Trackdays Spa-Francorchamps & Nurburgring, August 2011

[Top Cat]

Going to Spa this weekend then on to the Ring, Go Sunday 26th back on Tues 5th 
Let the good times begin 

I iz jelous. 

Yes really looking forward to this, done a few trackdays but never been across to belguim or germany 

Well all i can say is ..............................................................wow what a week 
Great Company, Food, Beer, Hotels and tracktime 
Cannot wait to do it again.

Pics and a write up please. 

[Neilgti]

Well day 1 started on the Ferry from Hull which is only a 15 minute drive from my house  
Got on at 6pm and sailed at 9pm a few beers and a steak in the restaurant started the trip nicely, got our head down and woke up in Rotterdam next morn at 7am, 20mins to get off the ferry and away we go, the roads over there are lovely smooth tarmac compared to ours, two n half hrs later we are at Spa and checking in at the Blu Raddison and meeting up with some other guys with Nobles, Had something to eat and a good natter and decided to go for a ride to the Ring for the night approx 1n half hrs away  :smiley:had a good nosey round different veiwing areas etc and off too Pistonclaus for a famous steak on a stone  
Back to Spa to get our head down and ready for the Closed 2 day trackday the following morn,
Up n out next morn for breifing and away we go, all i can say is this track is awesome and so easy to learn, Au Rouge is class i loved that part of the track, so many different cars out aswell and the Golf surprised a lot of expensive motors out there, excellent day and banter then off for a few beers n some nice food, day 2 pretty much the same but was raining in the morning which made it a bit more interesting  
Stayed at Spa overnight then went to the Ring Following Morn to check in at the Dorint, which overlooks the Grand Prix track, veiw from our balcony was the start finish straight,
Convoy of Nobles 1 Gti and an M3 and off to the Ring to buy our lap cards, think it was about 340euros for a 15 lap card. i was a bit nervous and excited at the same time cos you hear so many storys about this track, i have never been before or done it on Playstation, so off i went for a couple of siteing laps   This place is life changing, so many people say it but until you have been it is hard to explain, its just the nervous atmosphere that is about i think ?
We had 4 days at the ring and i did 15 laps and eat a ton of XXL burgers in Adenau and Steaks at pistonclaus   What a good crack this place is amazing and a proper lads roadtrip

a few pics




View from the Dorint our Hotel Balcony 

[rex]

Nice, very nice! Glad you had a good time  .

[Neilgti]

Nice, very nice! Glad you had a good time  .

Already planning October trip   got the bug now!

A few more pics


















Not the best photographer but you get the jist 

[rex]

During last years trip we went to the Aral petrol station in Adenau, about 100m from the Breitscheid - Adenau Bridge.
I was with some friends and we were suppose to drive on the Nring the following day. These friends never saw the circuit and when they saw the same part of the circuit as it is illustrated in your photo (and we walked up the hill a little bit):

These guys had a real shock when they saw the big differences in ground elevation. In fact one guy, that said he would not drive a Suzuki Swift Rental because it is a very slow car for him, decided not to drive anything  because we was to scared. The next day we changed his mind and he drove the Swift :D.

So, this is soooo true:

This place is life changing, so many people say it but until you have been it is hard to explain

Can't wait for my trip... 

[Neilgti]

The elivation on the track that you see from all the different veiwing areas is unreal, so many ups n downs and you don't realise when your tramping round 

[Top Cat]

Marvellous.    I am amazed your still alive after eating that burger, never mind 15 laps of the green hell. 

[Saint Steve]

Nice, very nice! Glad you had a good time  .

Already planning October trip  got the bug now!

A few more pics





Not the best photographer but you get the jist 

Thats Theo's car

[Neilgti]

Marvellous.    I am amazed your still alive after eating that burger, never mind 15 laps of the green hell.  

 

Another Pic




You should of seen the pizza from Pinnochios   

[rex]

Well, I just found out that there will be a DTM race on that weekend (if anyone is interested)... This is not quite a good thing since a place to stay is hard to find.

[Top Cat]

Still should be fine Rex, nearly all the Germans camp. We went at the same time and had no problem finding rooms. 

[tony_danza]

Speak to Wolfgang and see if he can squeeze you in?

http://www.hotel-haus-sonneck.de/

[rex]

I had a reservation for a single room at Hotel zur Burg (http://www.nuerburgring-hotel.de/).
But a friend of mine will also be coming and so I wanted to change the reservation from single to double and they said that they don't have any rooms available :D.
I called Sabine Schmitz's hotel (http://www.am-tiergarten.de/en/home/) and they said they haven't got any rooms available for that period.
I managed to find a room at La Lanterna (http://lalanterna.de/) but I am not sure and they are the most expensive yet...

Thanks tony_danza for the link. The place looks great. I will try to contact them.
All the best! 

[tony_danza]

It's quiet, but that's why we like it.

Good luck

[rex]

I phoned them but they said they speak English "very little" and they said I should write an email. So I did just that.
German and English are so similar and yet very few Germans speak English. And to add to this my German is really rusty and I am only using it in cases of emergency (I don't like to make a fool of myself  ).

Tony, do they have some places where I could store 4 tires and some small tools? I also asked them this in my mail but I don't know if I was clear enough...

The last years I stayed at Hotel zur Burg and I got used to waking up to the sound of "music" (aka cars going on the Nring). So staying in a quiet place will be a first