24 Hours Nurburgring, 2015

Got my plane tickets last week and buying event tickets soon. Local hotels seem to be sold out so I'll probably stay with family or friends, or camp out. This is going to be my first time and I am STOKED!

Anyone else going?

I'm not, and i'm extremely envious. Have fun and post some pics (especially of the car pr0n)!

I'm also jealous as I missed the finish of the event when I was in Germany 2 years ago.

In.

This is still a work in progress, but there's a legit chance I'll also be running the RCN event the Thursday before the 24hr. RCN is basically an open-passing time trial competition with a mandatory pit stop. It's very much the opening band for the weekend, but there's still a pretty good crowd that gathers Thursday, and I'd love to be able to show them a nice GRM-liveried race car.

At any rate, I'll be there all week for the 24. We'll figure out a way to say hi.

EDIT: Oh, and as for rooms, look north of the track. Rheinbach, Bad Muensterfel, Euskirchen, up in that area. Basically anything within about 15-20 miles is insanely expensive, but outside that range the price drops dramatically. I stay in a town called Nickenich which is about a 35-40 minute drive to the track (I also get wicked sweet parking, though, like 100 yards from the front gate). But I'm only paying like 45-euro a night for a nice room in a hotel with a restaurant and kick-ass WiFi. That town is long since booked up, though. All the deals currently seem to be north.

Oh, missed that it was your first time. In that case, here's a few tips:

1. Buy a parking pass in advance if they let you, and don't skimp. If the weather is bad, the remote parking areas get downright ugly. Pay the extra money to know your car is not going to slide down the side of a mountain if it rains, or get used as a toilet. I've seen both (only done one. Not saying which).

2. Absolutely be there Friday for the Vintage race. (Well, and hopefully Thursday to cheer for me, but Friday for sure).

3. If you want to be somewhere at a certain time, get there early. The area around the track can gridlock at a moment's notice at any time of day or night.

4. Scope out the shuttles in advance. I'm not sure what the civilian shuttle service is like, but I know it exists. But even the one for media can take an hour or more to get from the media center to wherever you want to go. I can't imagine the public one being any better.

I'm envious! What a track. Camping would be a hoot. Have fun!

Woooot! Thanks for the tips, JG! Let's definitely try to meet up for a greet, especially since you were out the day I stopped in at GRM HQ.

I'll check out those towns north of the track. My cousin lives in Aachen, but it's a little far. I guess it depends on how many days I'll be spending at the track. I'd love to make it out there for the Thursday & Friday races but my g/f has to enjoy the trip too (we're starting in London and visiting a bunch of countries including Germany)... so we'll see ;-) I will definitely be there for the main event though!

Do you typically rent a car when you fly in to Germany? How is it? I was going to try to bum rides from friends and relatives when I can't take a train or bus, because I'm taking a one-way route through Europe and I'm not sure about renting a car in one city and returning it in another.

Bucket list item for me. .. . Some day.. . .

series8217 wrote: Woooot! Thanks for the tips, JG! Let's definitely try to meet up for a greet, especially since you were out the day I stopped in at GRM HQ. I'll check out those towns north of the track. My cousin lives in Aachen, but it's a little far. I guess it depends on how many days I'll be spending at the track. I'd love to make it out there for the Thursday & Friday races but my g/f has to enjoy the trip too (we're starting in London and visiting a bunch of countries including Germany)... so we'll see ;-) I will definitely be there for the main event though! Do you typically rent a car when you fly in to Germany? How is it? I was going to try to bum rides from friends and relatives when I can't take a train or bus, because I'm taking a one-way route through Europe and I'm not sure about renting a car in one city and returning it in another.

I get press loaners when I'm over there, but I have rented before. Prices tend to be pretty fair, actually. I think most of the major companies will let you do one-way rentals, so long as you;re going Eurozone to Eurozone. Probably can't do UK to EU. I'd probably use trains for the big hops then rent locally before you move on.

I was at the 'Ring in early May '99 for the ADAP vintage weekend. I was in Germany on business for a couple weeks. The company I worked for has a factory in Wetzlar. They foolishly gave me a company car to go "sightseeing" for the weekend. Part of the admission for the vintage weekend was a free lap of the Nordschleife. So there I was with the company one liter turbo Golf doing a 14 minute "hot lap." Pretty pathetic. And it didn't even include the F1 circuit because that's where the vintage races were being held. I went back with a colleague the next day and we both did laps. So I can say I've done three laps of the Nordschleife, two driving and one as a white-knuckle passenger. Driving the 'Ring had been on my bucket list for a long time, and I'm very glad I did it. Ironically I was back on another business trip in September '99, and there was another vintage weekend at der Nurburgring. I went again, but that time they were using the entire circuit so I didn't get another opportunity to drive it. But driving the Nordschliefe was probably the highlight of my 50 years of driving. One of my "Cherman" colleagues did an eight minute lap on a motorcycle, and another had his classic Mini out many times.

Enjoy your trip to the 24 hour race. Have fun. Someday I plan to return. They have a big vintage event there in August now. So that's another trip I plan to do someday soon. That'll be with a rental car, so there will be no chance of getting back on the track with that. And at my age and with refined wisdom, I don't think I'd want to get out there again anyway.