My mighty MX5 - 'Ring Nail
Discussion
Day 1 – Friday
After we’d finished our not-so-full English and not-so-PG tips cuppa (I actually had a rather splendid cup of Darjeeling, but Craig is an uncultured swine who’s too uncouth to enjoy such delicacies), we headed to our next destination, Amsterdam. We decided to go via a little coastal village called Westkapelle in the Netherlands.
We chose this purely based on its position on the map and thought it’d be a cool drive on the Dutch coast on the way to the ‘Dam. And we were right. The drive was amazing, with many bridges and, more importantly, tunnels! Loads of them! Which gave us plenty of opportunities to make obnoxious, chavvy noises with our knackered 4 banger engines
(I’ll be uploading some videos and will edit to add the links at some point).
We arrived at Westkapelle and was surprised at how pretty it was. And windy. Oh so windy. Standing at an acute angle on the beach leaning into the wind was fun!
We had a good bit of well-deserved grub after having only had about an hour or so kip and explored the local beach. The war memorials were harrowing. We had intended on seeing some war related places but didn’t expect it to be this tiny little town:
The number of memorial stones was genuinely shocking. The ages of these guys, even more so. I know 18/19 year olds who don’t even know how to make their own bed, or cook themselves food and yet here we have the same aged men dying in war. Incredibly sad!
After we’d had our moment of respect for the lost soldiers, we soldiered on ourselves towards Amsterdam, via Rotterdam. One thing there is to say about driving through the Netherlands, particularly on the motorways is, well, there isn’t anything to say. Or see. It’s just flat. With farms.
Finally, we arrived in Amsterdam! We’d pondered about parking in Amsterdam. It’s extremely expensive the further towards the centre of the city you go. A bit like London. With less t
ts, I guess. Instead of paying the 60 Euros for 24 hour parking, we decided on a “park and ride” type scenarios. With the option of hiring bikes; “when in Rome” style. So we parked in the underground parking in the Olympic Stadium. After going through the wrong barrier and getting a “normal” parking ticket. We paid 1 Euro to leave after 20 mins and went through the correct “park and ride” barrier. The theory being, you buy a P&R ticket, then buy some tram tickets and the parking for 24 hours is cheaper. A lot cheaper. Down from 35 Euros to… wait for it… 1 Euro! So we parked up, paid 5.70 euros for the three of us to have 24 hour tram tickets, 50 cents to use their (remarkably clean!) toilets, and off we went!
As we were arriving into Amsterdam in the cars, there was an almighty storm brewing complete with some nifty looking fork lightning. Well, the most almighty of downpours followed which scuppered our biking plans. So we were glad we got the Tram tickets! We got off the tram at a stop which was about a 7 minute walk away from our Hostel. But be fked if we were going to get soaking wet! Especially as Craig and Mick only took enough clothed out of the car for the next day! 
So we did what needed to be done. Went to the pub, got ourselves a pint and waited for it to blow over!
We eventually got to the Hostel, showered, changed and headed off for the night doing all the touristy things:
We had some food, a few pints (being considerate of the big drive following the next day) and headed off to bed!
Day 2 to follow
After we’d finished our not-so-full English and not-so-PG tips cuppa (I actually had a rather splendid cup of Darjeeling, but Craig is an uncultured swine who’s too uncouth to enjoy such delicacies), we headed to our next destination, Amsterdam. We decided to go via a little coastal village called Westkapelle in the Netherlands.
We chose this purely based on its position on the map and thought it’d be a cool drive on the Dutch coast on the way to the ‘Dam. And we were right. The drive was amazing, with many bridges and, more importantly, tunnels! Loads of them! Which gave us plenty of opportunities to make obnoxious, chavvy noises with our knackered 4 banger engines
(I’ll be uploading some videos and will edit to add the links at some point).We arrived at Westkapelle and was surprised at how pretty it was. And windy. Oh so windy. Standing at an acute angle on the beach leaning into the wind was fun!
We had a good bit of well-deserved grub after having only had about an hour or so kip and explored the local beach. The war memorials were harrowing. We had intended on seeing some war related places but didn’t expect it to be this tiny little town:
The number of memorial stones was genuinely shocking. The ages of these guys, even more so. I know 18/19 year olds who don’t even know how to make their own bed, or cook themselves food and yet here we have the same aged men dying in war. Incredibly sad!
After we’d had our moment of respect for the lost soldiers, we soldiered on ourselves towards Amsterdam, via Rotterdam. One thing there is to say about driving through the Netherlands, particularly on the motorways is, well, there isn’t anything to say. Or see. It’s just flat. With farms.
Finally, we arrived in Amsterdam! We’d pondered about parking in Amsterdam. It’s extremely expensive the further towards the centre of the city you go. A bit like London. With less t
ts, I guess. Instead of paying the 60 Euros for 24 hour parking, we decided on a “park and ride” type scenarios. With the option of hiring bikes; “when in Rome” style. So we parked in the underground parking in the Olympic Stadium. After going through the wrong barrier and getting a “normal” parking ticket. We paid 1 Euro to leave after 20 mins and went through the correct “park and ride” barrier. The theory being, you buy a P&R ticket, then buy some tram tickets and the parking for 24 hours is cheaper. A lot cheaper. Down from 35 Euros to… wait for it… 1 Euro! So we parked up, paid 5.70 euros for the three of us to have 24 hour tram tickets, 50 cents to use their (remarkably clean!) toilets, and off we went!As we were arriving into Amsterdam in the cars, there was an almighty storm brewing complete with some nifty looking fork lightning. Well, the most almighty of downpours followed which scuppered our biking plans. So we were glad we got the Tram tickets! We got off the tram at a stop which was about a 7 minute walk away from our Hostel. But be f
ked if we were going to get soaking wet! Especially as Craig and Mick only took enough clothed out of the car for the next day! So we did what needed to be done. Went to the pub, got ourselves a pint and waited for it to blow over! We eventually got to the Hostel, showered, changed and headed off for the night doing all the touristy things:
We had some food, a few pints (being considerate of the big drive following the next day) and headed off to bed!
Day 2 to follow
Day 2 – Saturday
We woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed on Saturday morning ready to hit the road to the ‘Ring. Well, most of us anyway!
As per my previous post, we were relying on some cheap parking in Amsterdam. We were not disappointed! Usual parking price for 24 hours is 35 euros… EACH! But because we’d splashed out the 5.70 euros on tram tickets, we were able to get this reduced to 1 euro! Result!
Passed some more touristy things on the way back from the Hostel
We’d originally planned to try and visit Spa for the afternoon, but Mick had encountered a slight issue with his exhaust. We’d noticed through the tunnels that it was getting louder and louder and sounding even more st that it did to begin with . So we pulled over to have a look and found the mother of all holes in his backbox. It looked like Katy Price needing a shave! So after many giggles, we decided to try and find somewhere that we could buy another back box or even a patch of some sort. We stopped off at a local motor factors who really did try their best, in all fairness, but didn’t have anything we could use. We then tried *gulp*… Kwik Fit. A quick google suggested there was one a mere 4 minute drive from us. SO we hurried off in search to be right royally shafted. But, they were shut. fk. To add to our woes, Mick’s mighty Honda Accord 1.8 Sport VTEC started to sound like it was choking on a big fat dooby (maybe it went for a bit of fun of its own in Amsterdam?). It wanted stall on idle unless it was revved to 1k RPM. So we took apart the throttle body and gave it a good dose of carb cleaner which flushed out what looked like the remnants of Roy Chubby Browns arse cheeks. Living in hope this would sort the issue, we reassembled and fired it up. Better, but still fked.
Knowing that we were heading to the mecca of all things motorsport, we decided to press on towards the ‘Ring in the hope that somewhere closer would have a replacement or something we could use as a fix.
Quick pitstop for some fuel:
We arrived at the hotel not long before 5pm. We were staying at the Hotel An Der Nordschleife which was right next to the ‘Ring. Location was perfect. Weather, not so much! We parked up, got the keys to our room, christened the bogs and went off to explore.
Craig was pleased with the room, from his very camp pose
There had been an endurance race in the daytime, but touristenfahrten was open between 6-7pm. We had intended on doing a few sighting laps at this time, but given the weather was awful and Mick’s car was in the infirmary, we decided to go and get some food, some beers and watch instead! Our hotel was right next to the Cockpit Café, which was superb!
We had a few beers, chucked on some Netflix in the room and hit the sack after not much sleep in the previous 48 hours!
Day 3 coming up
We woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed on Saturday morning ready to hit the road to the ‘Ring. Well, most of us anyway!
As per my previous post, we were relying on some cheap parking in Amsterdam. We were not disappointed! Usual parking price for 24 hours is 35 euros… EACH! But because we’d splashed out the 5.70 euros on tram tickets, we were able to get this reduced to 1 euro! Result!
Passed some more touristy things on the way back from the Hostel
We’d originally planned to try and visit Spa for the afternoon, but Mick had encountered a slight issue with his exhaust. We’d noticed through the tunnels that it was getting louder and louder and sounding even more s
t that it did to begin with . So we pulled over to have a look and found the mother of all holes in his backbox. It looked like Katy Price needing a shave! So after many giggles, we decided to try and find somewhere that we could buy another back box or even a patch of some sort. We stopped off at a local motor factors who really did try their best, in all fairness, but didn’t have anything we could use. We then tried *gulp*… Kwik Fit. A quick google suggested there was one a mere 4 minute drive from us. SO we hurried off in search to be right royally shafted. But, they were shut. fk. To add to our woes, Mick’s mighty Honda Accord 1.8 Sport VTEC started to sound like it was choking on a big fat dooby (maybe it went for a bit of fun of its own in Amsterdam?). It wanted stall on idle unless it was revved to 1k RPM. So we took apart the throttle body and gave it a good dose of carb cleaner which flushed out what looked like the remnants of Roy Chubby Browns arse cheeks. Living in hope this would sort the issue, we reassembled and fired it up. Better, but still fked. Knowing that we were heading to the mecca of all things motorsport, we decided to press on towards the ‘Ring in the hope that somewhere closer would have a replacement or something we could use as a fix.
Quick pitstop for some fuel:
We arrived at the hotel not long before 5pm. We were staying at the Hotel An Der Nordschleife which was right next to the ‘Ring. Location was perfect. Weather, not so much! We parked up, got the keys to our room, christened the bogs and went off to explore.
Craig was pleased with the room, from his very camp pose
There had been an endurance race in the daytime, but touristenfahrten was open between 6-7pm. We had intended on doing a few sighting laps at this time, but given the weather was awful and Mick’s car was in the infirmary, we decided to go and get some food, some beers and watch instead! Our hotel was right next to the Cockpit Café, which was superb!
We had a few beers, chucked on some Netflix in the room and hit the sack after not much sleep in the previous 48 hours!
Day 3 coming up
Day 3 – Sunday
We woke up early raring to go! Chucked the kettle on, sprung open the curtains to the worst sight we could have hoped for! Rain! Lots of it!
Before we could even think of doing anything car related, we needed to satisfy our stomachs! Can’t race on an empty stomach! Luckily, even with the rain, the view from breakfast was a goodun. Some other Brits were prepping their cars for a few laps:
After stuffing ourselves with continental style brekky, we proceeded to try and see to Mick’s sick Honda. After a quick Google and a PH search, there were a few suggestions and one was to see if RSR Nurburg would help us out as they’d been helpful in the past. Armed with a knackered back box, we jumped in the cars to see if they could rescue us. Alas, there was nothing they had that could help us out. Bugger. Back off to the hotel it was.
We’d made a make-shift garage out of the terrace area in front of our room and set about tackling the nasty idle. We disassembled the throttle body and removed the idle control valve. Which itself was not an easy job situated on the back of the inlet manifold, with not much room between the bulkhead. Once off, we gave it a good dose of carb cleaner and cleaned with a complex tool comprising of a flathead screwdriver with some bog roll wrapped around it. It washed a lot of gunk away and we were hopeful as it was bolted back together. But it was still fked. Balls. We failed fixing it, so now we moved onto succeed in bodging it. The issue was that the idle was dropping to a point where the car wanted to stall. So, we adjusted the throttle cable and idle control screw so the car idled at 1500rpm. Which was hilarious when stopped at traffic lights or junctions watching Mick sink into his seat as others looked on in disgust at this absolute bell hammering his “launch control” !
Here we have Mick looking curiously at the intake. I assume he’s wondering something along the line of “What the fk is this?” or, “Does it go up my arse, or do I stick my cock in it?”
Back to the exhaust and the almighty hole that had developed. Well here it is:
Barry the bksd Back Box 
We scratched our heads to see what we could come up with. The answer? A Monster energy can, some foil, a tub of gum gum and a ratchet strap! Whatever else could we need?
Perfect fit:
Gently does it:
Fixed!
It worked surprisingly well and reduced the noise to an acceptable level. I’d say, that of only 5980498 hornets in a Cadbury’s biscuit tin. Before it sounded like 409870 Louis Armstrongs with sore throat. We were worried they’d pull him up for excessive noise.
Once that was all done it was time to bring the cars round to the room and make some last, pre-lap checks. Kick the tyres: Check. Engine still there? Check. Does it start? Check. Good to go!
Right next to our hotel was the half way entrance to the Ring, so we headed to the café, bought 1.5 laps and set off. I’ll get some videos uploaded soon and post the links. We did the half lap to the main straight, pulled over and had a cuppa at Devil’s Diner:
Once we’d refuelled ourselves, it was back out for another lap. Again, I’ll upload some links to the onboard footage, but below is a gif that perfectly illustrates how my lap went. In a low-on-fuel, semi-slicked MX5 in the pouring down rain!
We stopped again and compared laps. There was one thing in common, it was WET! I’d decided that paying 30 euros to tootle around the track trying not to stack it wasn’t worth it. I was too scared of ploughing into the barrier and having a bill for a million euros! So I jumped in with Craig for a lap instead and Mick followed. After a decent, but slippery lap in with Craig, we pulled up and waited for Mick. And waited. “Look out for the big yellow ADAC truck!” I jested with Craig. A few minutes later, we saw a Honda Accord in the distance. “That’s not Mick, that one’s got Lexus style lights…” said I to Craig. But it was Mick! We ran over to see what at happened and were greeted with a slightly crumpled Honda and a slightly sheepish looking Mick.
The damage doesn’t look too bad in the pics, but the front impact had shifted the subframe and the engine had decided to relocate a few inches over and forward in the engine bay. It still drove, but was very sick! The front engine mount was a gnats bk away from the rad fans and the battery was no longer where it should have been. The back end was fouling the rear wheel but it didn’t look like it was crabbing. He’d suffered a bit of lift-off oversteer, overcorrected and put the front end into the ARCMO, span the back end around and put that into the ARMCO too. I’ve GIF’d the onboard footage for the LOLz
It’s worth noting that he was ok. We did check that first before laughing at him. The laughter stopped once the bill for the ARMCO came
. I won’t say how much, but if anyone has watched the Danny DC2 crash video on YouTube. It was more than that. It was a very sombre drive home and Craig and I felt terrible for poor Mick. We all went into this understanding the risks and knowing the consequences. We’d all watched enough YouTube crash vids to know how easy it is to stack it in the dry on the Ring. Never mind the wettest day of the year! We got back to the hotel, gave Mick some words of wisdom along the lines of “Could be worse, you could be in a hospital bed or even worse, crashed into something we’d have been sad to see turned into a washing machine!”. We knew we’d have to repair the Honda before we got home, but were worried Mick would end up pouring a gallon of super over it and lighting the fker! So we dumped the car in the car port and made the strategic decision to prioritise beers, over cars! We had a beer in the room and headed out for some grub at a place called Cosy Corner in Adenau
We had some food and headed over to The Crown as we’d had a few recommendations. It wa sdpretty dead, being a Sunday. But a few Coronas and a game of Dirty Scrabble and Connect 4 lightened the mood
We got back to the room and was eager to see if we’d made our 2.8 seconds of fame on any of the bug Ring YouTube channels like Auto Addiction, EMS and TOP Nurburgring. Well, as a previous poster mentioned, I’d been caught by Auto Addiction!. Skip to 5.13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nc1eUZCf4U
Craig got caught on the EMS channel too, will get a link and GIF uploaded soon!
Also got snapped by a few on track photographers:
Not sure if anyone is reading/interested, but I’ll crack on with the final day soon!
We woke up early raring to go! Chucked the kettle on, sprung open the curtains to the worst sight we could have hoped for! Rain! Lots of it!
Before we could even think of doing anything car related, we needed to satisfy our stomachs! Can’t race on an empty stomach! Luckily, even with the rain, the view from breakfast was a goodun. Some other Brits were prepping their cars for a few laps:
After stuffing ourselves with continental style brekky, we proceeded to try and see to Mick’s sick Honda. After a quick Google and a PH search, there were a few suggestions and one was to see if RSR Nurburg would help us out as they’d been helpful in the past. Armed with a knackered back box, we jumped in the cars to see if they could rescue us. Alas, there was nothing they had that could help us out. Bugger. Back off to the hotel it was.
We’d made a make-shift garage out of the terrace area in front of our room and set about tackling the nasty idle. We disassembled the throttle body and removed the idle control valve. Which itself was not an easy job situated on the back of the inlet manifold, with not much room between the bulkhead. Once off, we gave it a good dose of carb cleaner and cleaned with a complex tool comprising of a flathead screwdriver with some bog roll wrapped around it. It washed a lot of gunk away and we were hopeful as it was bolted back together. But it was still f
ked. Balls. We failed fixing it, so now we moved onto succeed in bodging it. The issue was that the idle was dropping to a point where the car wanted to stall. So, we adjusted the throttle cable and idle control screw so the car idled at 1500rpm. Which was hilarious when stopped at traffic lights or junctions watching Mick sink into his seat as others looked on in disgust at this absolute bell hammering his “launch control” ! Here we have Mick looking curiously at the intake. I assume he’s wondering something along the line of “What the f
k is this?” or, “Does it go up my arse, or do I stick my cock in it?”Back to the exhaust and the almighty hole that had developed. Well here it is:
Barry the b
ksd Back Box We scratched our heads to see what we could come up with. The answer? A Monster energy can, some foil, a tub of gum gum and a ratchet strap! Whatever else could we need?
Perfect fit:
Gently does it:
Fixed!
It worked surprisingly well and reduced the noise to an acceptable level. I’d say, that of only 5980498 hornets in a Cadbury’s biscuit tin. Before it sounded like 409870 Louis Armstrongs with sore throat. We were worried they’d pull him up for excessive noise.
Once that was all done it was time to bring the cars round to the room and make some last, pre-lap checks. Kick the tyres: Check. Engine still there? Check. Does it start? Check. Good to go!
Right next to our hotel was the half way entrance to the Ring, so we headed to the café, bought 1.5 laps and set off. I’ll get some videos uploaded soon and post the links. We did the half lap to the main straight, pulled over and had a cuppa at Devil’s Diner:
Once we’d refuelled ourselves, it was back out for another lap. Again, I’ll upload some links to the onboard footage, but below is a gif that perfectly illustrates how my lap went. In a low-on-fuel, semi-slicked MX5 in the pouring down rain!
We stopped again and compared laps. There was one thing in common, it was WET! I’d decided that paying 30 euros to tootle around the track trying not to stack it wasn’t worth it. I was too scared of ploughing into the barrier and having a bill for a million euros! So I jumped in with Craig for a lap instead and Mick followed. After a decent, but slippery lap in with Craig, we pulled up and waited for Mick. And waited. “Look out for the big yellow ADAC truck!” I jested with Craig. A few minutes later, we saw a Honda Accord in the distance. “That’s not Mick, that one’s got Lexus style lights…” said I to Craig. But it was Mick! We ran over to see what at happened and were greeted with a slightly crumpled Honda and a slightly sheepish looking Mick.
The damage doesn’t look too bad in the pics, but the front impact had shifted the subframe and the engine had decided to relocate a few inches over and forward in the engine bay. It still drove, but was very sick! The front engine mount was a gnats b
k away from the rad fans and the battery was no longer where it should have been. The back end was fouling the rear wheel but it didn’t look like it was crabbing. He’d suffered a bit of lift-off oversteer, overcorrected and put the front end into the ARCMO, span the back end around and put that into the ARMCO too. I’ve GIF’d the onboard footage for the LOLz It’s worth noting that he was ok. We did check that first before laughing at him. The laughter stopped once the bill for the ARMCO came
. I won’t say how much, but if anyone has watched the Danny DC2 crash video on YouTube. It was more than that. It was a very sombre drive home and Craig and I felt terrible for poor Mick. We all went into this understanding the risks and knowing the consequences. We’d all watched enough YouTube crash vids to know how easy it is to stack it in the dry on the Ring. Never mind the wettest day of the year! We got back to the hotel, gave Mick some words of wisdom along the lines of “Could be worse, you could be in a hospital bed or even worse, crashed into something we’d have been sad to see turned into a washing machine!”. We knew we’d have to repair the Honda before we got home, but were worried Mick would end up pouring a gallon of super over it and lighting the fker! So we dumped the car in the car port and made the strategic decision to prioritise beers, over cars! We had a beer in the room and headed out for some grub at a place called Cosy Corner in AdenauWe had some food and headed over to The Crown as we’d had a few recommendations. It wa sdpretty dead, being a Sunday. But a few Coronas and a game of Dirty Scrabble and Connect 4 lightened the mood
We got back to the room and was eager to see if we’d made our 2.8 seconds of fame on any of the bug Ring YouTube channels like Auto Addiction, EMS and TOP Nurburgring. Well, as a previous poster mentioned, I’d been caught by Auto Addiction!. Skip to 5.13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nc1eUZCf4U
Craig got caught on the EMS channel too, will get a link and GIF uploaded soon!
Also got snapped by a few on track photographers:
Not sure if anyone is reading/interested, but I’ll crack on with the final day soon!
johnwilliams77 said:
B'stard Child said:
The overworked photos and gifs aren't to my taste but enjoying the commentary and feel of the trip even if I personally think the days of a ring trip being worthwhile are long gone.
Why do you think that? It's great on a trackday OP - great write-up.
johnwilliams77 said:
B'stard Child said:
The overworked photos and gifs aren't to my taste but enjoying the commentary and feel of the trip even if I personally think the days of a ring trip being worthwhile are long gone.
Why do you think that? It's great on a trackday This web page kinda summarised it for me cost wise
http://nurburgring.org.uk/prices.php
Then look at the costs of getting it wrong (fault or no fault) and being on the wrong side of the muddy ditch with a busted car.
Then there is the huge variety of vehicles on track and the differing speeds.
johnwilliams77 said:
Agree it’s not cheap but an incredible place for a trackday and more cost efficient if you can share with someone
Couldnt agree more, plus we didnt just drive to the ring, as we drove to Amsterdam and around a few other places to enjoy the different countries. We also took some advice off someone over there and hit a some fun in Belgium on the way home which the OP will add in next ... Come on Mike
We are already planning the 2019 trip and will make sure we make the ring a part of next years trip too.
Jonesy1972 said:
Great write up and as entertaining as ever! ??
Jonesy
Thanks Jonesy
B'stard Child said:
The overworked photos and gifs aren't to my taste but enjoying the commentary and feel of the trip even if I personally think the days of a ring trip being worthwhile are long gone.
Yeah I was in two minds as to posting the Instagram story pics, but that's what I was using to take pics at the time so there'd be a lot less pics otherwise. Wasn't expecting them to come out so fecking huge mind you I've been toying with the GIFs as there was a lot more video footage than pics, so thought it would be different to try and show some clips without having to link to YouTube etc.
Smitters said:
I sort of agree. I think I'd rather save for a trackday, which isn't cheap, rather than risk a weekend of TF. TF is cheap on the face of it, but potentially very costly with the unknown quantity of the other users.
OP - great write-up.
I think we feel the same about the Ring in that it's a great track and a great experience However, totally agree that TF days are an absolute minefield! A bit chaotic, different levels of performance and skill which make for a lottery of catastrophe. I think Mick came away relatively unscathed (bank account included) compared to how it could have turned out! OP - great write-up.
What frustrates me is, there's never any evidence that what they charge you for (i.e. replacememt of Armco, Armco posts, nuts and bolts etc.) as actually been purchased and installed! A great example of this is the latest Auto Addiction video there's an almighty smash by a Mini Cooper S. At the end of the video, they just use a Hi-Ab to bend the Armco and posts back into position. No sign of them being replaced! What's that all about!?
Anyway, thanks for the comments. Encouraging to see people reading. As Craig says, the trip was never solely about going to the Ring. It was about a good old fashioned road trip with the boys, complete with tomfoolery, pranks, wind-ups and disasters
Love it! Last day coming up
An entertaining writeup of a great trip, and one that I'm aiming to pop my cherry on next year.
However, as someone alluded to above, there's a lot of unpredictability at the Ring and I would be inclined to treat it more as an 'experience' than a trackday. Given that the state of your cars (sorry to be so blunt, but they weren't exactly fit for conditions or use) is indicative of what I might be sharing the track with, I'd certainly not be pushing anywhere close to the levels I would on a proper trackday.
However, as someone alluded to above, there's a lot of unpredictability at the Ring and I would be inclined to treat it more as an 'experience' than a trackday. Given that the state of your cars (sorry to be so blunt, but they weren't exactly fit for conditions or use) is indicative of what I might be sharing the track with, I'd certainly not be pushing anywhere close to the levels I would on a proper trackday.
MikeDrop said:
B'stard Child said:
The overworked photos and gifs aren't to my taste but enjoying the commentary and feel of the trip even if I personally think the days of a ring trip being worthwhile are long gone.
Yeah I was in two minds as to posting the Instagram story pics, but that's what I was using to take pics at the time so there'd be a lot less pics otherwise. Wasn't expecting them to come out so fecking huge mind you I've been toying with the GIFs as there was a lot more video footage than pics, so thought it would be different to try and show some clips without having to link to YouTube etc.
MikeDrop said:
Last day coming up
waiting C70R said:
An entertaining writeup of a great trip, and one that I'm aiming to pop my cherry on next year.
However, as someone alluded to above, there's a lot of unpredictability at the Ring and I would be inclined to treat it more as an 'experience' than a trackday. Given that the state of your cars (sorry to be so blunt, but they weren't exactly fit for conditions or use) is indicative of what I might be sharing the track with, I'd certainly not be pushing anywhere close to the levels I would on a proper trackday.
I get what you're saying, it's the nature of TF. I've seen videos of tourist coaches, stag do limos, scooters and moster trucks lapping the Ring on TF days. In fairness though, we did make sure that we all had new tyres (with the exception of me, who chose to run some more track orientated tyres. Was just bad luck with the weather), brakes and fluids were being contained where they were supposed to be. The cars were pushed hard, even in the rain and, despite the spin, mechanically help up perfectly. However, as someone alluded to above, there's a lot of unpredictability at the Ring and I would be inclined to treat it more as an 'experience' than a trackday. Given that the state of your cars (sorry to be so blunt, but they weren't exactly fit for conditions or use) is indicative of what I might be sharing the track with, I'd certainly not be pushing anywhere close to the levels I would on a proper trackday.
nearly done with the last day so stay tuned as will be up in the next few hours
MikeDrop said:
I get what you're saying, it's the nature of TF. I've seen videos of tourist coaches, stag do limos, scooters and moster trucks lapping the Ring on TF days. In fairness though, we did make sure that we all had new tyres (with the exception of me, who chose to run some more track orientated tyres. Was just bad luck with the weather), brakes and fluids were being contained where they were supposed to be. The cars were pushed hard, even in the rain and, despite the spin, mechanically help up perfectly.
nearly done with the last day so stay tuned as will be up in the next few hours
It's still pretty daft risking the use of semi slicks or track tyres which are usually terrible at dealing with standing water. You could have got a few more laps of fun with some normal summer tyre.nearly done with the last day so stay tuned as will be up in the next few hours
Day 4 – Monday
After a night of consolation beers, we woke up ready for the long trip back to Sheep Land. We woke up, chucked the kettle on, and put up the roller shutter blinds to reveal the most glorious of days outside! fking typical!
View from breakfast. I was very proud of my little nugget of an MX5
First order of the day was getting Mick’s car into a driveable state. A state in which continental coppers wouldn’t pull him over and give him a good gaping for some more money that he didn’t have. So out came the zip ties, duct tape and hammers – A Team style!
The below screengrab from a video we took shows how little gap there was between the bent wing and tyre. We tried to bend this back with wheel wrench, spanners, the lot. It wasn’t working. So we took to drastic, arguably dangerous measures.
We broke out the tow rope, attached it to the heaviest car, Craig’s, then attached the other end to the offending bent wing. What you are about to see was performed by highly skilled and trained imbeciles and should not be replicated by amateurs
This was just one video of one attempt. There were many failed attempts which did result in a a few bum-twitchy moments.
However, it worked a treat and, given we were performing this feat of death right outside the ticket booth in Adenau, it gave the on-looking marshals a good giggle! One even came out for a chat and to take some footage of the dumbass Welsh blokes trying to kill themselves in the most inventive way possible. His salute as we pulled off was a nice touch. As if to say “Good luck, you’re going to fking need it!”
Ecstatic at our bodge and that we were still alive with all limbs intact, the next thing we wanted to do was to hit the local supermarket and purchase a well-earned trophy of our time at the Ring. Something we could bring home that would show our peers that we are, in fact, superior in every way. Something they would see on our cars that would make people say “Wow. Guy’s got balls!”. Something to make us the envy of our motorsport-loving friends. A sticker. A proper, bona-fide Nurburgring sticker, bought from the actual place. Not something of eBay for chavs in Corsas whose only claim to driving the Ring is in a Veyron on Gran Turismo, or their replica, kitted up chav mobile on Forza! This was the real deal folks!
Six. fking. Euros.
Reluctantly, because we’re tight, the purchase was made and we made haste to adorn our cars with the best, self-proclaimed accolades the euro shrapnel in our pockets could buy!
We was well chuffed, innit.
Next stop was to get the equally cringe worthy picture of our cars underneath the large “Nurburgring” sign outside the Grand Prix circuit.
Content with our amazing photography skills, we set sail for our next destination. A recommendation from someone we met at our hotel, a Go-Kart session at Karting Eupen. Apparently one of the biggest karting venues in Europe situated in, well, Eupen. In Belgium. It was about an hour and a half drive through some nice twisty roads where we encountered some British bikers making some very nice progress.
After the twisties, we got onto the open road and, having little experience driving in Germany, wondered why everyone was driving so fast! Then, it dawned on us. fking Autobahn! Yes! Over the walkies we planned some fly-by’s in the cars. One car ahead, one car behind to provide traffic updates to the fly-by car. Drop the box when clear and away we go.
I managed a healthy 125mph before hitting the limiter (My MX5 has the Torsen 4.1 ratio diff fitted). The car was absolutely planted! It pleased me how solid it felt at those speeds.
We advised Mick against going over 70 in case his car disinitegrated!
Not long after, we arrived at the track, paid our 20 Euros and were sent to get suited and booted. Top tip – whatever size you think you’ll be, for the save of your testes, choose the next size up else you’ll end up with the finest of a man-sized moose-knuckle and a soprano voice
The track was impressive, long sweeping chicanes you could hit flat out and more technical hairpins:
I’ve got some good footage of the battle between me and Craig that I’ll get uploaded to YouTube and post a link. Mick was nowhere to be seen! One thing though, we were sharing the track with some old fellas and, well, there’s no other way to say it other than they absolutely smashed all three of us. Best lap of the track was 54 seconds. They were consistently in the 59 seconds and none of us three managed to get a lap in under a minute
. Shamed. But a doff of the cap to the mad guys!
After we’d compared laps and let the adrenaline settle down, we hit the road again aiming for Dunkirk. I’d promised the Mrs some Belgian Chocolate, so a quick “Ok Google” and we’d found a nice little shop selling boxes of the finest Belgian chocolate. We didn’t have any cash left on us after splurging on the sticker-trophies and the shop didn’t accept Visa (WTF!). No probs, Mastercard? Err. Nope. Christ. Google to the rescue for the nearest cashpoint and we were soon back on the road, fully laden with out “So we can come next year again then, yeah?” box of goodies
Hitting the 1000 miles milestone on the way back
The final leg. We made it to the port by about 6pm and our ferry was booked for 8pm. Unfortunatley there weren’t any earlier ferries due so we had to stick about.
Oh, I forgot. Craig managed to collect a hitchhiker at the port :rollseyes:. A German bloke trying to get to Liverpool but couldn’t board unless he was in a car. So Craig scooped him up and we now had a fourth member of the band. I don’t think I helped whispering through the walkies “Craig – he’s going to murder you. Craig – who’s going to drive your car back when you’re dead?. Craig – He doesn’t look like he carries lube Craig. Oh no”
Craig kept the sign he was using as souvenir
Whilst we were at the port, we had a lot of time to burn. We also had a few tins of spray paint. And a knackered car. Need I say anymore?
Safe to say it got some funny looks
The MX5 was still doing well. Although the miles had had a significant effect on the eBay special coilovers I’d fitted. The ride had began to get very bouncy in the last few hours before arriving at the port. Not surprised considering the shocks appeared to be made from dairyleigh dunkers. You can see the back end sitting very low in this pic. From behind, the wheels had also began to camber somewhat.
Also, my gummed up decat had failed again and was leaking. Badly. It sounded like something Spielberg would use as audio in Jurassic Park. But I was passed caring as my arse had been utterly destroyed by the Sparco after 1200 miles. I’m going to need one of those donuts pregnant women use.
We waited in the café type waiting room thing which consisted of 4 vending machines and some seats. I paid 3.80 euros for a plain chicken sandwich
and captures the sun going down
The ferry arrived and it was finally time to board, German friend in tow:
Whilst on the ferry, we helped our new compadre figure out the best way to get to Liverpool and planned to drop him at the nearest train station in Dover. There was about 40 minutes between the ferry landing and his train leaving. But, the ferry was delayed landing due to some technical issue. By about 30 minutes.
I knew I needed fuel, so I found a petrol station on our route back and plan was set. Craig and our new friend would head off to the station and meet Mick and I at the petrol station. The ferry landed and it was a race against time to get him to the station. Meanwhile, Mick and I headed for the petrol station but were lured by the bright lights and smells of a Maccy D’s.
With a 4 hour drive ahead, this is just what I needed!
Craig arrived about 10 minutes later having arrived at the station a gnats bk of a second before the train departed. But – he made it! Not before making the most hilarious Vlog entry of the trip – will post a link when it’s uploaded!
All reunited, we chowed down and headed for Sheep Land!
After multiple energy drinks, snickers bars, sweets and ear-drum-exploding loud music, we made it home.
All in all it was a cracking trip. Yes, the Ring was amazing but it was just a part of an overall amazing roadtrip through Europe. It was a massive learning experience for us all and we can’t wait to go back! Next time, will likely be on a dedicated track day to avoid any unexpected costs!
We’re planning another European trip next year that will likely incorporate the Ring again. But will be more focussed on some of the Alpine driving roads in Switzerland, Austria and Italy.
Hope you’ve all enjoyed reading and once the GoPro footage is uploaded to YouTube, we’ll post some links for a giggle!
After a night of consolation beers, we woke up ready for the long trip back to Sheep Land. We woke up, chucked the kettle on, and put up the roller shutter blinds to reveal the most glorious of days outside! f
king typical! View from breakfast. I was very proud of my little nugget of an MX5
First order of the day was getting Mick’s car into a driveable state. A state in which continental coppers wouldn’t pull him over and give him a good gaping for some more money that he didn’t have. So out came the zip ties, duct tape and hammers – A Team style!
The below screengrab from a video we took shows how little gap there was between the bent wing and tyre. We tried to bend this back with wheel wrench, spanners, the lot. It wasn’t working. So we took to drastic, arguably dangerous measures.
We broke out the tow rope, attached it to the heaviest car, Craig’s, then attached the other end to the offending bent wing. What you are about to see was performed by highly skilled and trained imbeciles and should not be replicated by amateurs
This was just one video of one attempt. There were many failed attempts which did result in a a few bum-twitchy moments.
However, it worked a treat and, given we were performing this feat of death right outside the ticket booth in Adenau, it gave the on-looking marshals a good giggle! One even came out for a chat and to take some footage of the dumbass Welsh blokes trying to kill themselves in the most inventive way possible
. His salute as we pulled off was a nice touch. As if to say “Good luck, you’re going to fking need it!”Ecstatic at our bodge and that we were still alive with all limbs intact, the next thing we wanted to do was to hit the local supermarket and purchase a well-earned trophy of our time at the Ring. Something we could bring home that would show our peers that we are, in fact, superior in every way. Something they would see on our cars that would make people say “Wow. Guy’s got balls!”. Something to make us the envy of our motorsport-loving friends. A sticker. A proper, bona-fide Nurburgring sticker, bought from the actual place. Not something of eBay for chavs in Corsas whose only claim to driving the Ring is in a Veyron on Gran Turismo, or their replica, kitted up chav mobile on Forza! This was the real deal folks!
Six. f
king. Euros. Reluctantly, because we’re tight, the purchase was made and we made haste to adorn our cars with the best, self-proclaimed accolades the euro shrapnel in our pockets could buy!
We was well chuffed, innit.
Next stop was to get the equally cringe worthy picture of our cars underneath the large “Nurburgring” sign outside the Grand Prix circuit.
Content with our amazing photography skills, we set sail for our next destination. A recommendation from someone we met at our hotel, a Go-Kart session at Karting Eupen. Apparently one of the biggest karting venues in Europe situated in, well, Eupen. In Belgium. It was about an hour and a half drive through some nice twisty roads where we encountered some British bikers making some very nice progress.
After the twisties, we got onto the open road and, having little experience driving in Germany, wondered why everyone was driving so fast! Then, it dawned on us. f
king Autobahn! Yes! Over the walkies we planned some fly-by’s in the cars. One car ahead, one car behind to provide traffic updates to the fly-by car. Drop the box when clear and away we go. I managed a healthy 125mph before hitting the limiter (My MX5 has the Torsen 4.1 ratio diff fitted). The car was absolutely planted! It pleased me how solid it felt at those speeds.
We advised Mick against going over 70 in case his car disinitegrated!
Not long after, we arrived at the track, paid our 20 Euros and were sent to get suited and booted. Top tip – whatever size you think you’ll be, for the save of your testes, choose the next size up else you’ll end up with the finest of a man-sized moose-knuckle and a soprano voice
The track was impressive, long sweeping chicanes you could hit flat out and more technical hairpins:
I’ve got some good footage of the battle between me and Craig that I’ll get uploaded to YouTube and post a link. Mick was nowhere to be seen! One thing though, we were sharing the track with some old fellas and, well, there’s no other way to say it other than they absolutely smashed all three of us. Best lap of the track was 54 seconds. They were consistently in the 59 seconds and none of us three managed to get a lap in under a minute
. Shamed. But a doff of the cap to the mad guys! After we’d compared laps and let the adrenaline settle down, we hit the road again aiming for Dunkirk. I’d promised the Mrs some Belgian Chocolate, so a quick “Ok Google” and we’d found a nice little shop selling boxes of the finest Belgian chocolate. We didn’t have any cash left on us after splurging on the sticker-trophies and the shop didn’t accept Visa (WTF!). No probs, Mastercard? Err. Nope. Christ. Google to the rescue for the nearest cashpoint and we were soon back on the road, fully laden with out “So we can come next year again then, yeah?” box of goodies
Hitting the 1000 miles milestone on the way back
The final leg. We made it to the port by about 6pm and our ferry was booked for 8pm. Unfortunatley there weren’t any earlier ferries due so we had to stick about.
Oh, I forgot. Craig managed to collect a hitchhiker at the port :rollseyes:. A German bloke trying to get to Liverpool but couldn’t board unless he was in a car. So Craig scooped him up and we now had a fourth member of the band
. I don’t think I helped whispering through the walkies “Craig – he’s going to murder you. Craig – who’s going to drive your car back when you’re dead?. Craig – He doesn’t look like he carries lube Craig. Oh no” Craig kept the sign he was using as souvenir
Whilst we were at the port, we had a lot of time to burn. We also had a few tins of spray paint. And a knackered car. Need I say anymore?
Safe to say it got some funny looks
The MX5 was still doing well. Although the miles had had a significant effect on the eBay special coilovers I’d fitted. The ride had began to get very bouncy in the last few hours before arriving at the port. Not surprised considering the shocks appeared to be made from dairyleigh dunkers. You can see the back end sitting very low in this pic. From behind, the wheels had also began to camber somewhat.
Also, my gummed up decat had failed again and was leaking. Badly. It sounded like something Spielberg would use as audio in Jurassic Park. But I was passed caring as my arse had been utterly destroyed by the Sparco after 1200 miles. I’m going to need one of those donuts pregnant women use.
We waited in the café type waiting room thing which consisted of 4 vending machines and some seats. I paid 3.80 euros for a plain chicken sandwich
and captures the sun going downThe ferry arrived and it was finally time to board, German friend in tow:
Whilst on the ferry, we helped our new compadre figure out the best way to get to Liverpool and planned to drop him at the nearest train station in Dover. There was about 40 minutes between the ferry landing and his train leaving. But, the ferry was delayed landing due to some technical issue. By about 30 minutes.
I knew I needed fuel, so I found a petrol station on our route back and plan was set. Craig and our new friend would head off to the station and meet Mick and I at the petrol station. The ferry landed and it was a race against time to get him to the station. Meanwhile, Mick and I headed for the petrol station but were lured by the bright lights and smells of a Maccy D’s.
With a 4 hour drive ahead, this is just what I needed!
Craig arrived about 10 minutes later having arrived at the station a gnats b
k of a second before the train departed. But – he made it! Not before making the most hilarious Vlog entry of the trip – will post a link when it’s uploaded!All reunited, we chowed down and headed for Sheep Land!
After multiple energy drinks, snickers bars, sweets and ear-drum-exploding loud music, we made it home.
All in all it was a cracking trip. Yes, the Ring was amazing but it was just a part of an overall amazing roadtrip through Europe. It was a massive learning experience for us all and we can’t wait to go back! Next time, will likely be on a dedicated track day to avoid any unexpected costs!
We’re planning another European trip next year that will likely incorporate the Ring again. But will be more focussed on some of the Alpine driving roads in Switzerland, Austria and Italy.
Hope you’ve all enjoyed reading and once the GoPro footage is uploaded to YouTube, we’ll post some links for a giggle!
Edited by MikeDrop on Thursday 4th October 13:52
MikeDrop said:
C70R said:
An entertaining writeup of a great trip, and one that I'm aiming to pop my cherry on next year.
However, as someone alluded to above, there's a lot of unpredictability at the Ring and I would be inclined to treat it more as an 'experience' than a trackday. Given that the state of your cars (sorry to be so blunt, but they weren't exactly fit for conditions or use) is indicative of what I might be sharing the track with, I'd certainly not be pushing anywhere close to the levels I would on a proper trackday.
I get what you're saying, it's the nature of TF. I've seen videos of tourist coaches, stag do limos, scooters and moster trucks lapping the Ring on TF days. In fairness though, we did make sure that we all had new tyres (with the exception of me, who chose to run some more track orientated tyres. Was just bad luck with the weather), brakes and fluids were being contained where they were supposed to be. The cars were pushed hard, even in the rain and, despite the spin, mechanically help up perfectly. However, as someone alluded to above, there's a lot of unpredictability at the Ring and I would be inclined to treat it more as an 'experience' than a trackday. Given that the state of your cars (sorry to be so blunt, but they weren't exactly fit for conditions or use) is indicative of what I might be sharing the track with, I'd certainly not be pushing anywhere close to the levels I would on a proper trackday.
nearly done with the last day so stay tuned as will be up in the next few hours
To be clear, I don't believe there's anything fundamentally wrong with doing this for TF days on the Ring, even though it's not the brightest behaviour. It's more a case of making sure that everyone using the 'Ring caters to the lowest common denominator, which isn't always the case as the numerous videos will attest.
Edited by C70R on Thursday 4th October 13:55
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