Driving Nurburgring’s most famous corner (video)
Drive from Frankfurt international airport in Germany through Autobahn for about 90 minutes west, and you will find the track in a picturesque setting of farmland and rolling hills covered with trees. The birth of Nurburgring dates back to 1927, over 90 years ago. The 20km-long Nordschleife circuit, the most famous track and home for world class motorsports race, is available to drive for the public.
Nurburgring holds the long history of motorsports, and many of its courses are very tricky. So not only professional drivers but also car maniacs come here to test their driving skills, only to find out they needed to be more prepared. A 20-kilometer-long circuit is never easy to drive. Here is what you should know before going to Nurburgring.
Nurburgring, The Green Hell that Took So Many Lives
The Eifel race was held during the early years of Nurburgring. There were much more dangerous crashes back then
Nurburgring track features two configurations: the 20.8km-long Nordschleife (meaning ‘North Loop’) and the 5.1km-long Sudschleife(meaning ‘South Loop’). Originally, the Eifel race was staged on public roads in the Eifel mountains, but this was soon recognized as too dangerous. So, the construction of a dedicated race track began in 1925, then finished in 1927.
The early Nurburgring track consisted of 22.8km-long Nordschleife and 7.7km-long Sudschleife. Many motor races were staged after the construction was complete, yet so many cars crashed as the courses were still found to be tricky. There were changes and adjustments of the track to make it safer after the first F1 race took place in 1951, but they were not enough to keep Nurburgring from being nicknamed as “The Green Hell”, named after the green scenery around it.
Its dark history reached its peak when the legendary F1 world champion Niki Lauda got badly burned as his car crashed during the race in 1976. The other F1 racers boycotted Nurburgring until the current southern Grand Prix Circuit first opened in 1984. F1 and DTM(Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) were re-staged at Nurburgring after then.
Nurburgring, the test track for auto manufacturers
Hyundai and Kia established Nurburgring Center for testing their latest models. The high-performance N also got trained here
Though safety was improved for many times, Nurburgring Nordschleife is still one of the most dangerous courses. Its 20.8km-long journey comes with 73 turns (33 left, 40 right), the highest point reaching 627.7m above sea level, the lowest point reaching 320m above sea level, and blind corners, that make it mostly treacherous. Ironically, however, it becomes suitable for putting vehicles to a hard test.
BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin have their test centers established at Nurburgring for this reason. Hyundai and Kia also built their Nurburgring Test Center in 2013 for conducting various experiments for High-Performance N to make driving more dynamic than ever.
Driving the Nurburgring, car maniacs’ bucket list
Got a chance to drive on Nordschleife, but sadly not with i30 N
Driving on the Nurburgring would definitely be every car maniac’s dream, and fortunately I got a chance. With my heart pounding, I started to search for a rental car. Of course you may drive your own car if you are able to get yours there, but most visitors including myself need to get rental cars available for racetracks. Any rental car that is not specifically for racing on Nurburgring might get caught by carparrazzis, making the rental car company impose hefty fines on the driver.
The most famous rental car companies near Nurburgring are RSR Nurburg, Rent4Ring, and Rent Race Car. Their cars and prices may vary, but all of them are properly tuned for the racetrack. There are fancy sports cars like Porsche, Ferrari, or BMW M, and also, there are small cars for newbies like myself. At first I wished to get i30 N, which is not available in South Korea yet.
n-rent.com office with Nurburgring track cars
Two rental companies had i30 N; RSR Nurburg and n-rent.com. But unfortunately they all were out of i30 N. Despite the fact that I was there during the afternoon on a weekday, RSR Nurburg was even out of all its cars. That was the moment I could feel the fame of Nurburgring.
A few days later, I went to the n-rent.com office in Adenau, 8 kilometers away from the entrance of Nordschleife. Having paid the online booking fee in Korea, I managed the rest at the office there. The costs of rental cars vary so much, depending on which car you want, and whether you want full gas option, or an access to Nordschleife. Also, renting a car required a deposit on any vehicle type that covers collision damage waiver.
Usually they would charge you for the deposit up front, from 1,000 Euros to 10,000 Euros, which is quite much for renting a single car. Better get your credit card prepared for this.
I took this picture of Nordschleife entrance parking lot full of unique and rare cars, while sitting on the balcony of Devil’s Diner
There were less people than I was told, maybe because it was a weekday.
But when the clock stroke 5:15pm, which is when the circuit reopens, the parking lot suddenly became crowded with so many different rare and unique cars that I have never even seen in my home country. Mostly they were sports cars, bur there also were some fine classic cars. Many people who just came to watch were having dinner at Devil’s Diner. I felt ticklish feeling in my stomach.
Right before getting into Nordschleife, you need to tag your pass to a machine
Finally, I was so close to making my dream come true. I tagged a pass to a machine, just like I watched from many Youtube video clips before. Wishing myself luck, I speeded up the car.
Professional drivers say that you should be aware of all the track layouts thoroughly, including every feature of the corners and ridges, in order to successfully conquer the Nurburgring. So, for such a 20-km-long circuit you would need to try at least 100 laps to get used to it. I could not agree more.
The map of Nurburgring from its official website. The whole course is marked in red
Speaking of Nordschleife, each section of the track has its own name and its history behind. Sometimes it was named after the area nearby, or sometimes it was named after a certain driver, like ‘Carraciola-Karussell’ or ‘Stefan-Bellof-S’. And Nordschleife houses every type of track surface within a single lap: rough gravel, smooth gravel, banked turns, long straights, sweeping high speeds, etcetera, not to mention rows of blind corners where the view of what is behind the corner is completely obstructed.
You will feel great joy every time you turn each corner of Nordschleife
Actually driving on Nordschleife is a totally different thing from watching someone do. As a first-timer I took my time, and every time a car approaches from behind, I scooched over. The scenery along the track was magnificent.
But this was Nordschleife, Mecca of motorsport. I could not just enjoy sightseeing. Slowly I speeded up, feeling my emotions tightened each second. I finished my first lap without even noticing.
The Nordschleife circuit is available to drive for the public during the tourist driving sessions most weekdays between 5pm and 7:30pm, usually for 4 to 6 laps
After the first lap I got back in for the second round. Still most of the corners felt so unfamiliar and hard, but it was better than the first lap. By the time I got finally used to the track and the race car, I finished my 4th lap and it was time to go. All I could think was that I want more.
Someday I would be able to enjoy Nordschleife fully
I can still feel the moment I was driving on Nordschleife, even after I came back to Korea. I can never forget all the history-laden names of the corners I have been through, and the euphoria that I have experienced. I think back then I was overwhelmed by the place so I could not enjoy the track fully. Rain check, maybe.
By Sehwan Lee
Hyundai i30 N at Nurburgring Hyundai Motor Germany offers a driving academy for N owners at NurburgringThough you can always rent an i30 N for Nurburgring Circuits Only, there is a wonderful opportunity for those who own N model, and live in Germany. Hyundai Motor Germany offers a driving academy for N owners at Nurburgring.
As celebrating Nurburgring 24 Hours Race, Hyundai Motor Germany first opened the academy last May. Performance Blue symbolizing N decorated NurburgringSince then Nurburgring has been a hot spot to watch i30 N running. The picture above was taken during the driving academy at Grand Prix Track at southern Nurburgring, not Nordschleife. This academy was similar with HMG Driving Experience or Veloster N Track Day. |
