Nurburgring Trip - Friday May 7th -- Help Please

[robm3]

As my car mad brother is over from Australia for one week in May I'm taking him on the motoring pilgrimage that is Nurburgring.

Agenda is:

Trackday at Silverstone Friday 7th - then leave for the Ferry/Chunnel
Saturday morning wandering around soaking up ambience. Saturday afternoon drive the track
Sunday drive the track
Monday come back.

Need some help on the following:

1. Would we be able to get to Nurburgring the Friday evening after leaving a trackday at Silverstone at around 3pm or do people recommend splitting the trip up with an overnight stay in between e.g. France(we'd probably prefer to drive right though).
2. Chunnel or Ferry?
3. Where to stay? I've stayed at Sabrina Schmidt's mums place a few years back and that was brilliant (but forgotten the name now, anyone know?) but are there any others?
4. Trackcar hire - I'm 50/50 about this as will be going in either a Ultima GTR or M5 but any recommendations?
5. Track insurance - Any recommendations, I'm going to try my current provider Competition Car Insurance tomorrow.
6. I have an incar camera system that's quite discrete (racelogic lite), is it possible to use this?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to reply, appreciate it.

Oh and if any other PH will be there that weekend or heading down on the Friday it would be good to meet up.

Cheers again.

Robin.

[tertius]

robm3 said:

Need some help on the following:

1. Would we be able to get to Nurburgring the Friday evening after leaving a trackday at Silverstone at around 3pm or do people recommend splitting the trip up with an overnight stay in between e.g. France(we'd probably prefer to drive right though).
2. Chunnel or Ferry?
3. Where to stay? I've stayed at Sabrina Schmidt's mums place a few years back and that was brilliant (but forgotten the name now, anyone know?) but are there any others?
4. Trackcar hire - I'm 50/50 about this as will be going in either a Ultima GTR or M5 but any recommendations?
5. Track insurance - Any recommendations, I'm going to try my current provider Competition Car Insurance tomorrow.
6. I have an incar camera system that's quite discrete (racelogic lite), is it possible to use this?

1. yes, I would say so, you'll arrive around midnight
2. On that schedule tunnel
3. that is the Hotel am Tiergarten, try there, the Burgstube, The Blau Ecke, Hotel Wilhelmshohe, the Ringhaus, Hotel an der Nordschleife, etc.
4. I've used www.rent-racecar.de , www.rsrnurburg.com , www.rent4ring.de all good and recommended
5. TF is not a track day it is public driving; "track" insurance is neither relevant nor valid; if using your own car you need a minimum of of 3rd party cover; if you aren't sure rent
6. no

[robm3]

tertius said:

robm3 said:

Need some help on the following:

1. Would we be able to get to Nurburgring the Friday evening after leaving a trackday at Silverstone at around 3pm or do people recommend splitting the trip up with an overnight stay in between e.g. France(we'd probably prefer to drive right though).
2. Chunnel or Ferry?
3. Where to stay? I've stayed at Sabrina Schmidt's mums place a few years back and that was brilliant (but forgotten the name now, anyone know?) but are there any others?
4. Trackcar hire - I'm 50/50 about this as will be going in either a Ultima GTR or M5 but any recommendations?
5. Track insurance - Any recommendations, I'm going to try my current provider Competition Car Insurance tomorrow.
6. I have an incar camera system that's quite discrete (racelogic lite), is it possible to use this?

1. yes, I would say so, you'll arrive around midnight
2. On that schedule tunnel
3. that is the Hotel am Tiergarten, try there, the Burgstube, The Blau Ecke, Hotel Wilhelmshohe, the Ringhaus, Hotel an der Nordschleife, etc.
4. I've used www.rent-racecar.de , www.rsrnurburg.com , www.rent4ring.de all good and recommended
5. TF is not a track day it is public driving; "track" insurance is neither relevant nor valid; if using your own car you need a minimum of of 3rd party cover; if you aren't sure rent
6. no

Thanks for that, just for clarification on points 5 & 6.

5. I was under the understanding that normal insurance didn't cover the 'ring (or have seen some long running debates on it), anyhow the GTR is covered by the company called Competition Car Insurance and they include various things so will check with them. The M5 is under my wife's policy Sheila's Wheels with me as a named driver (but not my brother) and I'm pretty sure I'm the antithesis of what they cover. Anyhow will need to check this out.

6. I'm confused here, I see lots of recent posts on Youtube of 'ring footage, has anyone actually had their camera's removed or been kicked off e.g. is this a lightly policed rule such as recording off the TV (for those of us old enough to remember VCR's).

[tertius]

robm3 said:

Thanks for that, just for clarification on points 5 & 6.

5. I was under the understanding that normal insurance didn't cover the 'ring (or have seen some long running debates on it), anyhow the GTR is covered by the company called Competition Car Insurance and they include various things so will check with them. The M5 is under my wife's policy Sheila's Wheels with me as a named driver (but not my brother) and I'm pretty sure I'm the antithesis of what they cover. Anyhow will need to check this out.

6. I'm confused here, I see lots of recent posts on Youtube of 'ring footage, has anyone actually had their camera's removed or been kicked off e.g. is this a lightly policed rule such as recording off the TV (for those of us old enough to remember VCR's).

This is my understanding of the insurance situation.

Firstly German (and most other European) insurers treat it as a public road (which it is for TF) and cover it under a normal road policy.

Because it is a normal road (governed by German traffic law) a minimum of 3rd party cover is a legal requirement.

Many but not all UK insurers attempt to exclude the Nordschleife either by name or by implication. However, EU legislation means they cannot refuse to pay a 3rd party claim if it occurs on a public road in the EU, even on the NS. However, they may then want to recover those costs from you if they feel they have paid out costs that they would not normally have covered (for example because they are excluded in the policy).

Track day policies (in the UK) are, as far as I know, first party only - ie they cover your car only, they will not under any circumstances pay out for third party costs. But in this instance it is really third party cover that you require, and buying stand alone 3rd party cover appears to be impossible to all intents and purposes.

Regarding video'ing, some people obviously get away with it, however, I know people who have been stopped at the barrier, and people who have been banned for the day for continued infringements. Why take the risk?

Edited by tertius on Thursday 25th February 18:59

[mat205125]

5. There are a million and one threads about 'ring insurance, and I've yet to read of one that successfully covered someone having an accident on a TF day for the cost of their car, recovery, and track repair.

6. The rule is no cameras. The people filming broke that rule. I've never heard of anyone ACTUALLY being kicked off the circuit for using on.

[SpeedyDave]

tertius pretty much covered it.

A trackday policy is very unlikely to cover what you need (3rd party public road cover).

UK road policies should be considered a big risk even if they don't seem to specifically exclude the ring (at least until a few ongoing legal battles shake out one way or the other). You really want a road policy which specifically includes the ring but they are hard to come by.

Video cams, obviously heaps of people use them and get away with it. Anything obvious will get stopped at the entrance, if lucky you might just get told to remove it, if unlucky a ban for a few hours or a day. Mostly the marshals aren't looking *that* hard for them although sometimes they go on a bit of a mission and they do sometimes find even well concealed bulletcams in the grill or whereever.

[flemke]

The Spa 1000 kms is that weekend. As the circuit is about 5 miles out of your way (maybe 75 mins' drive this side of Nurburg), you may want to check it out.

http://www.lemans-series.com/en/s52_circuits/s52p0...


Also, according to this official website:

http://www.nuerburgring.de/en/nuerburgring-race-tr...

the Touristenfahrten (public driving) is open on that Saturday only 17:30-19:30, and open all day Sunday.

[edh]

mat205125 said:

5. There are a million and one threads about 'ring insurance, and I've yet to read of one that successfully covered someone having an accident on a TF day for the cost of their car, recovery, and track repair.

It does happen. A friend of mine had a breakdown on the ring a couple of years back - coolant hose burst. 2 bikers came off on the fluids. His insurers covered all 3rd party costs. He didn't get charged for track closure as a Boxter had stuffed itself into a wall earlier in the lap.

Edited by edh on Friday 26th February 09:18

[robm3]

flemke said:

The Spa 1000 kms is that weekend. As the circuit is about 5 miles out of your way (maybe 75 mins' drive this side of Nurburg), you may want to check it out.

http://www.lemans-series.com/en/s52_circuits/s52p0...


Also, according to this official website:

http://www.nuerburgring.de/en/nuerburgring-race-tr...

the Touristenfahrten (public driving) is open on that Saturday only 17:30-19:30, and open all day Sunday.

Flemke,
That's an excellent idea (Spa visit), seeing as the track is closed Saturday morning. Although wandering around the Nurburgring and soaking in the ambience, is certainly very worthwhile too.

[happygoron]

SpeedyDave said:

You really want a road policy which specifically includes the ring but they are hard to come by.

i.e. impossible?

[Munter]

happygoron said:

SpeedyDave said:

You really want a road policy which specifically includes the ring but they are hard to come by.

i.e. impossible?

Pretty much. Bit like Unicorns. You hear about them....but they appear to be hiding.

If you find one don't be shy with the info! (But probably best not to post it up so every chav uses them and causes them to change their mind)

[SpeedyDave]

Munter said:

happygoron said:

SpeedyDave said:

You really want a road policy which specifically includes the ring but they are hard to come by.

i.e. impossible?

Pretty much. Bit like Unicorns. You hear about them....but they appear to be hiding.

If you find one don't be shy with the info! (But probably best not to post it up so every chav uses them and causes them to change their mind)

Exactly. I think these days the people who have sorted out proper cover (usually regulars) don't want to advertise it and have others ruin a good thing. I know people who definitely have 3rd party cover for touristenfahrten explicitly confirmed in writing so its definitely possible. There have also been rumblings from a couple of people close to the insurance industry about designing policies specifically for TF but I haven't seen anything come of it yet.