autohabit's Nürburgring trip 2012

[autohabit]

For those of you who haven't got a clue who I am, here's my small introduction:

http://www.cslregister.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8411

Anyway, on with my Nürburgring trip report.


My first Nürburgring trip for two years!

I took the overnight ferry from Hull to Rotterdam on April 25th, then drove down, stopping at Düsseldorf Airport to collect Stefan (a friend of mine who had flown in from Sweden). We met up at the hotel with Dave, who had taken a different route from the UK.




Dave had brought his Opel Omega 500, a rare sight even in Germany, this homologation special is possibly one of only two such cars in the UK.




We did a couple of laps on Thursday evening, this was only the second time I had been on track with the M3. The M3 is a heavy car to stop at around 1600kg, but the brakes did well.


Friday was practice day for the VLN series, this is a great chance to get up close to the cars and drivers in the pits.

Some new machinery, including the new McLaren MP4-12C
















Not only do Germany build some of the best cars, they also build some of the best trucks, this is apparently the latest offering from Mercedes

[autohabit]

Former F1 driver Nick Heidfeld was driving this McLaren




The P4/5 Competizione M, built by a wealthy American, this car always pulls a crowd, driven by touring car superstars Nicola Larini and Fabrizio Giovanardi




Ford GT







Team Haribo had a brand new car




This Corvette, driven by Jan Magnussen




Impressive sight of new carbon panels and gold brakes!!

[autohabit]

Also supporting the weekend was the Tourenwagen Revival, so lots of nice classic machinery to enjoy

[Equinox_csl]

Some great cars there, looks like a very good weekend, thanks for sharing.

Equinox

[Mark CSL]

Some great pix
The brake pads look like they would last forever :hahaha:

[Bounce]

Great pics :thumbs:

[autohabit]

Old school DTM pace car




Volvo 240 Turbo










This Rover won the DTM back in 1986, driven back then by Kurt Thiim and prepared by Team Nickel




The car fell into the hands of BMW when they bought Rover, but when BMW sold Rover in 2000, the car ended up as an unwanted item. By chance, a German enthusiast heard that the car was at the UK Longbridge car plant, and the receivers, who were selling everything off said 'make us an offer', so the car ended up back in Germany, where it remains today.
The big Rover didn't have any need to reduce the high minimum weight back in the day, so the full luxury interior was used on the race car!




The car now runs a 5 litre V8, but the original engine is still kept by the owner

[s.mac]

Great pics:smokin:

[conleth m3]

Fantastic pics, thanks for posting them up :thumbs:

[magnust]

...stopping at Düsseldorf Airport to collect Stefan (a friend of mine who had flown in from Sweden)....

Stefan from Gotland, with an estoril E36?



FANTASTIC pics!!!

[autohabit]

Stefan from Gotland, with an estoril E36?



FANTASTIC pics!!!

No, this Stefan has a 911 and comes from Växjö.

[autohabit]

A modern day twist on a car that Klaus Ludwig drove in the late 1970s. Not sure what running gear it uses, but my guess is that there is a Mercedes SLS under there, it sounded awesome










Aston Martin Zagato, not a bad way to go racing







One of many 2WD R8 'Quattros!'

[Yanto_csl]

Awesome pics...

Intrigued by the URL along the sill of the white BMW in Pic 7...

Bit fearful of typing that into my browser :hahaha:

[Marchino]

Wow! Amazing pics.
A Motorsport ecstasy !:119:

[CraigMillwardCroft]

Loved that Merc and those brakes look a tight fit :thumbs: