The next day we decided to see what the town of Nurburg has to offer, which turned out to be not much. We did explore the local castle, but we were not there very long due to the rain and construction on the facility. We were able to get some pics though.
Just two minutes from our hotel was BMW's test center. Couldn't resist a photo op.
The next stop was to visit the Nurburgring main facility. We found a go kart track and put down some laps. My son beat my time in the first session, I got even in the second.
Some pictures of what is parked in their parking garage.
We were able to find a good view of the track at Brunnchen and take some great shots of the closed sessions. My son felt like spy photographer.
We met the owner and his wife of this Cayman GT4 who were on their ED. Turns out they were not the only ones.
At 5:30pm, the track reopens for tourist laps. The sun was shining and the track was dry. It was time to put what I learned from the previous day to good use. Again, I will say that I was not nearly as fast as the regulars out there, and I still had to keep in my head that I was driving unfamiliar track in an unfamiliar car. That said, I was able to pick up the pace. Once you start to string a set of turns together, the speed increases. However, that also means that you come up to the next portion much faster and have to use the brakes even harder. The brakes were doing well, but I was using them more than necessary. The tires had great grip. I was impressed that a car with stock brakes and tires was able to perform that well.
The parking lot looks like the best cars and coffee meet you have ever seen.
I am proud to say that I was the only M235i I saw in two days.
A few things to note.
- This is a public road which means all local laws apply. Touristenfahrten is not a timed, competitive event.
- The "line" is something that is learned over many, MANY laps. You cannot learn it all in two days.
- If you ever do a ED, you have to do this. (Seriously, I think forum administrators will ban you from the site if you don't
).
In case you were wondering about the line, here it is. It is MUCH different when you are driving it.
That evening when had dinner with the Porsche couple at the Pistenklause in the Hotel am Tiergarten, located in the town of Nurburg. This hotel is owned by Sabine Schmitz's family. We had a great time.
Which car looks out of place?
Tomorrow, dropping off the BMW.