My First Nurburgring Trip, Pics and Writeup

dan-quattro

dan-quattro

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Wow, just got back from my first trip to the Ring, was ****** amazing!

We got the Tunnel Saturday afternoon following some hefty roadworks on the M25 and a couple of crashes, but we got there eventually and boarded the train. This was my first time on the tunnel too so that was interesting :)

We were going for my Dads birthday and also because we just knew it was somewhere that had to be done at some point in our lives lol.

Once we hit France we had the satnav take us to Brugges in Belgium...we hadn't been before to here so thought we'd stop by and see what it was like.

We had no hotels booked at all, we were doing them all on spec as it left our options open more. Brugges turned out to be a really nice place, beer was top notch, our fav being Brugges 'Zot' and of course Leffe.

Second day we headed to Cologne. Didn't really enjoy this too much, couldn't seem to find a comfy area to drink in or eat, nothing like Belgium, and so we ate at somewhere half decent and had an earlish nite ready for the ride to the Ring the following day.

We set-off for the Ring, only took us just over an hour to get there from Cologne, but it took and hour to get out of Cologne city centre lol, roadworks were a nightmare from the start and of course Serena on the satnav kept trying to detour us, only to lead us down more roadworks and roads that had been closed for works, no not fully her fault. A bit of clever work by ourselves managed to get us out in the end lol.

We had booked one hotel, and that was the hotel an der nordschleife - http://www.hotel-an-der-nordschleife.de/ - we arrived and found our rooms to be very clean, comfortable and at a good rate per night, 75 euros incl breakfast.

From our room you could see the Ring:
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We had a mooch around and found the start of the ring where you buy tickets and enter the Ring, and the cars on display were very nice indeed. Plenty of British bikers were floating around and some hefty German Porsche GT2 & GT3's.

My Dad got his nerves together and got us 1 lap to say he'd been on and we set-off for the entrance. We were in his Audi A4 1.8T Sport, next year I'm taking my S3, and the lap we had was very good fun if a little slow...16 minutes lol.

But, in saying that it was our first time and just wanted to get round in one piece and not suffer any damages to the car or track.

His Nurburgring sticker sits firmly on the boot now and he drives with much pride, awwww :)

We hit Adenau on the night for some much enjoyable Bitburger and a pasta in the first resturant as you enter the town, I forget the name but it was spot on!

For the last night we headed back up to Brugges as we enjoyed it that much, and this day was my Dad's birthday, so we wanted somewhere we knew was good for eating and sleeping, so Brugges it was.

I had far too much beer in the bar that hosts 300 Belgium beers at a time, right across the road from the Hobbit pub which serves what was one of my best steaks ever lol, and so the next day for travelling home my head was firmly up the window as I tried to rest my eyes and stop my stomach from doing somersaults lol.


All-in all, it was an awesome trip, and one I would very much recommend. As said, I will be heading back next year think in the S3 tohave some more fun.

Below are some of my pics from the Ring, hope you enjoy ;) . All images can be viewed on my website: http://www.djaphoto.co.uk/

Our Ring pic
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British Bikers
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Yummy
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Red, White and Blue :)
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My Dads proud sticker lol
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My artistic side coming out, x3 image stitch
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Possibly my favourite image
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Very nice! That's the exact same GTR I saw in York a few months ago!

Some day I want to go! When I'm a bit older and can afford to go lol.
 
Nice trip......but how did you go all that way and only do one lap?!?!?! :uhm:
 
Stacie, it's a real special place indeed, somewhere I think everyone must try and get to in life lol, it's awesome :) , glad you like my pics :)

Wai-fan, definately try and get there sometime if you can, you will love it! I'd heard all about it for yonks and finally got off our backsides and did it, a very enjoyable experience indeed!
 
Wow nice pictures! Amazed at the 09 plate Aston lol. Looks like you had a good time, I want to go nurburgring one day but in my S3 or on my R6? Lol.
 
****** jealous...thanks for sharings.
So when is AS going to grace the fatherland ?
 
Nurburgring is a great place and experience, should be on everyones must do list ;-)
Been the last two years and will be going again come next spring.

Glad you enjoyed it.

Here's one of mine.
Ring%2021.jpg
 
Lovely pics mate. I went there in May and really enjoyed.

Definately should be on everyones list of things to do!

IIRC, you could fo around the ring in that Aston for £200.
 
audi upgrades
Thanks for the comments everybody, very kind indeed :)

I'm glad I'm able to say I've been now, feel proud lol. Was down the pub last night and got talking...one lad is going with his mates next week, and my mrs's client at the beauty salon goes next month with her husband in their Evo 9, surprising how many folk are into it and have been or want to go :)
 
Sounds good Dan, a belated Happy Birthday to your Dad! :)

I've been thinking about a 'Ring' trip for some time now, it's a case of finding the time to do it, but I'm sure it'll be as fun as it looks, and as scoTTy says, I need 2 laps minimum... but they are long laps, so you never know.

Glad you had a good trip though. :racer:
 
Great thread and great pictures mate! I'm loving the panoramic picture too.

I'm surprised you didn't find anywhere in Cologne! Did you go to the beer cellar? It's not far from the Dom, you go downstairs and it's huuuuge. You can even buy beer by the barrel:
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jojo said:
and as scoTTy says, I need 2 laps minimum... but they are long laps, so you never know.
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:crying: I don't get these minimal lap trips? When I go it's to drive the track. I think the lest number of laps I've ever done on a trip is 8 and that was due to horrendous fog resulting in them closing it for a lot of time.

Anyway it doesn't matter. As long as it's a good trip and you have fun then go for it :thumbsup:
 
Staz said:
I'm surprised you didn't find anywhere in Cologne! Did you go to the beer cellar? It's not far from the Dom, you go downstairs and it's huuuuge. You can even buy beer by the barrel:
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Exactly !! I think it's one of the biggest bars in Europe ! I do like to try the different Kolsch's in that area ;)
 
OOOOOOOOYES OOOOOYES ..Boy's and girls this is a must for next year..
 
audi upgrades
Yea I agree the lap number was poorly low, but it's the first thing my Dad had done like that and he's not a massive speed freak so the lap was slow and it was only one...but he enjoyed himself!

We got home in one piece and enjoyed the rest of our trip which is the most important thing.

Having tasted it now, we can return in the future and build on it, so yea I can appreciate it sounds a poor show for such a long trip etc etc, but we enjoyed everything we did and look forward to returning ;)

A little dissapointed in the Cologne news lol, wish we'd found that cellar now, would have made a more interesting leg of the journey. However, think we made up for it in Belgium with the little bar housing 300 of Belgiums finest lol.

All's good in these little adventures, can't wait for the next one now :D
 
Yes James mate, pay at the Ring office if you like and it's 22 euro per lap, although I do beleive you can book in advance online somewhere?

They give you a card which you show at the barrier then you are on the track.

If you have more than one lap, you simply re-enter at the barrier once finished :)
 
I think it's around 15 euro per lap. You buy just 1 lap tickets or you get discount for a 5/10 lap one. Last time I looked it was only £650 for the year!
 
Sounds like it has gone up a little! Mind you if you hit the Armco it's costs you 100 euro per meter plus the cost for the recovery truck
 
I think anyone going on it bar the pro drivers is specially careful...like all tracks/circuits
 
Ouch!!!

Think I remember seeing the season ticket was priced at 1075 euro now...
 
Great story and excellent photos, everyone should do the Nurburgring. The wife and i went last year in our 1989 mini. We camped there for a week and did two laps at about 20mins a lap, :laugh:. Got to go again.:icon_thumright:
 
Staz said:
My mate hit 3 sections of Armco and damaged the grass. The bill came to 1200 euro:
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That's a fast section of track with some hard breaking in the dip and a left hand bend to contend with. The film dosen't do justice to the track how it drops away etc. I go down there around 125mph or so crapping myself and smiling at the same time! So did your mate own up to the Marshalls about the armco damage or didn't he get a choice ??

This year the last lap of our last day I told my mate I would go it alone as were always egging each other on and I just wanted to do my own thing ........ ended up one of my most enjoyable laps. Anyway, after my 9 min lap I waited around another 5 minutes or so for my mate to come in ????? He'd managed to spin his Z4M 180 degrees (backwards) at Brunnchen. As he put it, he tried putting his break pedal through the floor to stop. His car spun off onto a strip of grass about twice the cars width and went backwards for another hundred yards ish. It came to rest parralel to the barrier less than 50mm from it! Marshall pulled up and wanted to tow him off, they just yellow flagged the traffic in the end and off he went. We went back that evening and went onto the track to have a look. There was two cunks out of the kerb where his alloy had hit and it looked like a tractor had been doing wheels spins on the grass!

He told me it was my fault because I would pace him, I think he ment I braked for bends before I got to them :)

No fault of the tracks or other cars, just a bit of red mist.

Still a great place to go. I just built up my laps at a steady pace until I was confident. I now enjoy it more because I know whats round the next corner.
 
Sounds like a blast :) we should all deffo sort out a meet. Although, only if you all promise not to laugh at my A3 lol
 
I am off there late in October with a few mates, I will go round with someone else though. I like to go fast but I can't drive fast, if that makes any sense.
 
You don't need to drive fast to enjoy yourself on the Nurburgring. Just remember to keep to the right when you're being overtaken.:icon_thumright:
 
Kris said:
So did your mate own up to the Marshalls about the armco damage or didn't he get a choice ??
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As he came off they asked him about the damage to his car. He denied it at first and they threatened to rewind the tape so he came clean :blush:
 
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