The winter season seemed longer than usual thanks to an increasing number of locals posting trip reports to the Ringers list from the very first day the Ring opened in 2003. A couple of car problems meant that I didn't do as much driving as planned, but still managed to have a great time.
Winter does at least allow plenty of time for preparation, though it never seems quite long enough to get everything done. However, it was a pretty productive time ...
First, I had a new adjustable suspension fitted. Full details can be found here, but the bottom-line was a custom-built system based around Koni Red Special adjustable dampers with uprated motorsport springs and a moveable collar for ride-height adjustment on the front, Koni Sport adjustable dampers with a reindexed torsion bar on the rear, and a system which permits car-park adjustment of camber and caster in tandem.
Custom-built Koni damper, uprated motorsport springs, ride-height adjustment
collar
Eccentric top-mount to adjust camber and caster in tandem
I'd had a chance to try out the new suspension at the Bedford Autodrome, and first impressions were extremely good. This was topped off with a full four-wheel alignment on a dynamic jig (the one used by Williams to set up Nigel Mansell's F1 car, no less). I was still getting understeer on tight bends, so Jon recommended a little more toe-in than standard to give sharper turn-in, and certainly this felt good on the road.
A more visible upgrade was to the seats. I paid a frightening amount of money to swap a pair of leather Recaro seats for ... a pair of leather Recaro seats. Ok, I swapped the stock seats (made for Porsche by Recaro) for a pair of Pole Position race seats. These provide a lot more lateral support and, crucially, allow me to fit 6-point harnesses. I didn't manage the harnesses before Easter, but hope to have them in place by May.
Non-reclining seats further reduced the rear-seat luggage capacity (already reduced last year by the roll-bar), but hey, I didn't buy the car for shopping trips.
Oh, and one final modification which seems to have become standard kit for Ringers:
Ring trips eat quite heavily into annual leave, so I only take the afternoons off for the drive across. But working from home in the morning and living close to the Dartford Crossing makes for a pretty quick dash down to Dover despite the Easter traffic starting early:
Narrowly avoided an accident when a moron in Dover changed lanes without looking. He did this in a spectacularly incompetent way - pulling into my lane, suddenly spotting me, panicking and doing an emergency stop in front of me. Thanks, mate. Let us know when you pass your test.
Arrived at the SeaCat terminal in good time, and was greeted by Niek who, in the space of about 10 seconds, greeted me, introduced his girlfriend Asha and inspected my new seats. Niek and Asha, were getting a lift over with Trish and Tom in their new BMW:
Tom was distributing some very professional-looking laminated Ringers stickers:
On board, Birgit called me to say that her battery was no more, and was being replaced by the Toyota dealer. Astonishingly, they didn't have one in stock, tried a different one which turned out to be 2cm too big to fit (MR2s are not noted for spaciousness) and then finally found a suitable one. This was, however, going to somewhat delay Birgit's departure.
Having taken advantage of the 1st class service, I tucked into lunch before going to find the others who had opted to slum it.
Not as nice as it sounded, but better than a burger
Slum class
Having received a series of dire warnings about speed enforcement on the E40, I opted to try Geoff Northcott's route of the E42 (A7 then A15) before heading off onto the N66 at Huy to meet up with the 258. As I was solo, and hadn't had time to teach my GPS this route, I gave the directions to Trish and said I'd follow them.
I'd bought a torque-wrench so I could check the wheels daily, but the Halfords adapter for the Clarke wrench clearly wasn't up to the task:
The Lindenhof has somehow ended up as the default arrival-night venue, and there was already a good number of Ringers present:
Some of the car fun started early, with the dinner table serving as the track:
Friday morning brought perfect weather, so struggled out of bed for breakfast at 8. Did a sighting lap and then straight out for a second one, still taking it easy to familiarise myself with the newly surfaced sections.
I must say that I'm not very convinced by the new tarmac at Hocheichen - certainly in the dry it doesn't feel like it has much more grip than the old surface. The half-surfaced left-right S-bend at Kesselchen also seemed bizarre, but the bump at the following right-left S-bend was a mere shadow of its former self, and most of the other resurfaced sections felt good.
An annoying vibration had returned during the journey. This had happened before, and I'd suspected the front left wheel-bearing. Jon had inspected it and found it fine, but replaced the carrier as a precaution. This had seemed to cure it, but it then returned and gradually worsened. I found Karl in the car-park so asked him whether he knew of a workshop that might be open. He said Ring Racing would probably be able to help, so kindly offered to lead the way. Another couple of Brits were also after some help, so they tagged on behind and a little convoy made our way out there.
Karl's Bastardwagen
Once we arrived, we spotted a familiar 911:
We also found Soren waiting to have some work done on the brakes of his gorgeous new M3:
Karl was also pleased to see his cage there - six weeks earlier than expected:
As they were very busy, they asked us to come back in an hour. I wasn't keen on doing more laps until I'd had it checked, so we went for a coffee until it was time to return.
When we did, they jacked the car up in the car-park and spent a good 15-20 minutes checking it out. They quickly confirmed Jon's assessment that the bearings were fine, and then found the problem. It seems bushes are my bug-bear at the moment as the problem turned out to be another one that had destroyed itself. They tightened things up to reduce the movement, but actually replacing the bush was too big a job to fit in with other work waiting. The good news was that they advised that the car was perfectly safe to drive on the Ring, the bad news was that I'd have to live with the vibration, which was rather annoying.
Back at the track, things were very busy:
The new suspension felt very good. The back was a little livelier, but not dramatically so, and that was more than compensated for by the crisper turn-in and much flatter cornering. However, the vibration really was detracting from my enjoyment of the handling, and the lost time in the morning plus a second car problem meant that I only ended up doing 8 laps.
Back in the car-park, Sabine had somehow acquired a tartan cap and attached wig:
The Ringers dinner at the Fuchsrohre was very, very busy. Not planning on doing much driving the next day, I indulged in a few more beers than usual, so my memories are a little vague ...
Adrian P well stocked up with beer
Sabine's partner, Guido, in his Maitre'd outfit ...
Niek & Asha
An adorable German Shepherd puppy
"Hi, DHL? How much to ship a small furry package to the UK?"
Had an errand to run in the morning, which involved a trip to a nearby town. A town on a Saturday morning of course means shops are open, and as Birgit was with me that naturally meant we had to visit several of them. After she ended up throwing her credit card at some clothes, she dived into a jewellers, explaining that everyone in her family except her had a Swatch ski-pass watch (a watch with an embedded radio transceiver which can be charged up as an electronic ski-pass). I bought this for her in an attempt to persuade her to put her credit card away:
After which, it was time to return to Nurburg to meet the Limosine. Did I mention the Limo? Ah, ok. Since it is probably now one of the most photographed Ring vehicles of all time, I guess a few words of explanation are in order. Now, how best to explain ... ? Well, what happened was a group of us got to thinking that ... erm ... that ... well ...
Ok, ok, I admit it: there is no explanation - it just seemed like a good idea, and Christer kindly organised it.
Christer's booking had been a tad vague. 'We would like to book a 7-seater limo for three hours, picking us up at the Zur Burg hotel at 3pm.' He was a little short of time on the phone, so didn't quite get around to explaining where we intended to go.
So at 3pm prompt, the Limo was waiting. Several of us felt that t-shirt and jeans wasn't quite the appropriate dress-code. Birgit & I got there first:
Then Niek and Christer arrived, with partners in tow:
At this point, Christer broke the news to the driver. The conversation went roughly like this:
Driver: Where would you like to go?
Christer: To the Nordschleife, just a little way down the road
Driver: Isn't that a race-track?
Christer: No, today it's just a road - coaches do it too
Driver: Oh, ok
I think it would be fair to say that the Limo was the centre of attention in the car-park. Or, more accurately, in the pickup area usually occupied by the Ring Taxi - even the marshalls seemed to feel that VIP parking was in order. Or maybe they thought it was a bus.
The inside was a little on the pimpmobile side ...
But we coped as best we could:
A gratuitous phone call to tell someone we're in a Limo about to lap the
Ring
Ten of us were in on the scheme, and Christer used Organiser's Privilege to declare that the first lap was for the three couples involved. The hire price included the drinks, though there was just a single bottle of champagne. This wasn't a problem as Euan had brought some more over with him, so we took it upon ourselves to ensure that the first bottle was empty by the end of the lap:
Watching the expressions on the faces of the spectators was hilarious. We felt it was our duty to play up to the crowds, so at Adenaur-Forst, Wehrseifen, Breidscheid and Brunnchen, we lowered the windows and toasted them with champagne glasses:
Equally hilarious was the procession of Ringers either following the limo all the way round, to enjoy the spectacle to the full, or honking and waving as they passed.
Our escorts
Adrian E shadowing for a while, then demonstrating relative speeds ...
Sabine honking her horn and waving from the new silver Ring Taxi
In fact, so many people were tooting their horns as they passed that we had to reassure the driver that he wasn't doing anything wrong, these were just people enjoying the spectacle.
We'd stressed to the driver that slow-moving vehicles must stay to the right, and he did so faithfully all the way round, hugging the right-side of the track:
We'd invited Sabine to join us on a subsequent lap, and she decided that I wasn't quite properly dressed, so she added a little accessory of her own:
My Worzel Gummage look
It was when the limo was ready to depart for the second lap that a snag occured: Euan had failed to arrive in time to restock the champagne. Fortunately, Sabine came to the rescue, nipping into the Ring office and returning a moment later:
BMW really does think of everything
A closure delayed the second lap, so while the rest of the Limo organising committee sipped BMW champagne in the warmth of the Limo, those of us who had dressed for the first lap froze to death in the car-park. Eventually Laurens took pity on us and gave some of us a lift back to retrieve cars. Birgit & I decided we'd shown willing so changed back into warmer attire.
We split the cost of the Limo between the 10 of us initially, then invited other Ringers to chip in if they wanted laps. Admittedly this wasn't the most organised of affairs but I think it all worked out. There were fewer takers than we'd anticipated, so most of the original gang got a 2nd lap, and when nobody had arrived to take the final two seats for the final lap, Birgit & I got a third lap:
The first lap had been about coach speeds, but by this lap the driver has started to relax and enjoy himself, so his speeds were notably higher and he was taking the racing line through a few bends. :-)
I completed the day with a passenger lap with Adrian E in his Caterham. No matter how many times I get a ride in a Caterham, I am always astonished by the grip, and Adrian certainly knew how to drive it - fabulous stuff.
Dinner was again a full-house at the Fuchsrohre:
Mr Limo organiser arriving
The very latest in Easter earrings
It's never too early to begin Weissbier training
Niek & Asha
The usual photographing-the-photographer game
I'd opened a book on the BTG time of the Limo on its first lap: €5 bets, winner takes all. Bets ranged from 15m to 42m. Phil won, picking up €60 and celebrating with, what else, a weissbier:
The happy winner
C'mon Kaz, there can only be one winner ...
Trish had not only organised stickers, but also used the artwork to arrange a cake! It looked fabulous:
We did have to improvise a bit when we ran out of plates
I went out for a lap with Euan on Sunday morning, while Birgit sat in with JW as he tagged on behind. I think we can safely say that Euan was enjoying his new toy:
Euan hard at work
And the view from JW's 964
We also passed Karl's barge up Kesselchen
A couple of British bikers
And a Scottish Elise
It was a sunny if rather chilly day, and Birgit had never been to the castle (the Nürburg for which the village is named), so we wandered up there:
More pics coming to a Ring Castle page near you soon.
I also wanted to test my new camcorder, so we wandered over the Breidscheid for half an hour. Birgit will post the pics, and I'll post the video footage when I get around to digitising it.
We had to get underway at lunchtime, so decided to get the packing and prep out of the way first. The packing included Birgit taking some of my clothes back home so that I can finally achieve luggageless travel when heading over to spend the weekend at her place. This endeavour is greatly helped by us having several his-and-her gadgets, enabling a world first for me - travelling without chargers!!
Filling up at the petrol station, Achim pulled up. After exchanging a bit of banter, I asked him if he'd give Birgit a lap in the RingMini. He said sure, so we headed back to the car-park and Birgit hopped in:
And that grin was before the lap!
Joerg offered me a lap in his Elise at the same time. It was a lovely smooth lap, and a most enjoyable way to say goodbye to the Ring.
Niek & Asha needed to get back to the UK for their return flight to Sweden on Tuesday. The things students will do to save a few quid ... So we arranged that Euan would give Niek a lift while I'd give a lift to Asha. (I think this was on the basis that as I already have a blonde, she'd be safer with me than with Euan.) As the E42 had been pretty busy, I opted for the E40 and a self-imposed speed limit of 100mph to avoid any serious problems with gentlemen in blue.
If you're a passenger planning on sleeping through some of the journey, falling asleep just before the infamous suspension-test section just as you pass into Belgium is clearly not the ideal time. Nobody could possibly sleep through those bumps. Nobody except Asha, that is. She woke up again 4 miles short of the SeaCat terminal.
I needed to get a supplementary ticket for Asha, and it was only after I'd parked the car and walked to the ticket desk that I realised I had no idea what her surname was, so I just gave her name as Asha. That did the job, but it should really have alerted me to forthcoming fun and games at Dover ...
We arrive at passport control at Dover and I hand over both passports. The immigration guy studied Asha's passport for a long time. He then tried to ask her questions, but she couldn't really hear him through the booth and across the width of the car, so I answered instead.
Now, you have to picture here a 40-year-old Brit in an open-top Porsche with a 22-year-old Polish blonde. On reflection, I can see that my answer to his first question could perhaps have been better phrased:
Him: How long is she in the UK for?
Me: Just for the night
Things kind of went downhill from there:
Him: Where have you come from?
Me: Germany
Him: What is the purpose of her visit to the UK?
Me: She's over here with her boyfriend
Him: Where is her boyfriend?
Me: Um ... He's in a different car on a different ferry arriving at a different
part of the port
Him: I see. Has he come from Germany too?
Me: Yes
Him: So her boyfriend lives in Germany?
Me: No, he's studying in Sweden at the moment
Him: So is this boyfriend Swedish or German?
Me: Dutch
Our passports were retained, we were handed a landing card and not very politely instructed to pull over by the customs sheds. Asha completed the landing card and I walked back to the booth with it. Get back into your car and stay there. Whatever happened to our famed British politeness?
While we were waiting there, I called Birgit to relay the details of this entertaining conversation - and then called Niek to inform him that his girlfriend had been impounded. It was while I was on the phone to Niek that a much friendlier immigration guy wandered over to return our passports and bid us a pleasant stay. I guess they decided that even the most idiotic of illegal immigrant smugglers would have concocted a better story than that.
With part of the M20 closed, and the A20 filled with nose-to-tail traffic, I had to take a pretty major detour to avoid the mess. Simon Bradley was collecting Niek and Asha, and we'd arranged to meet at Thurrock Services. We turned out to have picked the time and location of an Essex Boys cruise. You have never seen so many neon strips and bits of Halfords stick-on fake carbon fibre in one place at one time. We were briefly tempted to start cruising the car-park ourselves, but we were a little above the average age and we didn't have any blue neon. Euan at least did a quick burn-out as he left, just to show willing.
And that, more or less, was Easter.
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