of the day, the third dry one and we had a reasonably clear run. The brakes were proving to work well with heat in them as were the tyres and by the end of the lap I wanted to head on again right away, though my mechanical reliability head said “no, off you come and let the car cool down again”.
That was until I went to pull off before the re-entrance lanes and clocked a German plated Focus RS, just like mine but with the steering wheel on the right (wrong) side, just heading through the barriers. The a-hah voice went off inside my head and before I knew it we were passing the grand prix circuit leaning the car over harder than in the previous laps and chasing that Focus.
The “on a mission” approach to the lap nearly caught me out a couple of times on the way round, an unplanned understeer towards the grass at about 80 springs to mind and if I’m honest, the Focus still vanished in traffic about half way round but I plugged away as hard as I could and when we came to the gantry at the end of the lap, Graham announced that although the camera hadn’t been running (which was how we’d been looking at the times) he had still been timing it. Sir had just not only nearly killed the pair of us, but put in a 9mins 15secs in the process, his first recorded and as it turned out only, sub ten minute lap.
Having tempted fate enough for one day we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before heading for the Chinese restaurant. Saturday night, I’d love to tell you, was a wild one but we were all done in again and never left the restaurant until nearly midnight. Although it was very close to the cherry bar (strippers) we barely managed two drinks at the hotel before turning in for the night, or at least that was the intention as we returned to the guest house. As had been the case the night before our room became the visitor’s room, as Dean popped in to say hi and to let us know that Deek had popped out to sabotage Ross’ Puma with a whistle exhaust bung he’d brought with him.
This was a bit of a problem as Deek’s car keys had been swiped by his cousin earlier in the evening, about the time we left for the restaurant, and Billy had went back “for his left behind wallet” as the rest of us walked along. In truth Billy had been hiding the liner along the street a bit so we could all have a chuckle the following morning as we went for breakfast together. That had been the plan anyway but it was about to be spoilt as Deek was out at the cars and would see his was away. Or at least we thought he would.
Five minutes passed and in he came, hands manky but pleased as punch. He whispered to the three of us that the bung was too small for the Puma’s exhaust so he’d put it in the Astra’s one instead. He washed his hands and headed off to bed. I had to bite the inside of my cheek so as not to grin when he was telling us this as in the process of not getting the bung in the Puma, he’d walked through the space vacated by his car, to get to the Astra, without noticing it was away! Bless.
Day Four – Sunday
The moved liner prank went well in the morning and Deek took it well, his keys were in his hand, having been returned quietly the night before by his cousin, and he moved it back. He went on to clean his car up a bit as we were all pottering about in the car park checking the motors over. It was during this time that Billy’s son had asked him for a shot of his keys to have a look at cause he was bored. All that can be said is never trust an 11 year old from Shotts.
In the time his keys were being played with, his alarm fob was swapped with an identical spare that Kev had. Keys were returned and Deek went back to his room for ten mins or so. We had a fob without him knowing but how to move the car again? Well that’s where Graham came in to play. Graham that had the Liner for a few hours for a valet during the week before we left and had stopped by the key cutting shop during those few hours. No prizes for guessing that when Deek came back out, keys in hand, no skyline…
He was puzzled that time and didn’t take it quite as well. He finally figured out the fob swap but remained puzzled at how the car had been started until lunch time later in the day was he presented with his new spare key, which he took a little better again.
The weather hadn’t been so great on the Sunday, hence the pranks first thing, but by late morning the road surfaces were drying out again and we headed for the track, some to the viewing areas and some to the entrance to get some laps in. It was about this time, while stood at a viewing area that we established that Astra Coupes driven by someone that likes their track sessions at Knockhill, can lap as fast as an RS4 driven by someone who hasn’t done a track session before. It’s a cliché used for other purposes usually but knowledge really is power.
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCgdmVYHud4"]YouTube - Nurburgring - Kev trailing Nicks RS4[/url]
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9SytdVYON8"]YouTube - Nurburgring - Land Rover at Bridge[/url]
Late morning and both myself and Ross decide to try and beat a big grey cloud that’s coming over and get out on track before we loose the dry surface once more. We fail miserably and end up doing a lap not in the wet as we had done twice on the Friday, but on a damp, lightly rain sprinkled track that was even worse than a piss wet through one. It was slippy in one corner but gripped in the next, you just thought the surface was ok and traction broke again, it was horrible and the pair of us got to the end shaking our heads, no way were we going back again until it was soaking, or dry.
Needless to say the mixed bag of weather and a second day of all day opening at the track brought the crowds once more and the frequent accidents and periodic closures again which lasted all day.
Around mid afternoon, with one lap left on my card we got back out in the sun, on a dry surface and the adrenaline was going again, as was my pace. On camera again and on track for another sub ten mins, until a marshall car slowed us up about six corners before a binned R34 Skyline and wouldn’t let us past until we were by him, a good 30 seconds or so later. We flew the rest of the lap and what did the timer read on the video under the gantry, 10mins 23secs. Bloody skylines!
Having gotten so near yet so far to another sub ten I had a chat with fate and we agreed that I would put another couple of laps on to my card and see what the weather brought. Only by the time I got parked up and went to get the card, guess what, more accidents and the track was closed again.
Cue another 45mins of hanging about. I got chatting to some Dutch guy who was going to be buying a new bumper, headlight and wing when he got home after someone had cut across him entering a corner earlier in the weekend and hit the front of his brand new M3.
Then we started chatting to a biker who was stood with an insurance certificate in his hands. Turns out he was from Birmingham and was waiting to speak to some of the staff about retrieving his mate’s bike that had been binned earlier in the day on track, oh and his mate wouldn’t be getting out of the local hospital for three days to see what was left of his bike either! We left a number in case they couldn’t get the bike back over to the UK, we’re pretty sure it would’ve fitted in Billy’s van but they must have sorted something out as we never heard from them again.
Having spoken to both those guys before the track re-opened, I decided when the barrier finally went up again for me, that one sub ten was fine and went round going fast, but not too hard, that chat with fate earlier was a bit one sided on my behalf and I didn’t want to push my luck. We ended up at 10min 33sec if I recall but it was lap number nine of the weekend for me and the lap times and on track experiences were merging in to one blur of adrenaline fuelled action.
While some of the boys went back out late on that day, I decided enough was enough, I’d done what I went to do and was ready to head home, so while they went out on track, we did some exploring of the German countryside and found a couple of new viewing points we hadn’t been to before.
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlwctwlyAag&feature=channel"]YouTube - Nurburgring - Billy Kev and Deek[/url]
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65-rVmkVF_E"]YouTube - Nurburgring - Clio V6 catching a van[/url]
With the track closed for the night we headed back to the village got freshened up and hit the Italian. Prize for biggest dinner ever goes to Nick. The staff, who’s English wasn’t great, came back twice to check his order was just for him, which appeared strange until his pizza arrived, it was about the size of one of my alloys and tyre in one. Didn’t stop him having a damn good go at finishing it, but I think it finished him and he headed back for a Jacuzzi in his lush hotel. We went back to the bar and while it was our last night and the beers should’ve flowed, the plan for the following day was lurking in everyone’s mind.
It had been a hard weekend but the hardest was still to come, plan for day five, come home in one very long drive. Needless to say we managed about three drinks a piece and most of us headed back to the guest house. Ross and Deek’s co-pilot Dean were the two exceptions, staying out for more drink before joining some of us in Kev & Jamie’s room about an hour later and not long after Jamie had reaped his revenge on Kev. Moral of that story is when sharing a room with someone who you pour water on when they’re asleep, don’t then fall asleep mid sentence with them two nights later. Kev ended up using the spare duvet that night.
Day four was complete, or at least we thought it was. Remember Tiffany? The all things to all men champion karts chick and race instructor that somehow Deek had managed to get the number for then text all weekend?
Well someone obtained Deek’s usually closely guarded phone while he was asleep and sent her a text from it, along the lines of one he might have sent in a drunken stupor himself to a chick at home he actually knew already.
It was around this point that the prank line was perhaps crossed, hence the non-naming of names of those who are probably responsible. Needless to say that at last check, the replies from Tiffany had stopped, since Sunday night to be exact. If you see Deek, best not to mention this bit of the trip, to say he’s not amused would be like saying Mr Button is having an ok season in F1 this year.
Day Five – Monday
It was back to objectives for day five and they went about as well as the objectives for day one had, or hadn’t rather. The plan was to depart about ten, check in to the tunnel about five and half hours away for about half three (last check in 3.50pm) then once off the tunnel on the other side head for home, eta about midnight, maybe 1am, traffic dependent.
So when we left at the back of eleven we were already giving ourselves problems. When Billy had a wheel wobble he wanted to check and we stopped in a service station south of Bonn, we used more time we didn’t have and when in said service station a truck caught fire and some of us became fire fighters for a while, well that used more time again that we never had.
By the time we were on the auto bahns we were late, very late and only running at more than the legal speed limit was going to get us there on time. In a scene straight from Top Gear we had three further problems develop on the run up to the tunnel.
One was sticking together, or rather failing to. We lost Kev & young Jamie in the Astra who ended up in Holland briefly before finding us again on the far side of Brussels.
One was the temperatures, it was nice and hot outside but hot air and a skyline maintaining high revs kilometre after kilometre proved not to mix well and we had to balance mph and degrees Celsius for a lot of the journey back.
Finally, after so much “debate” over the weekend about maps vs navs, the navigator with the map let us down and we had a brief tour of Liege, which I have to put my hand up and say, the nav boys got us out of that one again, but only after a time consuming detour.
So we get to the north eastern corner of France, still with a long way to go and a short time to get there and it became a case of every man for himself. Some stopped for much needed fuel, some gunned it for the port and some did the latter, but not at quite such a high pace as others, cause Focus’ & Astra’s don’t generally reach 160mph.
I balanced out all my options and ended up at the tunnel check in first, only because RS4’s doing warp speed need to stop and fuel up again! We had 3 mins to spare, Nick (after his emergency fuel stop) and Kev came through at the back of us with 2 mins to spare. Billy, Ross and Deek arrived within the next five to ten mins or so after cut off for book in.
No problem we thought as although we made check in, both myself and Nick got a message up at the check in saying that due to under capacity on our train, we would be on the 5.20, not the 4.20.
We weren’t happy that, after all that rushing, we would be sat for an extra hour in the port but I wasn’t fussy since the rest of them, having missed check in, would also be on the same train.
That was until they pulled up with their check in cards hanging from the rear view mirrors. All four motors that arrived after me & Nick, even Billy who was actually booked on the later 5.20, were issued with cards to let them straight on the 4.20 departure. Needless to say I practised my French for a while, about and hour in fact, since there was little else to do.
Once off that later crossing, we then deliberately missed the evening meal stop the rest took on the M25, well, in the services anyway, to catch everyone up once more by the M1 north. Five of us were together once more, the sixth, Nick, was last seen exiting the petrol station in Folkstone at speed and we’ve never seen him since.
Either he got back in time for some sleep before his early morning business meeting he’d arranged for the following day, or he topped the 160mph he’d gotten out the car on a Belgian straight and is still being held at her majesty’s pleasure as a result. The rest of the run home was pretty uneventful.
The only highlight of the A1 was catching Deek at Newcastle about 2 hours after he’d vanished off towards the horizon at warp factor 7. He ended up taking the long way round Leeds and then had to stop feed his hungry liner once more at Washington services, hence our tortoise and hare like closing up on him.
Such was the time we'd spent in the cars over the length of the trip a new reason for stopping developed by this stage, not for fuel or food but a stretch stop, to remind our legs that yes the adrenaline may have have tailed off to memory but blood at least was still being pumped to them as much as the rest of our frazzled bodies.
Day five and the trip itself ended for me about 1.40am on what technically was day six. Having dropped off my co-pilot and heading for home alone I began to think back at what we’d all just done, both that day and over the four previous days we’d just experienced. I use experience deliberately as it’s the only way to describe it.
We did just shy of 800 miles that day, through four countries, or five if you were in the blue Astra Coupe. We did just shy of 1800 miles in the five days. Four of the cars had done over 100 miles each on the “Green Hell”, the other two managing over 100 miles between them. All the time mixing it with and being surrounded by the usual mechanical exotica that adorn the ring.
Only one car came back with any damage and that was merely a burst spoiler mount from reversing in to a bin in a car park, but since the driver also did the most laps completely unscathed on his first trip there, we won’t mention Kev by name.
Chuffed to bits that the motoring had gone so well for so many of us, I pondered about whether ringworm had bitten our never been before guys. As I turned in to my street my phone beeped a text alert from one of them, it read;
“Amazing trip, its as well the place isn’t closer or I’d be there all the time”
Summary
In truth there are still loads of stories I’ve missed from this, there was so much going on all weekend, from sugar coated chips to the Audi S4 that ended up with skyline spark plugs in it.
From beer glasses that would pass as vases, to the lost camera memory card that ended up with me having a nice chat outside a kebab shop with an Essex based RS club member I stumbled across. No doubt the team will have more to add too.
During our time there we all had different on track experiences;
Ross with his Puma put in nine laps as did I with my Focus.
Billy only did four in the Van, but then went nuts in the souvenir shop before we left, spending the euros he hadn’t spent on lap passes and the fuel you guzzle using them. The signed Sabine Schmitz coat that we found being just one of the many items he came back with.
Deek, between being the butt of the pranks all weekend and nearly arranging to meet the perfect woman, well he put that smokey Skyline round six times without disaster, though there was at least one close shave I know of that has been caught on camera.
Nick, on a mission to cook his brakes, that were about to be replaced under warranty upon his return, bunged the big Audi round eight times, with an Astra Coupe filling his mirrors for at least one of them.
However the person to embrace the ring more than any of the trip was Kev who put that poor Astra Coupe round no less than twelve times, that’s 164.4 miles of track action, before returning it home, broken spoiler an all, to his girlfriend, who's car he'd borrowed for the weekend!
Nurburgring - like no where else on earth.
Ross (Yarass)
Aly (Aly77)
Derek (Deekster)
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