My 'Ring' trip in the Z4

[wacky]

Hi,

I did this just last week and thought I would write about it to maybe inspire others.  I know I don't have a kitcar anymore, but this is such a friendly place

I did this trip with the goals of 1. Driving the Ring, 2. Driving fast on an autobahn, 3. Having some fun.
I'm about to start some chemo for my cancer shortly, so wanted to give the bucket of my bucket-list a bit of a kicking, I had 4 days spare after the Easter Monday, so thought this was the opportunity.  I had an appointment with the Oncologist first thing on the Tuesday morning, which I knew wasn't going to contain good news, so all in all driving off for a few days to come to terms with the health status update seemed like a great idea.

The plan was this:
Tuesday: Drive down to Folkestone, use the Eurotunnel, drive as far as I felt I could into Belgium then find a hotel to crash.
Wednesday: Drive into Germany, via the E40 from Belgium, drive fast on the unrestricted autobahn, get to Nurburg. Check into the hotel I had booked, drive some ring laps in the evening session – it was open 5:30pm-7:30pm.
Thursday: Drive back towards Calais, stop some somewhere in Belgium overnight.
Friday: Get to Calais by about 11ish, Eurotunnel back to the UK, drive back to Bristol before the traffic on the M25 built up to much on the Friday.

So the plan was good, its about 500 miles from Bristol to Nurburg, 250 miles a day seemed to be doable, but remember I'm not too well, and as a result don't sleep well if I'm not in my own bed.

So the first day went well, the weather was really good and a got about halfway between Brussels and Liege, which was totally on target.  It was great driving through France and Belgium in the nice weather, but not really suitable for hood down when driving at 130kph

The second day I was away about 8:30am from the hotel after a nice breakfast, and about an hour later was cruising an unrestricted autobahn in Germany.  As soon as you got over the border, the road surface quality was noticeably better.
The two autobahns I used were the 4 and the 61 both had unrestricted sections, though the max I managed was 125mph as the traffic was fairly busy, and the stretches where traffic was light enough to feel confident to give it the beans were limited.
I got to Nurburg around 11am and went to the hotel to see if it was possible to check in.  The hotel I stayed at was called the Racer's Retreat, which I'd booked through booking.com.  I didn't realise until later how focused it is on the Ring, and experiences linked to it (pretty obvious from the name though).  The guy running the place (Markus) was very friendly and welcoming.  He gave me a few good tips about what and how to do the things I wanted to achieve over a very nice cup of coffee.
So I settled in, then went back to the Nurburgring Info Centre which is part of the GP circuit. I could do some laps of the GP circuit at 2pm (for 50 minutes) for 29 euros or just watch from the grandstand for 2euros, all of which sounded very good value. However, I felt extremely tired, and wimped out to bed for about 4 hours that afternoon.  I can't believe that I didn't do the GP circuit laps, but as I said, I'm quite poorly with the cancer and just don't have the energy sometimes.
Anyway, I got the car ready for the ring laps and arrived there about 5pm, to find that they were opening a bit early.  I set the video camera up with the suction cup on the window and was ready to go. I went and did the first lap.  Wow, it just goes on and on.  I had meant to try and do some grand tourismo on the kids PS4 and try and get some idea of where the track went, but I didn't get round to that. Never the less it all went well, I passed a car or two, and was passed by a few others including two superfast M3s giving people ring lap experiences. The car seemed fine, though the brakes were getting a bit hot by the end of the lap.
I did a second lap, and then that was it for me, I felt exhausted and had a mostly empty fuel tank.
For the evening meal, I ate at the PistonKlasse restaurant, which was right opposite the hotel, I hadn't heard about it previously, but Markus recommended it and I had a great steak.  It has some history, with many racing drivers signing the walls and ceiling.
The weather was wet most of the day wednesday, but it magically dried up for my laps, then it rained again shortly after.  So lucky!!!!!

So on to Thursday, it was raining again.  I had noticed roadworks and queues on the autobahn in the opposite direction when I was driving on the wed. morning, so decided to go back a different way.  I planned a route back through the Eiffel mountains back via Spa.  The road quality was poor especially in Belgium. The funniest thing was a sign, saying "1000m Belgium", as if to say, you've got a kilometer to come to your senses and turn around.
I got to Spa about 11am and found the Stavelot bend where I could pretty much get to the fencing at the edge of the track.  There was a track day or similar running, but it was quite wet and didn't look like it was the best experience. The cars were average-ish with a range from an RS2000 mk 2 to a bunch of 911s.
So back in the car and drive back towards Calais.  I got as far as Ghent, where I found a decent enough Hotel.

Friday (an some much better weather), so breakfast then off to Calais, I got there an hour early, but no problem just take an earlier train - pretty good.  I was parked in the train behind a Ferrari 612.  Once I got off and started driving on the M20 I started to feel really tired.  I ended up stopping at almost every services for a break and coffee. I bit of a snooze also at Membury.
I got home about 5pm feeling tired, hugged the family then had 3 hours in bed!!

So all in all a brilliant trip, the interweb makes booking hotels on the fly a snip.  Both booking.com and TripAdvisor let you list hotels near to your current location, which made browsing them and finding the suitable one very convenient.

I would have preferred to have gone with a few other people, it would have been more fun as a group, but the trip was kind of a spur of the moment thing, and I found the solitude good for me personally.

I got through a bunch of tanks of unleaded, but the 3litre engine just chomped up the miles most at a decent speed.  I've no idea how much it cost, the return fare on the Eurotunnel was about £135 which was more than I expected.  Hotels were about £70ish a night.

So there we go, tick, tick, tick on the bucket list 

Tony

I haven't downloaded pics from my camera yet, but here's a couple from mu phone.

Nurburgring info centre:



Ring entry barriers - dry, but with stormy looking clouds!!

[benchmark51]

That sounds brilliant! Reminds me of my tour of Europe.  The last leg of my trip went from Calais to Amsterdam and came back through Germany so may have used some of the roads you were on. Didn't do any places in particular as this was a 'get in and drive trip'. No planning at all. Took about a month or so and slept in the driving seat or a pop up tent. Wanna go again now!

['The Gaffer']

Excellent write up and enjoyable read

Its great you managed to experience the ring.

[Facial Hair Optional]

Tony - what can I say, I will speak from the heart. I know I am an emotional old git (part on my own illness) but that truly brought a tear to my eye mate 

Considering your medical condition I can only stand and applaud you, I doubt I would have had the courage or strength of character to do what you did and complete that trip, particularly alone - bravo mate!!

It sounds like you had an awesome time of it and if I'm honest I am green with envy 

A great write up too. It's amazing what adversity can do to a man isn't it? May you have many, many more trips and adventures Tony 

All the best,

Steve

[sanzomat]

Definitely inspiring! Really enjoyed reading that so thanks for posting. There is something liberating about a solo road trip and whilst I agree doing it in a group would be fun there is also something quite special about a solo trip and nobody else to worry about if you want/need to stop or change plans etc.

Don't know what your prognosis is like but it seems you have the right attitude to make the best of it so keep it up!

[Facial Hair Optional]

Definitely inspiring! Really enjoyed reading that so thanks for posting. There is something liberating about a solo road trip and whilst I agree doing it in a group would be fun there is also something quite special about a solo trip and nobody else to worry about if you want/need to stop or change plans etc.

Don't know what your prognosis is like but it seems you have the right attitude to make the best of it so keep it up!

hear! hear!

[benchmark51]

Definitely inspiring! Really enjoyed reading that so thanks for posting. There is something liberating about a solo road trip and whilst I agree doing it in a group would be fun there is also something quite special about a solo trip and nobody else to worry about if you want/need to stop or change plans etc.

Don't know what your prognosis is like but it seems you have the right attitude to make the best of it so keep it up!

I think group trips are probably more fun and definitely safer. I remember a long slowish climb up a brilliant road in Spain, eventually got to the top of a mountain and the road levelled out, as I rounded a bend the view was amazing. It was just beginning to get dark and the road stretched downhill for as far as I could see. No cars, no buildings and no people could be seen. It was just me and the road, quite a feeling.

[paintman]

I'm envious too......

I would love to do that but can't see the wife joining me, sounds like you had a great time!

Look forward to seeing the video.....and hang in there mate!!!!!

    Tony

[Moleman]

Nice one Tony. What a cracking trip. 

[Lucky Ed]

A great write up Tony and well done for making such an epic journey on your own, especially considering your health issues. I've done a couple of big bike trips around France on my own and have really enjoyed it. It's a strange feeling for a couple of days, but the solitude becomes very calming and you soon get to enjoy it. The only thing I can't get used to is sitting in a restaurant like billy no mates, but then that's only a small part of the day when you're always on the move.

Hope you get to do more on your list and we'll look forward to seeing you at Combe later this month

[Facial Hair Optional]

The only thing I can't get used to is sitting in a restaurant like billy no mates,

He must be the more common inner city cousin of Lord William Nochums - a very good pal of mine Edward! 

[CrisisWolf]

Excellent write up Tony. Glad you enjoyed it. Hope to see you soon!

[Crunchie Gears]

Epic trip . Enjoyed the write up.  Good luck with the fight to come.

Looking forward to meeting you at Combe later this month.

[Iancider]

Well done Tony that was epic!

Ian