The Nurburgring Experience:
How To Tour Germany At High-Speed

Predictably, a rider pulled a wheelie down the front straight, dropped the front end down too hard, and got thrown over the handle bars. A traffic jam followed, at which point Peter and Mike headed for the Evo for their first lapping session.

In typical German fashion, these public lapping sessions are all about personal responsibility. No drivers meeting. No helmets required. The track is basically considered a public toll road just like the Nurburgring, so this older couple in the ’66 Mustang convertible was allowed out there with their dog in the back seat. Pretty nutty stuff, but it shows you how German society puts all the responsibility on the individual. If you go out there and get hurt or cause an accident, it’s 100% on you.

Out on the track, the car session was a little less chaotic than the bikes, but the sheer volume of traffic was still a little startling. Pete navigated it extremely well, though, the Evo running up near the front with the fast guys in their big dollar German sports cars along with the odd R35 and C6 Z06.

After an entertaining evening at Hockenheim, we headed back to Jon’s place to prepare for the drive up to the Nurburgring the next morning. That’s when Jon busted out the heavy artillery, these giant cans of 10% alcohol Faxe beer (Viking power!). I may look convincing in my Faxe pose, but the truth is I couldn’t finish it. Jon had to polish it off for me before they headed out for some single-guy shenanigans while I held down the fort and practiced the Nurburgring on Jon’s Xbox.

Finally, the Nurburgring Nordschleife. First of all, let me say that unlike most places that have been hyped to the max, the entire Nurburgring experience far exceeded our expectations. That’s because it’s about much more than just driving the legendary Green Hell. The towns in and around the Nordschleife are all completely immersed in the culture of motorsport. Every restaurant. Every hotel. Every shop. It’s all about the Ring and the racing history that continues to be made here.

As as you can see here, the parking lot that acts as the starting point for Touristenfahrten laps is also one hell of a car show. All the expected German hardware was here, of course, but the international flavour was just as strong. We met tons of guys from the UK who’d brought their own cars over and plenty of other Europeans, including the Dutch owner of this Caterham.

There’s really no need to die to go to car guy heaven, because the Nurburgring is exactly that. Our necks were in danger of being snapped just trying to take in all the incredible machinery in the paddock, from predictable to exotic to downright unobtanium.

Your options when buying your toll pass card are as follows: a 1 lap card goes for €27, a 4 lap card goes for €100, a 9 lap card €209, a 25 lap card €518 and a season pass or Jahreskarte €1,650 (break even is about 80 laps). Keep in mind, each lap takes about 7 to 12 minutes depending on how fast your car is and how much experience you have here as a driver, so even though 4 laps may not sound like that many, it’s actually quite a bit of seat time. We burned through a bunch of 4 lap cards, which you swipe at the entry point to the Ring seen here.