Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicke28
What changed?
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According to chats and information from marshalls and the Nordschelif staff, reported over at
www.northloop.co.uk (free registration required), there is going to be a big crackdown next year on stripped out cars and trackday racers.
Point one:
Basically there have been too many people, especially the English, buying up bangers, stripping them crudely and then going over the 'Ring and either crashing or breaking down. There is also concern over the safety and road-legality of these £100 cars given that the German TUV "MOT" equivalent is far stricter than the UK MOT test.
On a personal note, I must admit that often it is the attitude of the drivers and not the cars that causes the issues, but if I was to read between the lines, I think the Germans fear that lots of dangerous cars and possible accidents will cast the 'Ring in a poor light. This draws attention to it which is what is not wanted, as the whole idea of Touristefahrten days is already politically incorrect over there.
Point two:
The expert 'Ring drivers are now often putting in laps in the mid to low 8 minute times, which from Bridge to Gantry means a seriously fast lap. A very well driven 2 seater E46 M3 CSL like Thoirleif's car go down to 7:50 or less if memory serves. Remember these guys are JK (Year card) owners doing thousands of laps.
I know Thorleif personally is a safe driver, but there have been issues in the last year or so where some other drivers have been
really going for it and have had near-misses with other cars, or have become frustrated and angry with slower vehicles "ruining" their laps.
The issue is that the 'Ring is getting busier and often these drivers are new to the track or in far slower cars. This means that can be speed disparities of up to or higher than 100mph in some areas like the Foxhole, or Kesselchen area, where other drivers either have slow cars or don't know the track.
The public days are just that, public days. Some drivers are now turning up in very expensive 400Bhp+ stripped and track-day prepared cars with super-sticky tyres and all the gubbins.
The "plans" are that these dedicated track-cars-with-license-plates may be asked not to use the 'Ring on TF days at all. It will be interesting to see what happens.
A thorny subject.
How do you "ban" a lightweight E46 for going fast, then let a factory 2008 911 GT2 RS or a Nissan GTR onto the circuit at the same time as a 7yr old factory Mondeo or Peugeot 106? Seems to be a driver problem more than a car one, but how do you sort that out?
Regards
Ivan
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