More Nurburgring antics!
Discussion
I don’t wish to steal any of Longers’ thunder (a great story and some nice photos), but I’ve just had a trip over to the Nüburgring too!
I had been invited to visit some friends who recently moved to Karlsruhe, so to cut a long story short… we took my car and my friend’s Porsche 944 Turbo over the channel to pay them a visit via the Nürburgring!
Bizarrely, I met Olav and his friends from TVRCC Holland who were going home on the same crossing from Newcastle to Ijmuiden following their tour of Scotland. I didn’t realise that we would all be on the same ferry!
I had a leisurely drive through the Netherlands and Germany on Thursday, stopping briefly in Nijmegen…
…and Cologne (where the engine comes from, I think?):
I then carried on to our rendezvous point at Camping-am-Nürburgring:
On Friday, we spent the morning at the 'ring, admiring all the other cars assembling in the car park. Lots of nice machinery there including a few Ferraris, an Ultima, a few other bits of exotica that I didn’t recognise, any amount of Porsches and hot hatches, millions of bikes but only one TVR! The track opened in the afternoon, so we had a bit of fun in the sunshine:
The point of no return:
Unfortunately, it was too much of a headache to get any photos on track - I believe there is a ban on in-car photography and it would have been virtually impossible to get spectators in place to co-ordinate any track-side pictures.
After our laps, we carried on to Karlsruhe in southern Germany and had a really nice couple of days sightseeing in nearby Heidelberg and enjoying a few local beers.
On Sunday we did the whole stint back to Ijmuiden in one day, stopping only for fuel. The weather was glorious for the whole trip, the car behaved impeccably and we covered a total of 843 continental miles (I’ve no idea what sort of fuel 'economy' we achieved). The TVR attracted loads of attention, on the autobahns, at the 'ring and basically wherever else we went!
The 'ring was amazing, but I think I’ve ticked that particular box now. We saw the result of a couple of crashes and one of them looked pretty serious, with a car ending up on it’s roof.
However, it was a fantastic experience to take the S on this iconic circuit and I’d advise anyone thinking of doing this to take a look at Ben Lovejoy’s very informative site. I can also recommend Camping-am-Nürburgring if the weather is good, and I was also incredibly impressed with the DFDS Seaways crossing from Newcastle. For anyone travelling from the north, this potentially cuts out hundreds of UK motorway miles and it was a really enjoyable way to travel. No issues with grounding out on the approach ramps, either.
Having said all that, the next time I take a TVR around the Nürburgring it will probably be in Mr Sheen’s V8S on my mate’s Playstation.
I had been invited to visit some friends who recently moved to Karlsruhe, so to cut a long story short… we took my car and my friend’s Porsche 944 Turbo over the channel to pay them a visit via the Nürburgring!
Bizarrely, I met Olav and his friends from TVRCC Holland who were going home on the same crossing from Newcastle to Ijmuiden following their tour of Scotland. I didn’t realise that we would all be on the same ferry!
I had a leisurely drive through the Netherlands and Germany on Thursday, stopping briefly in Nijmegen…
…and Cologne (where the engine comes from, I think?):
I then carried on to our rendezvous point at Camping-am-Nürburgring:
On Friday, we spent the morning at the 'ring, admiring all the other cars assembling in the car park. Lots of nice machinery there including a few Ferraris, an Ultima, a few other bits of exotica that I didn’t recognise, any amount of Porsches and hot hatches, millions of bikes but only one TVR! The track opened in the afternoon, so we had a bit of fun in the sunshine:
The point of no return:
Unfortunately, it was too much of a headache to get any photos on track - I believe there is a ban on in-car photography and it would have been virtually impossible to get spectators in place to co-ordinate any track-side pictures.
After our laps, we carried on to Karlsruhe in southern Germany and had a really nice couple of days sightseeing in nearby Heidelberg and enjoying a few local beers.
On Sunday we did the whole stint back to Ijmuiden in one day, stopping only for fuel. The weather was glorious for the whole trip, the car behaved impeccably and we covered a total of 843 continental miles (I’ve no idea what sort of fuel 'economy' we achieved). The TVR attracted loads of attention, on the autobahns, at the 'ring and basically wherever else we went!
The 'ring was amazing, but I think I’ve ticked that particular box now. We saw the result of a couple of crashes and one of them looked pretty serious, with a car ending up on it’s roof.
However, it was a fantastic experience to take the S on this iconic circuit and I’d advise anyone thinking of doing this to take a look at Ben Lovejoy’s very informative site. I can also recommend Camping-am-Nürburgring if the weather is good, and I was also incredibly impressed with the DFDS Seaways crossing from Newcastle. For anyone travelling from the north, this potentially cuts out hundreds of UK motorway miles and it was a really enjoyable way to travel. No issues with grounding out on the approach ramps, either.
Having said all that, the next time I take a TVR around the Nürburgring it will probably be in Mr Sheen’s V8S on my mate’s Playstation.
Looks like a great trip Geoff, defo better weather than we had at the Ring but at least it was good for the rest of our weekend! Judging from some of your pic's it looks like your S has been fitted with wings 
How many laps did you do...?
I signed up to this forum http://forum.ringersforum.com/ accessed through Ben Lovejoy's site and managed to get some pic's of us on track from there.
And to bring back a few memories this site http://www.northloop.co.uk/photography.htm has some good pic's of the circuit although they don't really do the bends over blind crests off camber in the wet through the trees justice.... but this comes close (I got to know the driver through the ringersforum, arranged to meet him at the track and he "led" me round).... http://videos.streetfire.net/video/206176e6-d3de-4...
I take it that you got yourself a "Ring Sticker" for the car?
Longers
How many laps did you do...?
Gentleman Geoff said:
Unfortunately, it was too much of a headache to get any photos on track - I believe there is a ban on in-car photography and it would have been virtually impossible to get spectators in place to co-ordinate any track-side pictures.
Correct, officially there is a ban but with hindsight it would have been possible to get some away from the start/finish area if the camera hadn't been in the bootI signed up to this forum http://forum.ringersforum.com/ accessed through Ben Lovejoy's site and managed to get some pic's of us on track from there.
And to bring back a few memories this site http://www.northloop.co.uk/photography.htm has some good pic's of the circuit although they don't really do the bends over blind crests off camber in the wet through the trees justice.... but this comes close (I got to know the driver through the ringersforum, arranged to meet him at the track and he "led" me round).... http://videos.streetfire.net/video/206176e6-d3de-4...
Gentleman Geoff said:
The 'ring was amazing, but I think I’ve ticked that particular box now. We saw the result of a couple of crashes and one of them looked pretty serious, with a car ending up on it’s roof.
Amazing is one way to describe - Relentless is my preferred way! I'd love to go back and do it in the dry but there are other things to do first. Watching a smashed up bike being taken from the circuit earlier in the day and passing a bent porsche when on track certainly kept me focussed on the job in hand!!I take it that you got yourself a "Ring Sticker" for the car?
Longers
Edited by Longers on Wednesday 29th August 11:51
Mr Plow said:
Looks like a good time was had by all. Very clean looking car in the photos.
Thanks Liam! But we definitely killed more than a few flies judging by the state of the windscreen when we got back. Oh, and there was a bit of brake dust on the wheels too... 
tomTVR said:
id be scared od bending it!
So was I Tom!! But I thought I would never live it down if I took the S to the 'ring and didn’t have at least one lap. 
ketvrin said:
Nice thread and pictures Geoff... you do get about dont you ?
Cheers Kev. Well, the trip was all thrown together at the last minute and I just thought it sounded like fun. I think things will quieten down for the autumn now...Longers said:
Looks like a great trip Geoff, defo better weather than we had at the Ring but at least it was good for the rest of our weekend! How many laps did you do...?
Yeah, we were really lucky with the weather. I ran through a bit of a shower on the way through Holland but it was hot and sunny for the rest of the weekend. The track was dry the whole time we were there, but I just did the one lap. I didn’t want to push my luck as I've not had a lot of track experience and I figured it would be virtually impossible to learn the circuit without going around it umpteen times. Also, if I'm honest, the main purpose of the trip was to visit our friends further south, but once we realised we would be driving past the 'ring we decided we had to make a stop there and do at least one lap. Mark took his Porsche round four times, so I had a lap in his car as a passenger. When you're not driving, you can really appreciate just how beautiful the whole area is around the 'ring without having to concentrate.Longers said:
I signed up to this forum http://forum.ringersforum.com/ accessed through Ben Lovejoy's site and managed to get some pic's of us on track from there.
And to bring back a few memories this site http://www.northloop.co.uk/photography.htm has some good pic's of the circuit although they don't really do the bends over blind crests off camber in the wet through the trees justice.... but this comes close (I got to know the driver through the ringersforum, arranged to meet him at the track and he "led" me round).... http://videos.streetfire.net/video/206176e6-d3de-4...
It certainly sounds like you were a lot more organised than us, Longers. That video is excellent, although your friend took his Golf around a bit quicker than I managed in the S! I still found those bends over blind crests off camber through the trees to be pretty hairy even in the dry!!And to bring back a few memories this site http://www.northloop.co.uk/photography.htm has some good pic's of the circuit although they don't really do the bends over blind crests off camber in the wet through the trees justice.... but this comes close (I got to know the driver through the ringersforum, arranged to meet him at the track and he "led" me round).... http://videos.streetfire.net/video/206176e6-d3de-4...
Longers said:
I take it that you got yourself a "Ring Sticker" for the car?
Oh yes. Not sure whereabouts to stick it yet. From the above account, it probably doesn’t deserve to go on my car – one feeble lap from a rookie hardly counts, does it? 
Geoff,
The Ring wasn't the sole purpose for our trip either - we were just as keen to watch the racing at Spa!
Don't worry about the sticker. Regardless of the pace you did a lap in your car so you should wear the badge with pride - well that's my story after surviving 1 lap in the wet. This guy on the otherhand may not want to remind himself of his lap....
http://images.mw-sportfoto.de/2007/touri/070826a/i...
The Ring wasn't the sole purpose for our trip either - we were just as keen to watch the racing at Spa!
Don't worry about the sticker. Regardless of the pace you did a lap in your car so you should wear the badge with pride - well that's my story after surviving 1 lap in the wet. This guy on the otherhand may not want to remind himself of his lap....
http://images.mw-sportfoto.de/2007/touri/070826a/i...
Hey gentlemengeoff,
You've been spotted on you way over... see http://www.autogespot.nl/viewimages.php?id=c214748... A few nice picture while driving too
Have fun
Cheers
Olav Bergman
You've been spotted on you way over... see http://www.autogespot.nl/viewimages.php?id=c214748... A few nice picture while driving too
Have fun
Cheers
Olav Bergman
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