Just got back from the Nurburgring, haven driven the Nordschleife
(which is the the full 21km circuit), and I have to say it was the
most amazing driving experience!

The whole trip started for me at 19:45 on Thursday evening. I had
just got the car MOT tested after taking ages to fit a track control
arm (damn balljoints), almost didn't make it down to the test station
in time! I had a meeting point at 21:30 at Watford Gap services
(where I would be linking up with Martin F and Kenny) which I just
made in time. Here was the first surprise, with Kenny's car having
been transformed into a 'Castrol negative'. I'll let him explain
further, but you have to see the pics! With Kenny were Mo and his
brother, er Mo (or Zaf). We carried on to the ferry at Dover, where
we met up with Steve and Helen and their sons Ben and Stephen. We now
had 4 GT-Fours in our mini-convoy.

The journey there was fairly uneventful until we got a bit lost in
Brussels (round the ring road 3 times) and then in Liege where we
took a wrong turning, off the recommended route. This allowed us to
drive the scenic route through Spa, we had half a mind to go and look
for the bits of the GP circuit that are public roads but we knew we
had promised to meet Dirk at 12:00. The scenery around Spa was
fantastic, well worth the 2 hour detour! The only downer being that
one of Steve's rear brake pads had somehow disintegrated, so he
wouldn't be able to go on the track that day until we could source a
replacement.

It was almost bang on 12:00 on Friday, 1000 km after I left
Manchester, that we pulled up at the dusty carpark where we had
arranged to meet Dirk, and it was an unforgettable sight. There were
literally hundreds of cars and thousands of people there, at one of
the most popular spectator spots on the site partly due to the
fantastic roasting hot weather. And then we got our first glimpse of
the Nordschleife, where the track falls out of the sky at Brunnchen,
swooping down into a dip before soaring up away again into the dense
pine forest making a breathtaking vista for the spectators. I was
beginning to get very nervous, as looking at all manner of vehicles
tearing round this section at breakneck speed made me realise that I
would soon be doing the same thing.

We found Dirk and the rest of the guys, and decided to get back to
the hotel as attempting the ring after a 16 hour drive and no sleep
is not recommended. Also the track was VERY busy in the middle of the
day. So it was at about 18:00 that we arrived at the start area, and
parked up. Dirk gave us all a stern lecture on safety and procedure,
so with his warnings ringing in our ears Martin, Kenny and I got our
tickets and lined up at the barrier waiting for the track to reopen
(someone had stacked their porsche in a fairly big way and the track
had been closed).

I took it easy for the stretch up to the temporary go-slow where the
GP circuit is being messed about with. Then after the restriction, it
was an immediate sharp left and full-throttle drop down into
Hatzenbach and Hocheichen, and all my nerves left me as I
concentrated hard. All the talk of blind brows was true as I had to
lift off going toward Flugplatz as I had no idea what was over the
rise! I took it easy for most of this lap, even though Dirk said I
could to go full-throttle through Fuchsrore I decided that discretion
was the better part of valour (I was less cautious on the other
laps!).

my first major warning point from Dirk was Adenauer-Forst, a series
of slow curves starting with a tightening left-hander that drops
plenty of bikes and often sees cars in the gravel trap. This is one
of the areas on the circuit that the forest opens up and all of a
sudden you are greeted by hundreds of spectators on grassy banks. I
negotiated carefully, then moved aside to let some duelling Porsche
GT3 and GT2 cars through before flooring it and heading for
Metzgefeld, being careful but enjoying myself immensely!

The next few corners are a blur in my memory, though Breidscheid was
a bit scary (sharp left with concrete walls!). Next place to worry
about was Bergwerk, where Niki Lauda crashed and suffered horrific
burns in 1976, ending formula 1 racing on the Nordschleife. I had
been told to carry some speed out of the corner, and I could see why
as a steep hill faced me on exit.

More blurs for a couple of km, then the Klostertal hairpin where I
had to dive to the right to avoid some idiotic motorcyclists racing
each other and overtaking me at the same time (they would probably
have seriously injured themselves, and sent me into the barriers).
Form Klostertal, a short blast up to Karussell, a mad 200 degree
hairpin, where the inside is banked at about 45 degrees, but the
outside is relatively flat. I took the outside as I was being pressed
by another fast porsche, and let him onto the banked section. After a
few more curves and the highest part of the circuit at Hohe Acht, it
was time to negotiate the spectacular drop down into the arena at
Brunnchen, where we had watched with trepidation a few hours earlier.
As we powered up out of this complex I got a bit wide on the exit and
clipped the kerb quite hard, causing me to get my head together and
remember this wasn't a race, be careful!

After Brunnchen, I carried on with (slightly) more caution, though
enjoyed the floaty feeling at Pflantzgarten as we crested the rise at
lots of km/h! More corners followed, including another banked
one 'Kleiner Karussell' before we hit the main straight, slowing down
to let the car cool down a bit after 12 mins of absolute thrashing!

After the lap we compared notes and retired to the hotel, then next
morning were up at 6:45 to drive to Koblenz for a dyno session. Thre
clouds had come in and it was freezing cold, in start contrast to the
previous day. There were all manner of Toyotas there, mainly ST205
but also a couple of storming Supras, and some corollas. I kept the
end up for the UK by recording the highest power figures for an ST205
on the day. As it was a cold morning, I had decided it was safe to
add another 0.05 bar to my usual 1.2 giving a 1.25 peak figure. The
results were pretty pleasing, 337 bhp and 285 lbf ft torque, I'll
post the dyno sheet later. Meanwhile, our hosts had managed to find
some new pads for Steve's 185 (despite it being Saturday of Easter
weekend and only about 100 185s ever being sold in Germany!) so he
would be able to go on the track later in the day.

We had a late lunch with the Swiss drivers clubs and then took part
in a group photo before heading back to the Ring in the early evening
for more hardcore action!

I was getting the hang of it on my second lap, and this time took it
flat through Fuchsrore, and hitting the bottom of the valley through
the left kink at 180 kph, the g-forces were like a big rollercoaster!
At the Karussell later in the lap I went on the inside banking this
time, the first time I've been on a really steeply banked corner. One
in the eye for the Honduh boys then as I pulled out of the end of the
banking, almost got airborne (if you have done it you'll know what I
mean) then out-dragged a pesky type-R up the hill to overtake him at
Hohe Acht :)

While I was out with Zaf, Martin and Mo had rides with one of Dirk's
mates Daniel in his Evo, and got out wishing they'd brought more
clean underwear! Steve finally got on the track, Helen, Ben and
Stephen taking turns at passenger rides.

I went back for more, and was getting passed by fewer cars as I went
on (though I wasn't embarrassed to be passed by the mad 'ringmini', a
mini with a type-R engine in it!). Once again, as darkness closed in
we headed back to the hotel.

Next day brought sunshine, so we headed for the ring once more,
intending to get a couple of laps in before the drive home.
Unfortunately Martin had a prang with K1ANO, the details of which
I'll leave to him, so we decided enough racing for the day and headed
for home.

Many thanks to Dirk, for getting us all over there, and also to
Stoogy (spelling?), Didi, Tibor, Daniel and all those whose names I
have forgotten for making a truly unforgettable weekend! I'm gonna be
back soon, perhaps July, anyone up for it? :)

Dan Johnson
'94 red ST205 WRC (Jap)
Manchester, UK
http://www.st205.net