I have booked a trip to the Nurburgring in my NA with my brother (who is taking his Porsche Cayman) from the 28th April to the 30th. It’s a “green hell” weekend, meaning that the track is open to tourists all weekend. This will be my first time at the 'ring. So to say I’m excited is an understatement!
This is possibly a bit of a long shot, but I was wondering if anyone else on the forum was thinking of, or planning on going that weekend. If you are, please reply to this thread or shoot me a PM as it would be nice to meet up with other like-minded MX5 owners and do some passenger rides in eachothers cars.
I am going but in August. I have been there before a couple times but on a bike.
Enjoy it, take it easy and treat it as a new unknown road. If its wet my advice is don’t get in. Its very very slippery on the ideal racing line because of all the rubber.
Thanks for the advice. I’ve watched many onboards and done about 20 or so laps of the track on my racing sim so I have a rough idea of the track layout. Although, I’ve heard that no amount of homework can prepare you for the real thing.
I’m only planning on tootling around at about 50-60% as I wouldn’t forgive myself if I crashed due to lack of talent. Plus, as you mentioned, the track surface can be unpredictable.
In your experience, are people generally open to passenger rides or is it strictly ring taxis?
Personally, I would have no problem with taking a “stranger” for a lap, although it wouldn’t be the most exciting lap for them.
It depends how engaging and talkative person you can be I guess. it also depends how the owner of the vehicle is like - obviously if its a supercar, there would have been ample of people that would have asked for a for a ride but on the other hand I understand the urge to ask.
The other issue I can think of would be liability - as the German road traffic rules apply on the track during tourist driving, in case of a crash its the drivers fault not just on the track damage but also any injuries on the passengers.
Personally because I would be staying at Apex if I see Misha I will ask him to be my passenger if he is not busy and willing but personally I wouldn’t ask for a ride and only give a ride to someone I personally know. (I wouldn’t be going that fast so the latter wouldn’t be that much of a problem anyway )
Thanks for clarifying and answering my question. I guess I was curious about etiquette or what the general vibe is towards passenger rides. I’d be happy to take someone out in my car if we got talking and they seemed friendly. I suppose everyone is there to have a good time and it seems like a good way to get the most bang for you buck.
Although I can be fairly chatty, I don’t think I’m charismatic enough to blag a free passenger ride in a supercar . I will probably end up paying Apex a visit too and booking a ring taxi as they look like an insane amount of fun.
While some people will go up to people with “nice” cars and straight out ask for a passenger lap, it is not really on, and expect to be turned down if you do. The golden rule, or advice is avoid cars that are too “shiney” and only go for a passenger lap if the cars tyres are totally shredded as it is a genuine indication that the driver knows what they are doing. Genuine drivers have very little issue in taking someone for a lap if they are going out if you have a conversation with them about their car and the time of day.
Ferarri’s at the Ring are very rarely fast.
I’m going 24/4 - 27/4 so will be gone just before you arrive
In addition to what other people have said regarding your first visit, I suggest spending a bit of time in the overflow parking area between laps. In front of the TF ring entrance is a roundabout and on the other side of that is a parking area with the ticket office, which is usually crammed with cars. Behind the ticket office is an overflow parking area, a little wooded road leads round to it.
Lots of drivers park there between laps and I enjoy just chilling there and chatting about cars and the Ring with like-minded people.
Just to clarify, I wasn’t planning on approaching random people and asking to be taken out for a fast lap. I was just gauging to see if it’s a fairly common thing between friendly / like-minded people. From the responses so far, it seems like this is the case!
I would rather have a passenger ride in a 1L hatchback with an experienced driver than with someone in a Ferrari on their first time out.
To be honest, I think it would be the most fun to give a passenger ride to a ring veteran to remind me of the track layout. Plus, it would be nice to meet people to go out for dinner with in the evening etc.
I’ll be sure to hang around near the ring entrance and do a bit of spectating. I’ve heard there are some good viewpoints around the track to watch the action, if you can recommend any?
I hope you enjoy your trip! Are you taking your mx5?
You can access pretty much most places, depending on how much effort you want to put in. if you go through the village of Nurburg, back up from the entrance, and then just before the actual circuit you can get along the side of the track to see turn thirteen and the newly named Sabine-Schmitz Kurve and down towards Hatzenbach. You can get to Flugplatz, although I have never been. The Foxhole is a famous viewing point. YouTube Fox hole crashes for some hilarity! You can walk out of Adenau from the Breidscheid Bridge back up towards Wehrseifen. There is Bergwerk and then probably the most famous, as it is easily accessible is Brunnchen, which is turn left at ED’s garage.
To throw in my 10 cents, I was discussing this with a guy I worked with who was heavily into motorsport and drove for a small-time team. He said it’s not always your driving that gets you into a crash. You can drive safely, observing a suitable speed for the track conditions and be totally on the ball with hazard spotting. But the next muppet isn’t on their game and causes a crash, creates a hazard or leaves debris on the track which adversely affects you.
But having said that, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. Unfortunately, I’m already busy at end of April.
Good luck and don’t forget we need to see the pics and / or video.
Nice lap, that’s a really solid time. I’m not sure if I broke the 10 minute barrier or not (probably not).
It was one of the best weekends I’ve ever had. I’m already prepping the car and planning to go back. It’s such an experience.
Unfortunately, my clutch gave up after 5ish aps so I had to take it easy for the last 3 or so laps. I fitted a new Bofi racing clutch the other day so she’s ready for abuse again.
I do have some GoPro footage that I can share in this thread if anyone is interested.
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. I will probably end up paying Apex a visit too and booking a ring taxi as they look like an insane amount of fun.
