However, there was one little problem: the B258 was closed for some event or other.

As I was going to meet Keith I texted him an updated ETA. The detour would take me 10 to 15 minutes. The reply was predictable: Keith would be doing another lap in the meantime :)

The access road to the overflow carpark was (as nearly always) being used as temporary parking space, creating the usual chaos. It'd be great if Nürburgring GmbH would put one of their marshalls there to keep this road clear.

I met up with Keith and while catching up with recent (and some not so recent) developments did a lap in the Ibiza. The lovely weather had attracted quite a crowd, and before I could drop off Keith and head out for lap number 2 the track had closed.

Time for a carpark wander then.

Joerg was around too, somewhere. Unless somebody had nicked his car, of course.

Not everybody is a Clarkson fan. I guess he didn't go through Terminal 5 at Heathrow wearing that shirt...

Cars were still coming off the track.

The closure was a long one. Long enough to do another tour of the carpark. Jaguar doesn't make them like they used to, IMHO.

However, Lotus still adheres to the old principles: if it doesn't break immediately after you've finished driving, it was overengineered and thus too heavy. Which might well be why this guy is repairing his rear brake caliper with a pocket knife while his mate moves the car back and forth.

The longer the closure, the bigger the mess in the carpark. The blue BMW in this picture wanted to leave. Minor problem: there's no place to go. And no, he wasn't British :-X :-P

Meanwhile both Keith and Jochen turned up.

Jochen's Frozenspeed decals show up on more and more cars.

They draw quite a crowd too.

The announcement that the Ring was open again (though not for boiks) finished off the conversation quickly. On my way to the car I spotted Keith.

I couldn't resist a quick detour to take two pics of a rather orange Lambo.

The lap was fairly entertaining, but also quite frustrating. Early on I closed up to two of the RentRaceCar cars: a 911 and a BMW 135i. They were having a fine old time playing with each other, but from the driving it looked as if they didn't know the track very well. They were also too busy looking ahead to see that they were being trailed by cars that were quite a bit faster through the twisty bits, but who just didn't have the power to overtake on the straights. After about 10km of this I let a Leon with a huge turbo past in the hope that he would have the power to get by them (and then tag along myself, naturally). That didn't work either, and after having to stand on the brakes yet again, this time for Mutkurve (which is flat in the Ibiza), I hung back for a few corners, but couldn't help but run into the back of the convoy again in 2 or 3 corners. Summary: one of those times to be grateful for a Jahreskarte.

I was meaning to have a quick chat with them in the carpark and invite them for a passengerlap in the shopping trolley, but the track was closed again and I decided to throw in the towel and pointed the Ibiza's nose towards home.

The immediate vicinity of the B258 looks unrecognizable with all the building work in progress.