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Nürburgring (8-12 April 2004)
Walking Weekend

Intro

Trips
Trip 1 (Easter 2002)
Trip 2 (May 2002)
2002 24H (June)
Trip 3 (June 2002)
Trip 4 (July 2002)
Trip 5 (August 2002)
Trip 6 (August 2002)
Trip 7 (September 2002)
Trip 8 (September 2002)
Trip 9 (September 2002)
Trip 10 (November 2002)
Trip 11 (March 2003)
Trip 12 (April 2003)
Trip 13 (Easter 2003)
Trip 14 (May 2003)
Trip 15 (May 2003)
Trip 16 (June 2003)
Trip 17 (July 2003)
Trip 18 (August 2003)
Trip 19 (August 2003)
Trip 20 (September 2003)
Trip 21 (November 2003)
Trip 22 (November 2003)
Trip 23 (November 2003)
Trip 24 (February 2004)
Trip 25 (March 2004)
Trip 26 (April 2004)
Trip 27 (April 2004)
Trip 28 (May 2004)
Trip 29 (May 2004)
Trip 31 (July/August 2004)
Trip 32 (August 2004)
Trip 33 (September 2004)
Trip 34 (October 2004)
Trip 35 (October 2004)
Trip 36 (October 2004)
Trip 37 (November 2004)
Trip 38 (November 2004)
Trip 39 (November 2004)
Trip 40 (March 2005)
Trip 41 (April 2005)
Trip 42 (April 2005)
Trip 43 (April 2005)
Trip 44 (May 2005)
Trip 45 (June 2005)
Trip 46 (July 2005)
Trip 47 (August 2005)
Trip 48 (August 2005)
Trip 49 (August 2005)
Trip 50 (August 2005)
Trip 51 (September 2005)
Trip 52 (October 2005)
Trip 53 (March 2006)
Trip 54 (April 2006)
Trip 55 (Easter 2006)
Trip 56 (April 2006)
Trip 57 (May 2006)
Trip 58 (June 2006)
Trip 59 (July 2006)
Trip 60 (August 2006)
Trip 61 (April 2007)
Trip 62 (April 2007)
Trip 63 (June 2007)
Trip 64 (August 2007)
Trip 65 (September 2007)
Trip 66 (November 2007)
Trip 67 (May 2008)
Trip 68 (May 2008)
Trip 69 (June 2008)
Trip 70 (July 2008)
Trip 71 (September 2008)

The RingBunny
Who's the RingBunny?
Full laps
Bits and pieces
Guest producers
RingBunny R-rated *

Ecurie Europe
First pics
Videos

Sabine Schmitz
Intro
Guest commentator at 24H
Video: 24H-rennen lap
Meets Jeremy Clarkson
Video: Inside the Ring Taxi

Odd bits
The Ring in print
Preparing for the first laps
24h 2006 torrent
Søren having fun with his M3
Ringers quiz 2002
Make a donation
Site stats *

Jørund Seim
Intro
Video: Lap of Legends
Video: Hire van

Links marked with a * require a password.


Saturday

Thanks to a non-disco night I managed a reasonably early start, which saw me arriving at the track at about 9am.

Another foggy morning

Jeppe had already done a load of laps, the first few of which with his rear foglight on. By the time I got there, he was taking pictures at Hocheichen. I managed to drag Matt away from the C-Car for three laps in my passenger seat. The first lap started quite slowly as both the engine and the tyres were still cold. The second lap felt pretty quick. Unfortunately videoing is no longer allowed, so I don't have an exact time.

At the end of the second lap we were near a Swiss M3, which we saw again when going out for the third lap. We were pretty evenly matched, until a 350Z and a Speedster started holding us up. The M3 squeezed its way past on the approach to Hohe Acht; I waited a little longer. Regardless, those were three fine laps with extremely light traffic and good track conditions.

Back in the parking lot some more chatting was done. I also ran into Bob Neal, a friendly 'mericun who'd been visiting the Ring since before my 964 was assembled. He was having some difficulties with the clock in his rented BMW. Espen was there too, and he managed to sort out the clock in no time at all.

Darn new-fangled clock Clock is giving the correct time now

The "identical cars putting their hoods up" syndrome struck again: two E30's were showing their stuff in the far corner of the parking area. A little closer stood the E30 I'd had fun with on my third lap. In the same row I saw Kim's Roadster.

Hoods-up syndrome Swiss E30 Kim's Smart Roadster

While walking around taking pictures I texted Jeppe to find out where he was with the idea of joining him to take some pictures. The reply gave a location and a request for a cold Coke. As he wasn't at Hocheichen anymore I couldn't just slow down a bit and toss a can out of the window while driving down the track. Instead I trekked up Flugplatz to deliver the can after dropping Matt off at his guesthouse.

One Coke coming up The old hotel

Up at Flugplatz I had a quick play with his new toy, a digital SLR. I liked it a lot, but the lense design wasn't well suited to panning: the entire lense barrel was either zoom ring or focus ring, leaving you no non-rotating part to hold the lense stable while zooming.

Nice view The photographer

During a long closure we trekked to the outside of Schwedenkreuz. We later learned that this closure was caused by Swiss Celica had T-boned John off his bike at Adenauer Forst. John was very lucky not to have broken anything. Still, it was a very serious accident.

Closed track View from a hill Almost there

More pics were taken at Aremberg, including pics of the gravel trap and my own piece of armco. We quickly got bored by this, but being a true gadgeteer Jeppe had some portable entertainment with him in the shape of a Pike's Peak video on his mobile phone. After a little while the track was opened again, enabling us to do what we'd came here to do: take pictures.

Aremberg My armco Pike's Peak on P800 Jeppe goes for a shot

Getting bored with Aremberg I suggested going down Fuchsröhre: we were almost there anyway. We climbed up the hillside to the track a number of times, taking pics when we got into a decent trackside position. At the top of Fuchsröhre Jeppe borrowed my Ixus as he'd run down his own battery and had only brought an uncharged spare.

Exit of Fuchsröhre Exit of Fuchsröhre Exit of Fuchsröhre Exit of Fuchsröhre Exit of Fuchsröhre Exit of Fuchsröhre Exit of Fuchsröhre Exit of Fuchsröhre

On our way down we found a piece of Slovenian made carbon fibre piece of BMW.

Slovenian BMW part Fuchsröhre

Then it was decision time: do we walk all the way back, do we run across the track, or do we walk to Wehrseifen and ask Karl to pick us up. In the end we went with the option of walking a little bit further to Wehrseifen where Karl would meet us. Coordinating this was accomplished by phoning, putting other callers on hold, shouting across the track and lots of arm-waving.

Karl, Claire, kids and dog at Adenauer Forst

Next photostop was Metzgesfeld, where we also came within talking distance of Karl, Claire, kids and Sonny. As the track was closed again because of a Mercedes losing it completely around Metzgesfeld, talking across the track was easy.

Metzgesfeld Metzgesfeld Metzgesfeld Metzgesfeld Metzgesfeld

From there it was just a quick descent to Wehrseifen, where we crossed under the track, called Karl again, and found a bottle of beer. Fortunately Karl lives close to the track, as Jeppe and I had done enough walking for the day. We all piled into the Blue Bus and Karl drove us back to Quiddelbacher Höhe (thanks Karl!).

Beer Karl, kid and Sonny The Blue Bus

After a leisurely drive back to the Nordschleife entrance to get some belated lunch (Currywurst from hell mit Pommes) we heard about the Celica taking out John at Adenauer Forst. Jeppe, Ross and some others went to visit him in the hospital. I went to get something to drink, change my shoes, and briefly met Birgit at the muddy parking lot inside of Bastard Bend. The intensity of the drizzle increased until you could call it rain. I called it a day and started to prepare myself mentally for dinner at the Pistenklause. I tagged along with the Danes, assembling in Jeppe and Kim's room, which doubled as a Honda parts storage room.

Interesting driver names Birgit at Bastard Bend Wet 964 Spare brake discs

Dinner provided the usual entertainment, such as how to make Swedish piss yellow hair: you firsttake out all colour, then replace with teenage yellow. Ben told some more great stories (he has an infinite supply of good stories), this time centered around the theme of being a crafty journalist (how to scoop your competitors by borrowing some loaner equipment, what to do with a business class ticket). Jeppe recounted his experiences with going out with a team of curling-girls, including a procedure of how-to-piss-someone-off-and-get-away-with-it (until you try it with the same person twice). Ben uncharacteristically didn't finish his meal, but he did get his hands on the key to a candidate Ringtaxi. Sabine wanted it back though.

Unfinished business Unfinished business Ben with Ringtaxi key Sabine demands the key back

An unkind soul suggested we try to calculate Karl's cost-per-lap for his new gearbox. With so many phones and organisers around that was a piece of cake.

Gearbox cost-per-lap Gearbox cost-per-lap

Sabine's candidate-Ringtaxi was parked outside, waiting to be testdriven the next day. I hope it drives better than it looks...

Candidate Ringtaxi Candidate Ringtaxi

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