Yet another lap of Europe, solo in an Evora
Discussion
Can’t insure it for Touristfaht and my first and probably only time here so hired a RHD RenaultSport Clio from Apex.
As far as going alone is concerned, I’m quite happy with my own company and my wife was hardly thrilled with the idea of a week spent in a passenger seat. It’s quite a personal trip for me, not sure even my petrolhead mates would want to all the same ie Eiger and Piz Gloria.
As far as going alone is concerned, I’m quite happy with my own company and my wife was hardly thrilled with the idea of a week spent in a passenger seat. It’s quite a personal trip for me, not sure even my petrolhead mates would want to all the same ie Eiger and Piz Gloria.
giveitfish said:
As far as going alone is concerned, I’m quite happy with my own company and my wife was hardly thrilled with the idea of a week spent in a passenger seat. It’s quite a personal trip for me, not sure even my petrolhead mates would want to all the same ie Eiger and Piz Gloria.
That makes perfect sense to me - you can be utterly selfish about what you do and when, without even slightly inconveniencing anyone else.Looks like a fantastic trip - and a most enjoyable thread.
Day 8: Nurburgring laps
I'm on the ferry now, grabbing a bit of 4G before it leaves. That's it, trip over! 1900 miles so far, over 40 hours of driving. More in a week than most Evoras do in a year
So today was meant to be 2 laps in a rented RHD RenaultSport Clio with an instructor and then a taxi lap in a McLaren 600LT, all from Apex. Unfortunately the 600LT broke so they found me a seat in the RingTaxi GT3 RS at 8:45am with the hire laps after.
Apex were very good at getting this sorted with several alternatives if I'd had more flexibility with times, but I had a ferry to catch. I needed to leave the 'ring by 3pm at the absolute latest.
The day dawned cool and bright, again much better than I expected even a couple of days previously.
Unfortunately the 'ring was closed due to mist and stayed closed until after 10am, delaying everything. Lots of hanging around for everyone and chaos once it did open.
Eventually my turn came and off we went. The driver was a Norwegian who I now know is Oskar Sandberg and is a class winner at the 24 hours! I wish I'd been more clued up beforehand but I'd still probably ask inane questions. I'm sure he's used to it.
I paid 30 euros for the in-car video which I've just checked out. Unfortunately its incomplete but it covers about 2/3rds of the lap. It does show the speed which topped out at over 250kmh (over 155mph!)
The lap was absolutely mind boggling. My eyes were on stalks. To begin with I really thrown about until I got a good grip. Closing speeds with other cars were huge, as were the corner speeds. I could literally feel my cheeks moving with the g-forces.
I pretty much fell out of the car afterwards, then found Luis my instructor. Adrenaline was still pumping and it took me a while to calm down.
We got straight out on track. I'd been talking to the instructors earlier and they said 2 or 3 closures a day due to crashes was pretty normal so I was keen to get my laps in before I ran out of time.
Luis gave me constant very clear instructions about which gear to take, braking points and road positioning. Most of the time he was just telling me "gas gas gas" and "don't lift". The track is seriously intimidating. Lost of corners are blind and/or late apex and it's easy to get wrong but I was much faster than I expected to be and could have been faster still with more confidence. The instruction was worth every penny, I wouldn't have got nearly as much from it on my own.
The Clio was a great car for this, very easy to drive but being stripped out and with uprated suspension it'd also be pretty quick in the right hands.
We passed one car but weirdly there was no traffic passing us and I got a clear run at every corner. Half way round we found out why - a Mk2 Golf had crashed quite heavily and the track entry must have been closed just after we started!
At the end we joined the back of a long queue to leave the circuit but then Luis noticed the track had reopened, so we simply drove past everyone and went round again. We had the track to ourselves again, but this time only for a couple of corners before we were mobbed by dozens of faster cars coming through.
This lap was completely different. I was more confident but in lots of places I was having to get out of the way of faster traffic. I was constantly having to move right and then brake and corner off-line. It certainly reinforced my decision not to risk my own car, I was overloaded keeping on top of corner lines and my mirrors and that was with guidance and a car with good rear visibility.
It was all over before 1pm so I had plenty of time in the end. Yet again I was very lucky - the track had been closed again as I left.
All that remained was to take the car back, do a bit of car spotting around the place and then reluctantly head for home.
I also need to look out on YouTube over the next couple of days - Shmee150 and Misha were filming a new Supra at Apex so I wonder if my mucky car made it into shot?
I'm on the ferry now, grabbing a bit of 4G before it leaves. That's it, trip over! 1900 miles so far, over 40 hours of driving. More in a week than most Evoras do in a year
So today was meant to be 2 laps in a rented RHD RenaultSport Clio with an instructor and then a taxi lap in a McLaren 600LT, all from Apex. Unfortunately the 600LT broke so they found me a seat in the RingTaxi GT3 RS at 8:45am with the hire laps after.
Apex were very good at getting this sorted with several alternatives if I'd had more flexibility with times, but I had a ferry to catch. I needed to leave the 'ring by 3pm at the absolute latest.
The day dawned cool and bright, again much better than I expected even a couple of days previously.
Unfortunately the 'ring was closed due to mist and stayed closed until after 10am, delaying everything. Lots of hanging around for everyone and chaos once it did open.
Eventually my turn came and off we went. The driver was a Norwegian who I now know is Oskar Sandberg and is a class winner at the 24 hours! I wish I'd been more clued up beforehand but I'd still probably ask inane questions. I'm sure he's used to it.
I paid 30 euros for the in-car video which I've just checked out. Unfortunately its incomplete but it covers about 2/3rds of the lap. It does show the speed which topped out at over 250kmh (over 155mph!)
The lap was absolutely mind boggling. My eyes were on stalks. To begin with I really thrown about until I got a good grip. Closing speeds with other cars were huge, as were the corner speeds. I could literally feel my cheeks moving with the g-forces.
I pretty much fell out of the car afterwards, then found Luis my instructor. Adrenaline was still pumping and it took me a while to calm down.
We got straight out on track. I'd been talking to the instructors earlier and they said 2 or 3 closures a day due to crashes was pretty normal so I was keen to get my laps in before I ran out of time.
Luis gave me constant very clear instructions about which gear to take, braking points and road positioning. Most of the time he was just telling me "gas gas gas" and "don't lift". The track is seriously intimidating. Lost of corners are blind and/or late apex and it's easy to get wrong but I was much faster than I expected to be and could have been faster still with more confidence. The instruction was worth every penny, I wouldn't have got nearly as much from it on my own.
The Clio was a great car for this, very easy to drive but being stripped out and with uprated suspension it'd also be pretty quick in the right hands.
We passed one car but weirdly there was no traffic passing us and I got a clear run at every corner. Half way round we found out why - a Mk2 Golf had crashed quite heavily and the track entry must have been closed just after we started!
At the end we joined the back of a long queue to leave the circuit but then Luis noticed the track had reopened, so we simply drove past everyone and went round again. We had the track to ourselves again, but this time only for a couple of corners before we were mobbed by dozens of faster cars coming through.
This lap was completely different. I was more confident but in lots of places I was having to get out of the way of faster traffic. I was constantly having to move right and then brake and corner off-line. It certainly reinforced my decision not to risk my own car, I was overloaded keeping on top of corner lines and my mirrors and that was with guidance and a car with good rear visibility.
It was all over before 1pm so I had plenty of time in the end. Yet again I was very lucky - the track had been closed again as I left.
All that remained was to take the car back, do a bit of car spotting around the place and then reluctantly head for home.
I also need to look out on YouTube over the next couple of days - Shmee150 and Misha were filming a new Supra at Apex so I wonder if my mucky car made it into shot?
Sporky said:
That makes perfect sense to me - you can be utterly selfish about what you do and when, without even slightly inconveniencing anyone else.
Looks like a fantastic trip - and a most enjoyable thread.
Cheers! That's all very true, and it meant I could be flexible too. I originally had Monaco in my itinerary for example but I've been there before so I dumped it on the day to spend more time elsewhere. That's hard to do on the fly if you're in a group.Looks like a fantastic trip - and a most enjoyable thread.
giveitfish said:
Sporky said:
That makes perfect sense to me - you can be utterly selfish about what you do and when, without even slightly inconveniencing anyone else.
Looks like a fantastic trip - and a most enjoyable thread.
Cheers! That's all very true, and it meant I could be flexible too. I originally had Monaco in my itinerary for example but I've been there before so I dumped it on the day to spend more time elsewhere. That's hard to do on the fly if you're in a group.Looks like a fantastic trip - and a most enjoyable thread.
giveitfish said:
Cheers! That's all very true, and it meant I could be flexible too. I originally had Monaco in my itinerary for example but I've been there before so I dumped it on the day to spend more time elsewhere. That's hard to do on the fly if you're in a group.
I've only done Monaco once, for work. Odd place; like a gold plated council estate by the sea. BTW - I didn't mean "selfish" in a bad way in this context. Hopefully that was obvious.
Footnotes for this trip...
A lot of serendipity coming back on Sunday.
First thing: On the ferry I was parked next to a 911 Turbo. I spoke to the owner and it turns out he was also at the 'ring and also had a GT3 RS lap with the same driver as me, as he'd also had an Apex 600LT booking transferred! He also had Luis as his instructor too but in his own car, brave man.
Second thing: In the queue for passport control and about ten Elises and Exiges turn up who I assume were together. I got to drive most of the way home in convoy with a lovely green Exige which was wonderful.
Last thing: I don't really believe this but I parked on my drive with the trip showing 968 - three digit trip which means I actually drove 1968 miles on this holiday....and 1968 is the year I was born!
My car does sort of show very briefly in the background of Shmee's latest video, as does the hired Clio I'd just brought back and also me while I take my photo of him and Misha...oops
https://youtu.be/zoGfdG1RWvg?t=136
I filled up at the famous petrol station just outside the 'ring and was filmed there too along with everyone else it seems
https://youtu.be/pudLd9Gh0F8?t=784
And finally, if anyone is interested this is what my GT3 lap looked like from in the car
https://youtu.be/sxCOukQZDBQ
What a trip
A lot of serendipity coming back on Sunday.
First thing: On the ferry I was parked next to a 911 Turbo. I spoke to the owner and it turns out he was also at the 'ring and also had a GT3 RS lap with the same driver as me, as he'd also had an Apex 600LT booking transferred! He also had Luis as his instructor too but in his own car, brave man.
Second thing: In the queue for passport control and about ten Elises and Exiges turn up who I assume were together. I got to drive most of the way home in convoy with a lovely green Exige which was wonderful.
Last thing: I don't really believe this but I parked on my drive with the trip showing 968 - three digit trip which means I actually drove 1968 miles on this holiday....and 1968 is the year I was born!
My car does sort of show very briefly in the background of Shmee's latest video, as does the hired Clio I'd just brought back and also me while I take my photo of him and Misha...oops
https://youtu.be/zoGfdG1RWvg?t=136
I filled up at the famous petrol station just outside the 'ring and was filmed there too along with everyone else it seems
https://youtu.be/pudLd9Gh0F8?t=784
And finally, if anyone is interested this is what my GT3 lap looked like from in the car
https://youtu.be/sxCOukQZDBQ
What a trip
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