Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Triumph event at Nurburgring

It's already 2 weeks ago that we visited a (sort of) track day organised by a German Triumphclub. They hired the famous Nordschleife for 2hrs. Basicly it's Triumphs only but you will find the odd MG or Jaguar as well on track. Who cares , it's good fun!

First I drove down to a petrol station at the German autobahn to meet up with Rob and Monique in their TR7 V8. Due to major roadworks we ended up in heavy trafic which slowed us down a bit. Luckily we made it in time for the infamous lunch at Hannes. Traditional pommes und currywurst always tastes good! Suddenly it started to rain, typical for the eifel region. But now the sky looked very dark and I had a feeling it wouldn't clear up anymore. Not good for driving the Nordschleife. The track becomes very slippery when wet. Just before the openening of the track it stopped raining. Time to go out and have some fun in the GT6. First lap was still wet so I took it easy. GT6 was going really well, I felt really confident about the car. Amazingly the track dried up very fast so the second lap was mainly dry. Still took it easy as you can hit a wet spot after every corner. Never trust the Nordschleife! Only once the backend came out as I was a bit to quick on the throttle. Luckily it happened at slow (ish) speed. Third lap was completely dry and I really started to enjoy myself. Amazingly I was one of the quicker cars on the track. Even more amazing as you see what cars the Germans bring. Their Triumphs are all very well build to high standards. (a big contrast compared to my rustbucket) They spend loads on go faster goodies (including racy outfit!) but for some reason there's not much go! They prefer to look fast instead of going fast... In the first lap I was behind a E-type in full race trim (including driver) but he could'n get away from me. At Adenauer Forst I think he got nervous from the white mini E-type in his mirrors that he spun his fancy racer. Finally I could get past him, as the E-type is the faster car in a straight line. (no surprise) Not sure how many laps I did in the end, must have been 10 or 11. I drove 2 hrs full time! Must have been the best 2 hrs in my GT6. Rob also had a great time in his Tr7 V8. He has done many laps on the Nordschleife but told me he never had so much fun as today. He only had to stop once for fuel. That V8 needs loads! Afterwards we stopped at "Pistenklaus" for dinner. which was excellent. Finally an uneventful drive home and again we enjoyed a great day of Triumping!

No comments: