Nurburgring 2008 - Credit Crunching
Here we are again, another year and another eventful ring trip. The action this year even began before we left.
Steve didn’t know if he was coming until 2h before we left, guy had major issues with his pay cheque and Ewan was experiencing clutch problems the day before we left.
Friday, in the very early hours we all arrived in Magor. Myself and Nick’s task for the weekend was to do the whole trip with the roof down in the cabby so we arrived in Magor sporting NewportEdition high vis jackets, deer stalkers and biggles eyewear.. what a pair of tools.
Quite an uneventful trip down to start with apart from Smokey driving as close to everyone as he could and braking every 0.5 secs, Jonathan blinding me with his one maladjusted headlight and then poor Guy had his card eaten by a cash machine, not a good start considering he organised the whole trip in the first place. All troubles aside we all boarded the Chunnel with time to spare.
Safely on the other side of the channel things didn’t improve much either. Firstly myself, nick, Ryan and Gar got lost as we caught a different train to the rest of the crew, then Guy’s Corrado started having issues with water temp and the amount it was drinking. After a few hasty pit stops we finally motored on down through Belgium and into Germany where the traffic got a little easier to handle.
For anyone thinking of taking a trip down to the Nürburgring, Autumn time comes highly recommended. The drive down through some of Germany’s biggest national parks in the fall is stunning, add to the occasion a handful of Germany’s finest automotive offerings and you’ve got a truly unbelievable experience that you’ll never forget.
We arrived in the picture post card town of Addenau around 6:00 in the evening, not before a few very loud tunnel runs courtesy of Guy and Ryan. You think some Italian supercar on TopGear sounds good on tv, try a 350hp 1.8T, a tuned 2.0 Valver and a G60 Rado resonating through the mountain passes throttle wide open. Lush!
Bags in rooms - Bar - Pinocchio’s for tea - more beer, was about as simple as Friday night went, Though the question was our hotel bars sexual orientation? A lot of men about, especially the one whispering in Ryan’s ear with his hand on Ry’s knee. Thankfully Ryan was pissed enough not to notice and all turned out well being just our imagination and the ‘friendly’ European way. Waking up the next day with a sore arse was more to do with the Spicy Meat Feast pizza from Pinocchio’s I think.
Saturday was a free day with an endurance race going on up at the Nurburgring, so when we all eventually got up, had a beer ‘standard’ we went to the local supermarket to buy some more beer and jumped in a minibus to a viewing point by Eddies. The racing was awesome and there must have been 300+ cars on the grid from Porsches to Peugeots and even a sole BurgCup Mk1 GTi. Sitting on the side of the track timing cars go round got a bit tiresome and to be honest we were all itching to do a few laps ourselves. A bit of trouser mischief signaled the time to pack up and leave, besides the weather started to turn at this point, not even the beer could keep the cold at bay, tea at Chez Pinocchio’s it was then.
Sunday - Track times and hangovers. Up early to get to the track only to find that fog had stopped play until early afternoon, which meant that when it did open it was busy as hell. Too busy for my liking especially with the roof down. Speaking of the Cabby, this is where Nick had his first talking too about running no front plate, a quick dash to the boot and some velcro was required before going on. Most of us came away unscathed, but sadly Guy was in with bad luck again and it looked like Fridays problem had come back to haunt him, he had to be pushed back off the track with his water temp at stupid levels.. “looks like a headgasket job Trev!”. To top the day off, poor Ryan also hit trouble with his Mk4 deciding to piss itself on the last leg of the lap. Luckily VAG Mastertech Clarkee was on hand to diagnose the problem to a water jacket, a quick trip to the VAG shop had the parts ordered and the jet back on the road.
Sunday night was Oktoberfest time and although it was a little quiet in the tent we still had a good laugh, most of it at Smokey’s expense when he decided to follow the Germans and go table diving. You had to be there, but it was hilarious and the bruise the following day from falling on an empty stein was immense. Even Nick pulled here, but he did’nt seem keen. He reckoned she looked about 12, but as Bam our new found German friend told us Nick “Don’t vorry she ist 14”.. Go on Ginger warrior. Hole, Goal and all that!! Turns out another candid member of the crew woke up with a few ‘fishy’ memories on that account! Filthy funker.. You would have though Trev’s!
Monday and everyone was now feeling worse for wear and not just through Germanys finest brews. The tiredness kicks in as you are on the go all the time, don’t let that dampen your spirits though, there’s always a few last laps of the Ring to wake you up, closely followed by a good size portion of Currywerst and Frits. Just remember, Ring then currywurst, not the other way around.
Monday is a much quieter day on the Ring and a lot safer to get some decent track times in. I think everyone got a lap in on Monday with the exception of Guy as he was still repairing his head gasket. He managed to get it fixed in time, but the track had closed due to an earlier accident. This just about summed up Guys trip, never mind there’s always next year, and I heard Recaro make some awesome baby seats!
No Major events to report this year really, just the usual banter that always goes on. We made a few good friends, probably a few enemies and I know Velly and me pissed off a few people with our constant piss taking.
A few lows on the trip especially for Guy, but fair do to him he never stopped smiling (well maybe he did once) and if I was him I would of turned round on the M25 when the machine ate my card and torched the car. Up most respect Guy!
Well done to everyone that came again and made this another trip to remember. Thanks again to Guy for organising a top trip and I hope I get to come next year, which looks doubtful at the minute with the old credit crunch crap.
Got to go anyway, my butt plugs slipping out and yes we did manage the whole trip with no roof, I can still feel the breeze now.
GazB/EwanE
Broke edit - Gazb
Skint edit - Ewan E
Photography - Ewan E
Jonathan says:
Great write up guys! Bring on the newyear!