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Anything Nurburgring Related Thread

Discussion in 'Trackdays & Rider Skills' started by doogalman, Feb 25, 2018.

  1. Man that is so epic, mind blowing stuff.
     
  2. So, it's looking likely that I'll head to the nl double trackday at spa in August. The Nurburgring is within day trip distance, so it would seem rude not to...

    I've never been before, and not sure about the different open days, track days, closed days, tourist days etc. Any tips etc? Also, any tips on Spa?

    Cheers!
     
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    #183 doogalman, Jan 9, 2019
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2019
  4. Jesus Christ, I was waiting for a Hillman imp and c90 to be trundling along admiring the scenery, hope the drivers visit to the neurologist went ok :upyeah:

    Jesus that was quick
     
  5. Just got back from an epic week staying with @doogalman. I concentrate so much on the bikes that I always feel like a bit of a novice getting back into the car especially as I dont short circuit it. I had a nasty crash and bad concussion racing at Oulton Park a few weeks back and I was still clumsy and not quite recovered so the bike was not an option. On the way out I managed to curb the car four miles from @doogalman house, damage both wheels and rip a hole in my rear tyre so it didn't start on a good note. My Nurburgring trips always seem to be a drama! The repair work smashed my wallet and didn't have the car for the planned evening sessions so I just concentrated on working in the day and recovering for a few more days.

    I've been walking and skateboarding the tracks I race at this year and it's a mega eye opener to what they are really like.
    61DBF25E-4E81-4BDA-87A5-3A5033FAEFF7.jpeg
    The speeds we do on bikes really warps your reality and perception of gradients and corners and I'd highly recommend doing it. The Nordschleife is a bit tricky as it's not encouraged but I waited until a couple hours after closure at 2100hrs and took my skateboard onto the 22km Ring.
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    I completely misjudged the steepness of the hills and the skateboard was almost a waste of time as it was way too fast to contemplete the downhill sections. The track isn't wide enough to carve the downhill sections and the longboard I have is very grippy and I'm not able to slide it so couldn't slow down. I had to jump off at the top of Aremberg (the corner before the steep hill into Fuchsrohle (Foxhole) where you hit about 140mph into a compression and the corner where you see lots of crashes on youtube) and almost knackered my ankles that have not recovered fully from last Septembers crash at Cadwell! The track is stunningly beautiful to walk; the engineering feat of creating it around the Eiffel Mountains is incredible to see first hand.

    The long flat out section of Kesselchen that I thought was a slight uphill run is actually a steep hill up the mountain with amazing cambers on all the corners. I should have realised since the car will normally hit near 200mph on the flat and only gets about 130mph up through here when full throttle for several KM.
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    It got dark before I finished and I had a little hide and seek with the security car that spotted me taking pictures of the Porsche Experience cars parked on the start line!
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    It was more than worth the effort to do and I'm going to do it again next time I'm out there for sure.

    After a few days rest I was able to get back out in the car on the Thursday evening but I was way off time at 8'45'' and didn't really understand what I was doing wrong. @doogalman came out with me on Friday and after a few slow laps to clean my driving up and understand that I was turning in too early and not getting the front end compressed enough to turn, I was able to knock ten seconds off each lap and get down to around 8'15'' which to be honest I was happy with as I was not expecting more this weekend despite dreaming of the sub eight minutes that is everyones goal at the Nordscheife.
    0ED6202A-6BD8-429F-AD75-A0DC5F00A486.jpeg
    I got a full day in the busy Tourist session on Saturday and worked on continuing the improvement and got down to my previous 8'06'' personal best after the track cooled down a little after the tyre sliding 35 degree afternoon. I planned on a few early Sunday morning laps as the afternoon forecast was for 38 degrees and I had to leave mid afternoon anyhow. Night time activities meant I didn't get to the track until 1030hrs but it turned out it had been closed most of the time since 0800hrs due to crashes so it was manic with everyone trying to get some track time. After a few laps I somehow managed to get it clear in all the places it really counted and with the help of a Porsche GT3RS right up my rear to encourage me I finally cracked the sub 8 minutes lap time!
    710D8F5A-E0C9-4DD1-97B5-307DBB444B06.png


    Some lunatic on a Yamaha Niken!
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    #185 Monners, Jul 1, 2019
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2019
    • Like Like x 7
  6. @Monners : living the life we all want! :upyeah:

    Racing bikes
    Tracking GT3’s
    Shagging Italian women
    Climbing mountains
    Staring in several cover shots for Gay times
     
    • Funny Funny x 1
  7. Another way to appreciate the gradients is to ride your pushbike around it. There’s a day in August where it is turned over to pedal cycles. I did five laps a few years back. From Bergwerk to Steilstreche is hard, then you have the really steep bit up to Hohe Acht...
     
  8. I must admit I was thinking that push bike or running would be the best way. Normally I can go tearing around on the skateboard but the Nordschliefe has such heavy and long gradients that I can't use it in many sections.
     
  9. Haha, I try my best but I only put the entertaining parts of life on social media; there's a massive amount of less glamorous stuff in the background to make it happen! Apart from the Gaytimes cover shoots, those are just pure sexy.
     
  10. You rang ?
     
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  11. Dave, you did ok. The laps on Friday were ok but they just highlighted where you needed to do your homework. Smoothing up lines, throttle control, down-shifting, increasing up the front end grip, throttle control, traffic management blah blah blah....
    It was the Saturday laps that it all started to come together. The improvements were paying off with the main area being improved grip and car balance at higher corner speeds. Which in turn increases your confidence to push harder.
    The week in general got to a downer to start with but hopefully you will not do that again.
    Always welcome here (as you know).
    Roy
     
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