Trips
The RingBunny
Ecurie Europe
Sabine Schmitz
Odd bits
Jørund Seim
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I had a fantastic weekend. However, all the fun was overshadowed on
Monday morning when hearing of the death of a fellow Ringer,
Jørund Seim, who crashed on the ring on an
oil spill Sunday afternoon. I didn't know Jørund personally.
Saturday evening, Niek told me at the ringers dinner Jørund was
staying in the same guesthouse I was in
(Sliders Guesthouse
near Blankenheim), but on Sunday morning he had already gone to the
Ring, found it closed until 10.00 hours, driven back to Sliders to
inform the later risers that there was no need to hurry, and gone out
again before I made it to the breakfast table at 8.30. He will be
sorely missed by many people.
If you want to say goodbye, there's a
thread on Smartgroups, or add an entry to
Jørund's own guestbook.
Ben has put up a memorial site of assorted pictures and messages.
Having been fooled by the weather forecast last time, I decided to
book a room for an overnight stay regardless of predicted showers and
rain. Most places around Nürburg were already full, so I was glad that
the Sliders Guesthouse near Blankenheim still had room for me. Even
though I didn't spend much time there, I was impressed by my friendly
hosts, Brendan and Suze, their friendly growling huuuuuuuuge dog
Lenny, and the comfortable room. If your stomach is geared to beans,
sausages and eggs for breakfast, you can get them as well.
Saturday started by driving to the guesthouse, dropping off my
overnight bag, and heading to the Ring at 10.30.
I started with a slow sighting lap, which helps to get into the proper
frame of mind, and to see if there are warning signs on the track or
repairs being carried out.
This time it was doubly useful, as I had a
longer steering column
(6cm longer) fitted the day before by
Jos de Bock,
giving me some much needed leg room and a decent elbow angle for
easier steering. Though it's a vast improvement upon the original
setup, I still had to get used to it, and the lap didn't feel very
good.
It might also be because I'm new to wearing a helmet, and have to get
used to different tyre sounds as well.
The gap before lunchtime was filled by chatting to different people,
including Niek's parents who had stopped by on their way home from a
short holiday. Niek's dad really knows his way around cars, which he
showed by doing a quick analysis of Ben's 968 and my 964.
I also met Francis, who managed to get his BMW fixed in time. He was
having trouble with the cooling fan though. Which was fixed (sort of)
by carefully removing (i.e., ripping out) the fan cowling. This
operation was performed by an ex-BMW mechanic, incidentally :-)
During lunch, Niek asked me to take is dad out on an easy lap, as he
is trying to convince him that he needs to buy a 964. From my point of
view, buying a 964 is a thoroughly sensible thing to do, which I can
recommend to anybody, so I was happy to aid an abet Niek in his cause
by taking his dad round the ring. Despite a lack of rhythm on the
first lap, it still did a lot to refresh my memory of the track layout
and to increase my feel for the car. Traffic was pretty light (just
some bikers who didn't know the track yet to beware of between T13 and
Flugplatz), so the lap was very smooth from my perspective. I did
notice Niek's dad talking a bit less between Kesselchen and
Galgenkopf, but I didn't squeal the tyres much, and hey, this was an
easy lap, right?
Looking back I might have been a bit faster than I thought, but as I
didn't tape the passenger laps (the camera is in the wrong position
for that), I have no way of knowing the lap time.
After a pause, some more chatting and admiring Martin's new Caterham
(must be the ultimate in driving sensation), I did two beautiful
passenger laps with Euan in his 328i. Despite the traffic he managed a
8.53 BTG, and kept a seriously tuned M3 behind him for a long time.
Even more entertaining was "encouraging" one of the black M5s that
were used for test driving to drive a bit faster, and see it bounce
around. Maybe they were testing how old shock absorbers cope with the
bumpy Ring surface?
Encouraged by my lap with Niek's dad in the passenger seat I did two
laps without passengers. Both were pretty good, but for some reason
the VCR didn't record anything. Which is a shame, because I overtook a
new M3 during the first lap (OK, he didn't know the track too well,
but it's still nice), and I was following a 911 Turbo (1980's vintage)
that was doing a similar speed for most of the second lap.
Sometime during the day I did my second "let the car sell itself" job,
this time on Euan. I just dangled the keys in front of him. My
compliments on his reaction time: he was behind the wheel in no time
and seemed to be enjoying himself despite heavier than usual traffic
on the roads around the Ring. Indeed, you can get used to a 964 very
quickly :)
Near the end of the day I went out for what was supposed to be my last
lap of the day. Dark clouds were gathering, and it looked like it
might start raining anytime soon. Ben and Euan were going out behind
each other as well, and they came out of the gate right behind me. On
the previous occasion where I had Ben in my mirrors, I moved over on
the approach to Hatzenbach to avoid holding him up all the way to
Flugplatz. This time I felt I wasn't holding him up too much, so I
stayed ahead. Knowing how fast both he and Euan are through
Schwedenkreuz and Aremberg, I moved over and lifted just before the
left-hander into Schwedenkreuz to let them past, hoping to keep them
in view and get some nice video footage of them going through
Schwedenkreuz and Aremberg. I swear this is a coincidence: within 10
second of my lifting to let them by, it started raining. Ben was on
the dry line at dry speed when the gates of heaven opened all the way,
giving him an instant wet track and some moments to tell future
grandchildren about. I had already lifted, so I didn't have a problem
getting though Schwedenkreuz. Euan was kind enough to warn me with his
emergency blinkers, but given the lack of tread on my front tyres, the
light front end of a 964 and a wet track in combination with the cost
of Porsche bodywork, I was already reducing my speed significantly. I
followed Ben and Euan down Fuchsröhre at a sensible speed, slowed down
even more for Adenauer Forst, but had some massive understeer twice
anyway, at which point I decided to drive the rest of the lap at
tourist speeds. It was kind of fun, actually, being able to watch the
scenery, especially with nobody in view ahead of me or in my mirrors:
it felt like I had the entire Ring to myself :-)
As the rain seemed to blow over quickly, a truly last lap was in
order, this time with Ben in the passenger seat. We went out on a dry
track, but it started raining before we got to Tiergarten! Most of the
track was either very damp or wet, which made me do some more thinking
of buying stock in some bodyshops, especially after seeing a red BMW
parked in a spot before Aremberg that's usually reserved for rented TT
convertibles. I slowed right down to give Ben ample opportunity to
take a picture. I'm still trying to get to grips with the dry line, so
I really appreciated Ben's tips on a suitable wet line. The extremely
late turn-in at Adenauer Forst felt very good, for example.
In the car park I admired Euan's left front tyre, which was a wee bit
worn. He somehow managed to get a new tyre sometime between the early
hours on Sunday and the track opening at 10.30. I'll make a mental
note to ask him how he did that next time.
As warming up for the Ringers dinner at the Pistenklause, I met Niek
and Francis at the Fuchsröhre. When 20.00 was approaching we moved to
the Pistenklause, leaving Sabine behind :(
The Ringers dinner was thoroughly enjoyable. A summary:
- Martin advises Niek he's only sitting half a meter away, so
there's no need to shout
- Niek educates everybody in range about what women like
- Birgit is called in as an expert on that subject
- According to Birgit, Niek got the important points right
- Ben didn't learn anything new in that area
- There was a discussion on the uses of sour cream, which
prompted me to point out the different meanings of "lapping"
- Francis got an M5 for free, but it doesn't run
- Euan managed to get the waitresses name by means of a little
subterfuge
- Niek got a second chance with said waitress, who had turned him down enquivocably a year ago...
- ... however, he didn't succeed second time round...
- ... but the girl's parting words were: "see you next year"
- Euan told me I was doing a good pace, which surprised me a
bit. Ben confirmed it though, so it must be true :-)
- Caramel is better than sour cream
Some individuals I won't name here decided the night was still young
and had some more fun in various establishments. I, being somewhat
older (though not necessarily wiser), decided to go to bed as the
week preceding this weekend had been tough enough already.
Sunday started with breakfast at Sliders. I decided to pass on the
eggs, sausages and beans, not only because my stomach would probably
explode, but also to avoid making Lenny jealous. Brendan told us that
Jørund had been to the Ring already and found it closed until
approximately 10.00. I therefore started the day off with a slow drive
to the Ring, warming up all that oil in the 964, and did some photographing at at
Brünnchen. Lots of old english cars were coming through, some of them
really pushing it. Not surprisingly, it's at times like that that the
Ring bites back: at one point we heard a lot of tyre squeal, then an
engine revving, lots more tyre squeal followed by a screeching sound.
All of this happenend beyond my view, but I would guess Eiskurve took
another victim.
By the time the track was opening I found the car park near the
entrance turned into a zoo for cars and bikes, so I parked on the
grass parking lot across the street, next to the black BMW 3-series of
Francis, who was at that time using it as a bed. I slammed my door
shut twice (forgot something the first time) before I noticed him, but
slamming a door shut right next to his open window was not enough to
wake him :)
I spent some time chatting to Karen, who was fortunate enough to get
to drive a GT3 over from the UK to the Ring. I found said GT3 parked
next to my 964 later on in the day. And to add to the coincidences: I
talked to Hugh for a few moments, and found his 964RS next to my 964
and the UK GT3 :)
Laurens turned up as well, just in time to be the first at the gate
after a closure, but with an old style ticket that didn't open the
gate.
High point of the day (and of this year) was Euan approaching me with
an offer I couldn't refuse: a ride in the Ring Taxi with Sabine
driving. Francis was the other lucky guy, though he didn't look very
healthy when the lap was over ;-) After filling out some forms saying
that we couldn't sue anybody if we wound up injured, dead or unhappy,
it was time to go. Euan got the front seat (allegedly because he had
to operate his camcorder that he mounted to the windshield with a
suction mount). I had the right rear seat, which allowed me a decent
view of the track, more appreciation of the G-forces, and a view of
Sabine operating the pedals.
We made sure she understood the aim of the lap: the faster the better,
the more sideways the better. She said she was hungry, which might
have helped with the "fast" bit. I guess kicking the tail out just
comes naturally to her :-)
All of this with the ABS broken, but that didn't seem to make much of
a difference to Sabine.
Some highlights of the lap, which I'll try to get online sometime,
Euan and my provider willing:
- Coming up to an accident in Fuchsröhre, a guy was waving
vigorously to warn her. From the back seat it looked like she was
already on the brakes before the guy even spotted us, resulting in a
very difficult to describe "Jaaaaaaaa!" from Sabine. Audio capture to
follow later, I hope. It's priceless :-)
- Jørund passing us while he was doing an enormous wheelie while
going up Ex-Muhle. You can
download this fragment.
- I asked Sabine if she had ever driven the track backwards.
Answer: "No, that is too dangerous". Ehh?
- The suction mount from Euan's camera let go at Eiskurve.
According to Euan, that shouldn't be possible. Then again, what Sabine
does with that car isn't supposed to be possible either :-)
- Once Euan had finished making some nice closeups of the
dashboard, he pointed it towards Sabine with the comment "Sabine at
work". She immediately slouched in the seat, put her elbow on the
window sill, ran one hand through her hair, gripped the wheel with two
fingers of the other hand and flirted with the camera while doing a
4-wheel slide at 200km/h. Yeeeeeeeha!
After we got back, Euan summarised things excellently by saying
"Sabine, ich liebe dich". Something tells me he's not the only one...
A number of closures meant that the track was too busy to my liking
each time it opened up (particularly considering my inexperience), so
I went to Wehrseifen to do some spectating. Within minutes of
finishing the climb up there from Breidscheid, the track was closed
again. This gave me the opportunity to read a book and enjoy some
peace and quiet in the Eifel mountains. Both peace and quiet were
disturbed after an hour by lots of tyre squeal in the distance,
announcing the end of the closure. The first car along by a long way:
Euan.
When the track closed again, I packed my things and drove back to the
entrance to the track again. The plan was to do an easy last lap and
call it a day. That plan was changed within minutes, though. First I
did a passenger lap in Ben's 968: lots of traffic, enough of them
being clueless enough to cause the switching on of the headlights and
using the horn. Despite that it was one of the more enjoyable laps
I've done so far, as Ben was sliding around as if tyres are for free,
kicking the tail out numerous times. It felt like he had some private
lessons by Sabine :) Adenauer Forst and Hohe Acht were particularly
entertaining.
Inspired by this, my last lap was rather fast, and involved lost of
tyre squeal. It's the first lap I've been pushing the car, and it felt
very good. I finally managed to feel as confident regarding car
handling as at
Zandvoort.
Ben was two cars ahead of me when coming out of the gate. Thanks to a
lot of traffic out on the track, I managed to keep him in sight for
most of the lap, which was a new experience for me.
When I got back it was close to 16.30, Euan was driving past saying
goodbye, Niek had left, Francis was going home too, so I decided to
declare the weekend a raving succes and went home as well.
I played back the video when I got home, and found that my last lap
was 9.36 BTG, despite having to queue before being able to go round
the Karusell. Much quicker than I thought I was capable of. The
previous weekend I did BTGs of 10.50 and 10.36, so I would have been
happy to do a 10.00 BTG on a clear track. Just to be clear about this:
I'm not interested in going round as fast as I can. My first priority
is not to crash. Second priority is to leave margins and find I don't
need them. I don't mind excitement, but things get plenty exciting
enough if you do have a margin for errors. The overall goal for me is
being smooth and being consistent, things I look forward to practicing
next time out.
Usually, a Ring weekend ends on Sunday evening. However, this time it
ended on Monday morning with Brendan's announcement on the Ringers
list that Jørund had crashed on an oil spill, had been airlifted to
the hospital but wasn't going to live. He'll always live on in my
memory doing that wheelie past the Ring Taxi, so in that respect last
weekend will never end.
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