Recently, my friend and I had the opportunity to drive at the Nurburgring Norschleife during a "touristenfahrten" (basically a tourist day, when families and enthusiasts alike come out to drive the infamous "Green Hell").
I had the good fortune to drive a race-prepped BRZ on the track. Here's a picture of me going around the main Carousel. In the background, you can see a Porsche 911 (I think) and someone's family Volvo.
Here's my friend in an Artega GT (a weird German mid-engined sports car)
Some thoughts:
The track was supposed to be open about 6 hours that day. Instead, they opened an hour late and shut down after 3.5 hours. The course itself is insanely scary, not only due to its length but also the fact that everyone else drives like they have a death-wish.
We conservatively estimate about 1,000 cars showed up to run laps. There were no less than 3 ambulances that were called out and easily 20 wrecks (of the sort that almost certainly did substantial damage to the cars) plus numerous minor incidents (including one fender bender like 10 yards from the start line). And to top it off,
1 motorcycle fatality.
Motorcyclist dies on the Nordschleife
Nürburgring - A 40-year-old motorcyclist has come on Sunday, 17 against clock on the North Loop of the Nürburgring killed. A Fremdverschulden graduated from the police Adenau.
The motorcyclist had come off from the area of Dortmund during the tourist rides in stretch Fuchsröhre in a left curve to the right of the road and collided with the guardrail. According to police, he was probably going too fast or had made a mistake. The 40-year-old died later at the scene.
That said, the BRZ was a real pleasure to drive and ludicrously stable, even at 180kph.
If anyone is interested in going, I'd be happy to share thoughts on getting there, where to stay, etc.