Home

Nürburgring (16-18 September 2005)
30-minute laps

Intro

Trips
Trip 1 (Easter 2002)
Trip 2 (May 2002)
2002 24H (June)
Trip 3 (June 2002)
Trip 4 (July 2002)
Trip 5 (August 2002)
Trip 6 (August 2002)
Trip 7 (September 2002)
Trip 8 (September 2002)
Trip 9 (September 2002)
Trip 10 (November 2002)
Trip 11 (March 2003)
Trip 12 (April 2003)
Trip 13 (Easter 2003)
Trip 14 (May 2003)
Trip 15 (May 2003)
Trip 16 (June 2003)
Trip 17 (July 2003)
Trip 18 (August 2003)
Trip 19 (August 2003)
Trip 20 (September 2003)
Trip 21 (November 2003)
Trip 22 (November 2003)
Trip 23 (November 2003)
Trip 24 (February 2004)
Trip 25 (March 2004)
Trip 26 (April 2004)
Trip 27 (April 2004)
Trip 28 (May 2004)
Trip 29 (May 2004)
Trip 31 (July/August 2004)
Trip 32 (August 2004)
Trip 33 (September 2004)
Trip 34 (October 2004)
Trip 35 (October 2004)
Trip 36 (October 2004)
Trip 37 (November 2004)
Trip 38 (November 2004)
Trip 39 (November 2004)
Trip 40 (March 2005)
Trip 41 (April 2005)
Trip 42 (April 2005)
Trip 43 (April 2005)
Trip 44 (May 2005)
Trip 45 (June 2005)
Trip 46 (July 2005)
Trip 47 (August 2005)
Trip 48 (August 2005)
Trip 49 (August 2005)
Trip 50 (August 2005)
Trip 51 (September 2005)
Trip 52 (October 2005)
Trip 53 (March 2006)
Trip 54 (April 2006)
Trip 55 (Easter 2006)
Trip 56 (April 2006)
Trip 57 (May 2006)
Trip 58 (June 2006)
Trip 59 (July 2006)
Trip 60 (August 2006)
Trip 61 (April 2007)
Trip 62 (April 2007)
Trip 63 (June 2007)
Trip 64 (August 2007)
Trip 65 (September 2007)
Trip 66 (November 2007)
Trip 67 (May 2008)
Trip 68 (May 2008)
Trip 69 (June 2008)
Trip 70 (July 2008)
Trip 71 (September 2008)

The RingBunny
Who's the RingBunny?
Full laps
Bits and pieces
Guest producers
RingBunny R-rated *

Ecurie Europe
First pics
Videos

Sabine Schmitz
Intro
Guest commentator at 24H
Video: 24H-rennen lap
Meets Jeremy Clarkson
Video: Inside the Ring Taxi

Odd bits
The Ring in print
Preparing for the first laps
24h 2006 torrent
Søren having fun with his M3
Ringers quiz 2002
Make a donation
Site stats *

Jørund Seim
Intro
Video: Lap of Legends
Video: Hire van

Links marked with a * require a password.


The preparation for the Swedish Weekend (2005 edition) consisted of motivating the Ringbunny to come along, and to swap the regular street brakepads for Pagid Orange. At this point I was still expecting to do quite a few laps, so I put some brand new pads in front, and some older pads that still had plenty of life in them in the rear.

Fresh pads Fresh pads

The tyres are quite worn, but should still last the entire weekend with enough rubber to spare to get me back home.

Friday

The drive over went smoothly, apart from getting a bit sideways on the back road to Adenau. Unintended, mind you. Those rear tyres really didn't have much life left in them.

As the track was still closed I met up with Jon (from the States) and Matt for a spot of lunch at the restaurant Giulia. Fortified with a pizza we made our way to the carpark, where the track openend only a little later than announced. Before that, I lent Jon (from the UK) my 15-year old original Porsche tyre pressure gauge, which promptly gave up the ghost. Oops :(

With the slipperyness of the B-258 and the back road to Adenau foremost in my mind we went for a slow sighting lap. Matt and Jon (from the States) in their 5-series, and I in the 964. Even though the track was quite slimy, grip levels weren't as bad as I'd expected, and by Adenauer Forst I started relaxing a bit. Piloting a 964 on a wet/damp track can be a bit of a challenge, you see. ThoRSten was out there too, overtaking us into Hatzenbach.

After a short break to evaluate the first lap of the weekend we went out for two more laps. On the first I followed Matt for a bit. A red 200SX had come off at Fuchsröhre, depositing tons of crud and most of the plastic bits of his car on the track before coming to a stop on the grass at the lefthand side of the track.

On the second I was leading the way and Matt was following. On the approach to the Hatzenbach complex I overtook the recovery truck that was on its way to collect what was left of the 200SX. Matt had to wait a bit before he could get by the truck, and I decided to make the most of the dryish track and buggered off into the distance. There wasn't too much traffic about, but the percentage of people who didn't know the track seemed relatively high. Quite a few cars and boiks were in the middle of the road before a crest, unsure of whether the track would go straight, turn left, or turn right. Of course the track was closed when we'd finished the lap.

In the carpark In the carpark

A short walk round the carpark turned up a number of Swedes, including Anders and Ulf. The talk naturally turned to racing and VLN, Porsches, driving, and beer. I also met Paskal, who'd brought a Speedster in addition to his usual 205 GTI.

In the carpark

Of course some people insisted on going past the "Do Not Enter" sign, only to be turned away by the marshalls.

In the carpark In the carpark

When the track opened I went out for a lap with Jon (from the States). The rear end was feeling more than a little loose. Driving the Ibiza is a completely different proposition than driving the 964. Funnily enough the 964 feels more comfortable than the Ibiza. The controls are a lot heavier, but provide much more feedback. The only thing I missed a bit was the light shifter with short throws of the Ibiza. Other than that the 964 was more relaxing to drive fast, thanks to it being more sure-footed at higher speeds and being able to brake harder (not to mention that the car doesn't feel unsettled when you brake hard; the Ibiza's rear end is all over the place when braking hard). Anyway, despite the multitude of differences between the two cars I quickly got used to driving it hard again: time to start squealing the tyres a bit and brake a little later. The track was again reasonably quiet, and we had a fun lap.

After a short cooldown run I parked the car and was chatting with Bren and Jon (from the USA) when Helen arrived. After Matt finished his lap we all drove to Marc's place in Zermüllen to pick up the Golf.

TTE

Matt and Jon did a short testdrive to warm it up, then swapped places and Jon drove it back to TTE and then to the Ring. Meanwhile I filled up the 964 and started my hunt for a new tyre pressure gauge. None of the three filling stations I tried had any.

Helen and I were back at the Ring before Jon (from the USA) and Matt arrived. Matt and Jon (from the USA) went out for a lap in short order.

In the carpark Jon (from the USA) and Matt Jon (from the USA) and Matt

The carpark was getting rather full by now. Some boikers used an interesting way to video their laps. I don't know if this contraption made it past the marshalls at the gates.

In the carpark In the carpark

We (well, Helen) had some coffee, and then I went out for another lap. I didn't spot anybody who looked both familiar and angling for a passenger lap, so went out by my lonesome. Paskal was in the queue for the other barrier, driving his red 205. I was out of the gates a bit before him and waited a bit for him to come past, then joined up and started following. Of course the 964 had a bit more power, but the 205 can carry more corner-entry speed. This was very obvious at Aremberg for example. The approach to Adenauer Forst was interesting: I hadn't adjusted the tyre pressures yet, which resulted in a bit of a slidey moment. All in all it was good fun to do a lap in convoy.

The next stop was to adjust the tyre pressures at the ED Tankstelle. Of course some w*nker had parked his vehicle smack in front of the airhose while browsing the magazines inside the shop. After a few minutes I tired of this and figured that I could back the 964 towards the airhose between his vehicle and a pole on the other side. Once this was accomplished adjusting the tyre pressures was a doddle.

Before I could try out the new pressures, Matt intervened by persuading Helen to come for a lap. Of course I had to come too. The downside to this was that it was a rather slow lap, and the track was closing just as we came back. The lap itself was good fun though. We followed Jon in the Golf, with the nav system giving a bird's eye view of where we were. The 5-series had had the Ross-treatment, which results in juddering brakes. It also wallowed a bit through the turns, but it did have a nice smooth engine.

At Adenauer Forst we encountered Jon (from the UK) in his Golf 1.4.

By Mattzgesfeld Matt decided to overtake Jon (from the USA).

The satnav helped us find our way round, but the track was closed when we exited. A bit of a bummer, as I'd wanted to try the adjusted tyre pressures of the 964.

With the Saturday Ringers dinner planned at the Pistenklause we decided to head for the Lindenhof with Jon (from the States), Matt, Alan, Clare, Jon (from the UK), and Helen. On the way over I briefly met Morty from New York, who was there in his oak green 964RS.

Dinner was the usual affair, with Matt waving about explaining something or other, and lots of people telling lots of stories about this, that, and other things. I couldn't resist fixing the rocking of the table by wedging a beermat underneath one of the table legs.

Tabel levelling Matt holding court The audience The audience

The outside temperatures had fallen quite a bit. Matt had been outside to make a phonecall, and his glasses fogged up when he rejoined us.

Foggy Matt

After his vision had returned, he started paying his bill with as many small coins as he could muster.

Matt paying his bill

A bit earlier than usual Helen and I made our way back to the B&B. With exquisite timing it started raining when we went inside.

On to Saturday