Remembering the old — the trip to the Nurburgring, 2009

Foreword: all this happened in 2009, but it is still relevant now.
the entire text is left as I wrote it immediately after the trip.

The trip to the Nürburgring happened by chance — after a long journey Zurich-Munich-Prague
I was in Prague and was going to go back, as the vacation was ending

and still I remembered a long-standing dream to visit the most famous ring in Europe — at least to take a look
rental cars (I had a VW Polo 1.4 from Avis) are not allowed there, so I could only watch

I accidentally found information on the internet about different rental companies that rent out sports cars
on Thursday morning I called everyone — either the prices were insane (only Porsche available), or there were no cars at all

lastly, I called Rent-Racecar and found a car: www.rent-racecar.de/preise2007.html
since all BMW 318 were occupied, I decided to ride a Suzuki Swift Sport — it's a car weighing one ton and with a power of 130 hp!

yes, it seems that Suzuki is a toy… but that was in the morning, and I still had to cross half of the Czech Republic and all of Germany
the thing is, on Friday and Saturday there were a training day and a race, i.e. without a racing license, I wouldn't be allowed in

I won't tell how I drove from Prague to the ring almost 700 kilometers in 6 hours)))
the main thing is that I made it to the start of the "free practice" and they gave me a brand new Suzuki (despite the mileage of 40k, it was perfect!)

…

by 17:30 we arrived at the track together with the owner of the rental company in his van.
first, we were offered to take a lap in the owner's van (a regular VW Transporter) — this helped a lot later

until the moment of entering the track, I didn't even remotely understand what I would have to face, although I managed to read a lot
the driver of the van was a person who had done 6000 laps (each lap is 21 km!) on the track and knew everything

at this moment, you begin to understand the difference between an experienced driver and "racers"...
he knew every pebble, every millimeter!

and the van, flying without ESP on the track, when sitting in it you just hang on the belts,
while the driver doesn't even strain and is ready to steer with one hand — it's impressive!

…

the track itself is constant elevation changes, almost all turns are closed,
many combinations and always (!) late or even very late apex of the turns!

especially impressive are two turns, the carousel and carousel-II
these are heavily profiled turns, paved with slabs at an angle of about 40 degrees and driving on them — like Neo running on walls...

of course, everyone has read many books, I'm sure of that; someone has driven in Myachkovo, someone — in rally sprints...
but from the perspective of what I learned — this is a very, very difficult track if you want to be really fast.

and also — it is damn treacherous... even when you already know where the "trap" is — you still want to hit it.
when you are slowly pushed out of the turn, but you know for sure that there is still some margin, just the fear is even stronger...

in front of us on the familiarization lap, a motorcyclist crashed. he wasn't even on the track — the bike was lying, and he himself flew over the barrier
after two "combat" laps, the track was completely closed for half an hour — another accident with a biker, but more serious and he was hospitalized

…

a separate story — overtaking on the track; I had already asked about this earlier on the forum, but only now I understood — how it is and what it is.
yes, any car behind is a powerful psychological factor, even knowing that on the ring you have to yield to faster cars.

you must always yield on the right, otherwise in case of an accident, the slow car will be at fault, not the "crashing" one.
in turns, as a rule, they do not yield, but they also do not change trajectory; but if there is an opportunity — I blink the turn signal and maintain a small speed.

and you know how scary it is when a Porsche GT3 worth 150 thousand euros is driving half a meter from you on the uncomfortable outer lane?
or when a GT-R or Lotus flies by on the straight, when you can only see it for a fraction of a second — such speeds on the straight.

…

I managed to do only five combat laps (105 kilometers) on the Suzuki, but that was enough for the first time.
the car was specially prepared — low-profile tires, a normal (not choked) engine and exhaust, a truly combat (completely indestructible!) suspension.

on this car with ESP turned off (otherwise it will choke on the exit from the turns) you can drive like on a toy!
and even the slightly empty steering wheel (clearly a legacy of the "civilian" Swift) — did not spoil the impression (I have the same one on the 207 RC)

the car had no sound insulation, the rear seats were removed, all unnecessary upholstery was taken out.
later they will install a roll cage and bucket seats (this is standard), as the Swift was the first week (it wasn't even on the website),
but the stock seats were quite enough to fight against overloads — the seats are similar to Golf GTI: seemingly simple, in reality — they hold!

…

there is still much to tell — about the training day, about the car exhibition, about the Nürburgring auto center itself...
for now, I can only say one thing — you need to go there again, you need to prepare and you need to enjoy driving!

and also — on the ring, it is important not only to know how to drive —
but also to know how to be afraid and understand the limit of reason, remaining cold inside.

and the "green hell" made me think about this skill once again (and very seriously).

…

you can read about the ring here:
description in Russian, rules and tips on accommodation and rental:
www.interfax.by/article/26466

story about the trip Drive.ru and how expensive it can be to enjoy a ride:
www.drive.ru/mazda/drive-test/20 … fresh.html

description in wiki in Russian, including historical reference and description of some turns:
ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Нюрбургринг

here is the map of the ring: