Folkert@MinaRally
Freude Am Fahren
Ik zit op 2 engelstalige fora, daarom koppie-peest ik hier voor het gemak mijn originele post. 99% van hier zal wel engels kunnen lezen. Ik ben te lui om alles terug naar nederland te vertalen.
Er zullen nog wel wat dingen tussen staan die hier vreemd overkomen, omdat die specifiek gericht zijn aan andere, maar daar moet je maar overheen lezen.
....
So I'll just start at the beginning, with my tour along the Grand Prix circuit and the whole new vacinity that's been pump out of the ground, Dubai style.
So for those expecting Nordschleife pics already, sorry, that's for another part . I'll be updating daily, maybe twice a day, as there's so many pics to process.
So part 1 a trip along the Grand Prix circuit and the new "entertainment area" that was not here when I was there in September 2008.
The Welcome Center
As seen from the fly-over
Inside the welcome center (BMW M Grandstand) and ajacent buildings. Notice the rollercoaster track going right through it (called Ring°Racer, which too bad, opens next week as it is delayed and was due to open the week I was there.)
More
The Ring°Arena
Ring°Racer carts
Main road in front of the home straight of the Grand Prix Circuit
More
More
Ring°Werk, a museum/entertainment/infotainment/small attraction park (more of the inside later)
Ring°Racer flying over from the BMW M Grandstand building into Ring°Werk
Track bends after the take-off, which is parallel to the home straight.
Old Nürburgring paddock...
...with the old tunnel leading to the new paddock
All winners at the track, including bicylce events and any other event held there.
More "homage"
Fuel station at the paddock
Inside the pitlane
View from top of pitlane building at the Coca-Cola curve with the entrance and exit to the Nordschleife visible (not the entrance/exit for Tourist driving). At top left, the Nürburg castle after which the track is named.
Press center. Here's where the number 1/2/3 hold their press briefing
Looking down the home straight/pitlane
Another view from the paddock with Nürburg castle in the center.
And as a little "tease" one random pic of the Nordschleife...
And let me not forget, the Ring°Card on which you can put X-amount of laps.
PART II
Pics of Ring°Werk
Excuse me for some of the pics. I'm not good at shooting properly without a tri-pot and under these lighting conditions (I hate using flash).
Entrance
What you see from the ticket office
The 4D theatre where they play a Nürburgring 24hour movie (about 20 minutes) which was cooler than it sounded to be. The 4th dimension comes from the cool light effects.
Quite a large theatre I might say
Cool Nürburgring logo at the back wall
"Winner's Circle" with lifesize figurines of famous drivers.
"Exploded view" from the 2007 BMW F1 car
Parts explained
V8 engine, which is like half the size of my 6pot engine.
Ring°Race entrance and Insignia
2009 BMW F1 car
Nürburgring (Grand Prix circuit simulator). I barely fitted in at 6'3'' & 235LBS
That F1 cars are light comes as no suprise, but exactly how light was beyond my wildest imagination. The cars on display, I could roll them forwards and backwards with a single finger(!). I couldn't check if an engine was actually in place or not, but still.
I also held an F1 carbon brakedisc. Again I kid you not, it was about the weight of a cookie. Talk about taking off unsprung weight!
PART III trackpics
Ok, time for some track pics.
The Ring, main entrance.
Various cars in line.
Motorbikes too of course.
Second of the 2 parking areas. This is the largest one.
More cars in line.
Dude in a very old Fiesta having fun too. Not even a dedicated trackcar or anything, just plane stock. Saucer discbrakes not visible
Looking backwards from the entrance at the exit. The red roadsign in the back is nearly 1km away (more than half a mile) and is where you exit the last long right turn and onto the main straight.
Part IV more trackpics
Some trackside pics.
Last Sunday was the only wet day, and wet is was.
I saved a couple of laps hoping to be the co-driver in some very fast cars, but as there were so many accidents, with long stints of track closure, when I finally got there, there was hardly a car in the parking lot left.
So I had no choice but give it a go myself. Talk about a tricky track, with rain pooring it was a different experience all together! There was hardly anyone left. About 10 cars on the track at most.
Here's me driving, just after leaving the main entrance
And right after the bridge in the pervious pic.
And here to the left is the exit from the Grand Prix circuit, onto the Nordschleife. Then my memory card was full.
Earlier that day...alongside the track.
This is the small spectator point of the 2 trackside area's @ Plaftzgarten.
And viewing to the other side.
This is the large spectator point in Brünnchen corner (a double right turn) looking towards the entry road.
This is what you see when entering the parking area. A piece of track is visisble a little right of the center of the pic...
...which is this bend.
Hilarious sign by BMW. For those not understanding German, the sign says:
"In normal everyday life cabs are beige colored and come from Stuttgart [hometown of Mercedes Benz]. Here however, is not normal everyday life".
(99% of cabs (taxi's) over here are Mercedes Benz')
Second of the double right corner at Brünnchen.
And looking at the other side. The main parking spot/viewing point clearly visible.
The Ring Taxi passing by.
You can see all kinds of cars at this track. Hummer H2 anyone?
Yes, Touring Cars (or busses if you wish) are also allowed. This one was full of old folks and drove at snail's pace. Hence the non motion-blurring pic :smt003
Part V What not to do.
Last Sunday was a weird day. First day since the monday before that there was rain. And lots of it too. Then dry again, then pooring again.
After a week of drought, this will make any road slippery, let alone a circuit, that's slippery already.
When I was walking alongside the track, suddenly no more cars came by. So it must have been closed due to something. Can take a few minutes, can take hours.
Then this passes me
followed by
Hmm ok. Lets see if the track opens up again.
Then a little further walking backward, I stumble upon this scene
Not much to see really, so I walk on, all the way to the Steilstrecks (Karussell bypass road). That was far enough for me.
I then get back to the scene from above. A Polizei car and a towtruck have joined. Hmm.
Then, while walking towards the scene, suddenly, the towtruck pulls this up!
Holy shit, that car wasn't there before. Oh hell it was, it had actually gone over the armco x|
I didn't see it happening, so I have no clue how he got his car there.
Then I'm right next to the towtruck. The next couple of pics speak for themselves.
And that was just what was to come. In the lap I did half an hour later, there were lots of cars and bike in the armco. One bike had a rear wheel broken in half. Yes, the Nordschleife is not to be taken lightly.
Not even 4 wheel drive (the Golf IV posted here above) will save your ass.
So there goes your modded (track) car. BBS wheels, Recaro race seats, Bilstein shocks, big brake kit, Intercooler and all...
Funny note: his license plate ended with 666. Makes you wonder...
Then it was time for the armco repaircrew...
And 2 pics of me on the Grand Prix Circuit
Er zullen nog wel wat dingen tussen staan die hier vreemd overkomen, omdat die specifiek gericht zijn aan andere, maar daar moet je maar overheen lezen.
....
So I'll just start at the beginning, with my tour along the Grand Prix circuit and the whole new vacinity that's been pump out of the ground, Dubai style.
So for those expecting Nordschleife pics already, sorry, that's for another part . I'll be updating daily, maybe twice a day, as there's so many pics to process.
So part 1 a trip along the Grand Prix circuit and the new "entertainment area" that was not here when I was there in September 2008.
The Welcome Center
As seen from the fly-over
Inside the welcome center (BMW M Grandstand) and ajacent buildings. Notice the rollercoaster track going right through it (called Ring°Racer, which too bad, opens next week as it is delayed and was due to open the week I was there.)
More
The Ring°Arena
Ring°Racer carts
Main road in front of the home straight of the Grand Prix Circuit
More
More
Ring°Werk, a museum/entertainment/infotainment/small attraction park (more of the inside later)
Ring°Racer flying over from the BMW M Grandstand building into Ring°Werk
Track bends after the take-off, which is parallel to the home straight.
Old Nürburgring paddock...
...with the old tunnel leading to the new paddock
All winners at the track, including bicylce events and any other event held there.
More "homage"
Fuel station at the paddock
Inside the pitlane
View from top of pitlane building at the Coca-Cola curve with the entrance and exit to the Nordschleife visible (not the entrance/exit for Tourist driving). At top left, the Nürburg castle after which the track is named.
Press center. Here's where the number 1/2/3 hold their press briefing
Looking down the home straight/pitlane
Another view from the paddock with Nürburg castle in the center.
And as a little "tease" one random pic of the Nordschleife...
And let me not forget, the Ring°Card on which you can put X-amount of laps.
PART II
Pics of Ring°Werk
Excuse me for some of the pics. I'm not good at shooting properly without a tri-pot and under these lighting conditions (I hate using flash).
Entrance
What you see from the ticket office
The 4D theatre where they play a Nürburgring 24hour movie (about 20 minutes) which was cooler than it sounded to be. The 4th dimension comes from the cool light effects.
Quite a large theatre I might say
Cool Nürburgring logo at the back wall
"Winner's Circle" with lifesize figurines of famous drivers.
"Exploded view" from the 2007 BMW F1 car
Parts explained
V8 engine, which is like half the size of my 6pot engine.
Ring°Race entrance and Insignia
2009 BMW F1 car
Nürburgring (Grand Prix circuit simulator). I barely fitted in at 6'3'' & 235LBS
That F1 cars are light comes as no suprise, but exactly how light was beyond my wildest imagination. The cars on display, I could roll them forwards and backwards with a single finger(!). I couldn't check if an engine was actually in place or not, but still.
I also held an F1 carbon brakedisc. Again I kid you not, it was about the weight of a cookie. Talk about taking off unsprung weight!
PART III trackpics
Ok, time for some track pics.
The Ring, main entrance.
Various cars in line.
Motorbikes too of course.
Second of the 2 parking areas. This is the largest one.
More cars in line.
Dude in a very old Fiesta having fun too. Not even a dedicated trackcar or anything, just plane stock. Saucer discbrakes not visible
Looking backwards from the entrance at the exit. The red roadsign in the back is nearly 1km away (more than half a mile) and is where you exit the last long right turn and onto the main straight.
Part IV more trackpics
Some trackside pics.
Last Sunday was the only wet day, and wet is was.
I saved a couple of laps hoping to be the co-driver in some very fast cars, but as there were so many accidents, with long stints of track closure, when I finally got there, there was hardly a car in the parking lot left.
So I had no choice but give it a go myself. Talk about a tricky track, with rain pooring it was a different experience all together! There was hardly anyone left. About 10 cars on the track at most.
Here's me driving, just after leaving the main entrance
And right after the bridge in the pervious pic.
And here to the left is the exit from the Grand Prix circuit, onto the Nordschleife. Then my memory card was full.
Earlier that day...alongside the track.
This is the small spectator point of the 2 trackside area's @ Plaftzgarten.
And viewing to the other side.
This is the large spectator point in Brünnchen corner (a double right turn) looking towards the entry road.
This is what you see when entering the parking area. A piece of track is visisble a little right of the center of the pic...
...which is this bend.
Hilarious sign by BMW. For those not understanding German, the sign says:
"In normal everyday life cabs are beige colored and come from Stuttgart [hometown of Mercedes Benz]. Here however, is not normal everyday life".
(99% of cabs (taxi's) over here are Mercedes Benz')
Second of the double right corner at Brünnchen.
And looking at the other side. The main parking spot/viewing point clearly visible.
The Ring Taxi passing by.
You can see all kinds of cars at this track. Hummer H2 anyone?
Yes, Touring Cars (or busses if you wish) are also allowed. This one was full of old folks and drove at snail's pace. Hence the non motion-blurring pic :smt003
Part V What not to do.
Last Sunday was a weird day. First day since the monday before that there was rain. And lots of it too. Then dry again, then pooring again.
After a week of drought, this will make any road slippery, let alone a circuit, that's slippery already.
When I was walking alongside the track, suddenly no more cars came by. So it must have been closed due to something. Can take a few minutes, can take hours.
Then this passes me
followed by
Hmm ok. Lets see if the track opens up again.
Then a little further walking backward, I stumble upon this scene
Not much to see really, so I walk on, all the way to the Steilstrecks (Karussell bypass road). That was far enough for me.
I then get back to the scene from above. A Polizei car and a towtruck have joined. Hmm.
Then, while walking towards the scene, suddenly, the towtruck pulls this up!
Holy shit, that car wasn't there before. Oh hell it was, it had actually gone over the armco x|
I didn't see it happening, so I have no clue how he got his car there.
Then I'm right next to the towtruck. The next couple of pics speak for themselves.
And that was just what was to come. In the lap I did half an hour later, there were lots of cars and bike in the armco. One bike had a rear wheel broken in half. Yes, the Nordschleife is not to be taken lightly.
Not even 4 wheel drive (the Golf IV posted here above) will save your ass.
So there goes your modded (track) car. BBS wheels, Recaro race seats, Bilstein shocks, big brake kit, Intercooler and all...
Funny note: his license plate ended with 666. Makes you wonder...
Then it was time for the armco repaircrew...
And 2 pics of me on the Grand Prix Circuit
