The Autosport UK Circuit Guide is the racing bible, with detailed diagrams and pace-notes on all the UK race-tracks. So when Autosport decided to do a European version, it had to be worth a look.

The Euro Circuit Guide has a full 70 pages on the Nürburgring, covering both the GP circuit and the Nördschleife. While the Nördschleife isn't covered in quite as much painstaking detail as the GP circuit, there's enough material to interest even experienced Ringers.

The format is an initial overview, where the author divides the track into logical chunks and talks about the general line, followed by a detailed section-by-section guide which is divided up in exactly the way I would have done it. For each section, there is a diagram on the left and notes on the right:

The diagram shows the main features of the track, including surface-changes, slopes, kerbs and camber. The line is clearly shown, as are the braking and turn-in points. The following close-up shows the level of detail you get: BP = Braking Point, TP = Turn-in Point

Although the line shown in the guide broadly follows the line most of us were taught, there are some interesting variations which I look forward to trying out.

The guide is aimed at experienced racing drivers, and this is worth remembering when reading recommendations as to where it is safe to go flat out! Some of the suggestions made me blink, others made me blanche. But even bearing in mind the intended audience, I though it was odd that some key hazards aren't mentioned, such as the extreme slipperiness of Hocheichen in the wet. The author, David Walton, has emailed me to say that he welcomes feedback with a view to incorporating this into next year's version. You can email him at DavyWalton@aol.com.

I'm sure that a definitive guide to the Nördschleife simply isn't possible, but this one certainly contains enough material to be of interest to both newcomers and old hands alike. For my mind, this was £35 well spent.