GREEN HELL

ASK ANY SERIOUS DRIVER AND THE ONE TRACK THEY ALL WANT TO VISIT IS THE NÜRBURGRING NORDSCHLEIFE. HERE'S HOW YOU CAN

- ANDY ENRIGHT

THIS IS THE big one. For most Australian petrolheads, driving the Nürburgring Nordschleife is a genuine bucket lister and while it's true that the logistics of arriving at a vast and fiendishly complex race track on the other side of the planet are not to be underestimated, a bit of forward planning means that it is an achievable aspiration.

Given that there are a number of circuit guides to the Ring available and that many of you will have driven countless laps of the track on virtual platforms, this isn't a standard run-through of which direction the circuit goes. What we're looking to do here is to deliver some knowledge you'll never get from playing online. I've been driving the Nordschleife since the 90s, sometimes for fun and sometimes guiding private and corporate clients. Nürburg at times seemed like a home away from home.

Understand that there are two different Nordschleife experiences you can tackle. The first is Touristenfahrten, or public days, when anybody can rock up in a road-legal vehicle, buy a lap ticket and set off. Normal road rules apply here, so the speed limit at Breidscheid bridge needs to be observed, cars can't be overly noisy, and overtaking is strictly on the left. Cars mainly enter and leave the track at the paddock on the Döttinger Höhe straight, so flying laps are not possible. Book onto a privately run track day at the Ring and the regulations are far more relaxed. What's more, most will allow a full run and a flyer down the 3.5km straight. Occasionally the layout will include the Grand Prix track too in VLN configuration. Check before you go.

THE BASICS