I tell ya I have the best wife, first a turbo for my wedding gift and now this. So I am turning 30 tomorrow and my wife has had this planned for some time. We had plans to go away for the weekend but she told me on Friday that there "may" be a detour on our route.
so we set off yesterday morning for our destination. Once we got on he highway she takes my iPhone from me and spends a few minutes searching. So then she takes the gps and inserts a new address. Great, now what I am thinking, 130 km detour east and our destination is south. So we drive and about 50 kms from our destination I look up at the gps and it says Exit: so&so Nurburgring. I explode with delight as all I know we are going to the track. She looks at me and smiles saying something about they have the best Christmas markets in Germany lol. I laugh it off. So as we start to get closer I'm being passed by Lamborghini's, Porsche's and very nice looking M3's.
We we finally end up at our destination and upon exiting the vehicle you can hear the scream of cars entering the track. My smile becomes bigger and bigger and she's now laughing at me. I then follow my wife and she leads me to this very small building with a few cars sitting outside with banners on the windshield that read rentracecar.de. She then said happy birthday, I love you and go have fun.
So we are greeted by a gentleman and he welcomes me, we went over details about the car and what I will be doing. My wife had purchased 6 laps for me on my dream track, one I've only ever played on GranTurismo. So I sign the contract with minor hesitation knowing that If I crash I would have to pay upwards to €9000 for the car.
So with that in the back of my mind he threw me the keys and my lap card and led me out to the car in which I would take around the ring. My wife had chosen me a new Toyota GT86. I took a good look at the car (I've been wanting to drive the Subaru/Scion before I left home but never did. He told me that the suspension, break pads and tires have been upgraded. As the nerves are starting to set in and I'm going though the track corners in my head I start the car up and let it warm up. I ask about the helmet and he looks at me and says you don't need one. I'm thinking to myself (are you crazy!) while looking at my 8 month old daughter and request a helmet.
He returns with a helmet, I strap on my GoPro (which my wife remembered to pack for me) kissed my wife and the baby and I strapped myself into the very comfy yet supportive seat. Put the car into D (auto with paddle shifters) and set off to cross one more life event off my bucket list.
I pull up up to that card reader, wait for the light to turn green and the arm to lift and I set out onto the track, in and around a few cones and then I am there, alone, myself with the machine. I spend the first two laps getting a feel for the track (which isn't like the video game at all) after being interrupted by some Corvette owner that let a corner get the best of him (and the whole front end of his car) I take off again, constantly pushing the car a little harder each time (still keeping in the back of my mind to keep the car out of the sand and off of the walls) I complete my third lap where then all cars are instructed to exit the ring due to a Doctor being called to a pretty serious accident.
So with about a 45-60 minute delay I am back out to finish my last 3 laps. Lap 4 and 5 were my best, most hard driven laps while saving the 6th for an enjoyable quick lap. I was lost in the amazement of motorsports. I was complete smiles. I have done one thing I always wanted to do. Drive the ring.
The car handled amazingly. I decided to leave it in auto and leave all aids on so I could enjoy the drive and not worry (as much) about placing the car into the wall. It was however a little underpowered for going up the uphill sections but I was not complaining. A good friend said it's better to have fun in a slow car then to be scared in a fast car.
After er driving the ring it makes me wish even more that I brought my NSX here to Germany with me for my 4 years. But then again I have been watching out for a few Honda NSXs.
Thanks for the long read, pics and a lap video will be up hopefully tomorrow night. I think I'm just coming off my high now.
so we set off yesterday morning for our destination. Once we got on he highway she takes my iPhone from me and spends a few minutes searching. So then she takes the gps and inserts a new address. Great, now what I am thinking, 130 km detour east and our destination is south. So we drive and about 50 kms from our destination I look up at the gps and it says Exit: so&so Nurburgring. I explode with delight as all I know we are going to the track. She looks at me and smiles saying something about they have the best Christmas markets in Germany lol. I laugh it off. So as we start to get closer I'm being passed by Lamborghini's, Porsche's and very nice looking M3's.
We we finally end up at our destination and upon exiting the vehicle you can hear the scream of cars entering the track. My smile becomes bigger and bigger and she's now laughing at me. I then follow my wife and she leads me to this very small building with a few cars sitting outside with banners on the windshield that read rentracecar.de. She then said happy birthday, I love you and go have fun.
So we are greeted by a gentleman and he welcomes me, we went over details about the car and what I will be doing. My wife had purchased 6 laps for me on my dream track, one I've only ever played on GranTurismo. So I sign the contract with minor hesitation knowing that If I crash I would have to pay upwards to €9000 for the car.
So with that in the back of my mind he threw me the keys and my lap card and led me out to the car in which I would take around the ring. My wife had chosen me a new Toyota GT86. I took a good look at the car (I've been wanting to drive the Subaru/Scion before I left home but never did. He told me that the suspension, break pads and tires have been upgraded. As the nerves are starting to set in and I'm going though the track corners in my head I start the car up and let it warm up. I ask about the helmet and he looks at me and says you don't need one. I'm thinking to myself (are you crazy!) while looking at my 8 month old daughter and request a helmet.
He returns with a helmet, I strap on my GoPro (which my wife remembered to pack for me) kissed my wife and the baby and I strapped myself into the very comfy yet supportive seat. Put the car into D (auto with paddle shifters) and set off to cross one more life event off my bucket list.
I pull up up to that card reader, wait for the light to turn green and the arm to lift and I set out onto the track, in and around a few cones and then I am there, alone, myself with the machine. I spend the first two laps getting a feel for the track (which isn't like the video game at all) after being interrupted by some Corvette owner that let a corner get the best of him (and the whole front end of his car) I take off again, constantly pushing the car a little harder each time (still keeping in the back of my mind to keep the car out of the sand and off of the walls) I complete my third lap where then all cars are instructed to exit the ring due to a Doctor being called to a pretty serious accident.
So with about a 45-60 minute delay I am back out to finish my last 3 laps. Lap 4 and 5 were my best, most hard driven laps while saving the 6th for an enjoyable quick lap. I was lost in the amazement of motorsports. I was complete smiles. I have done one thing I always wanted to do. Drive the ring.
The car handled amazingly. I decided to leave it in auto and leave all aids on so I could enjoy the drive and not worry (as much) about placing the car into the wall. It was however a little underpowered for going up the uphill sections but I was not complaining. A good friend said it's better to have fun in a slow car then to be scared in a fast car.
After er driving the ring it makes me wish even more that I brought my NSX here to Germany with me for my 4 years. But then again I have been watching out for a few Honda NSXs.
Thanks for the long read, pics and a lap video will be up hopefully tomorrow night. I think I'm just coming off my high now.
Last edited:
