In theory, hitting the Nurburgring for a Touristenfahrten (Tourist Days) experience sounds like a dream. However, the Green Hell has many ways of turning this into a nightmare, as one is always just inches away from danger when blitzing the Nordschleife.
And the latest example of the sort comes from a recent Ring public session, which saw the driver of a BMW 3 Series Coupe getting in trouble.
Thanks to the piece of footage at the bottom of the page, we can see the man entering the Brunnchen 2 corner at reasonable speed. However, as he accelerates out of the bend, the 3er, an E46 model, loses traction - judging by the lack of decibels, we can expect a mix between poor tires and a slightly wet track surface to have caused the rear end to step out.
The guy behind the wheel doesn't even seem to try and save the car, since we're not dealing with any serious countersteering efforts, while he quickly steps on the brakes - keep in mind that when trying to bring the rear end back in line, hitting the brakes is not the way.
As such, the spin of the car is amplified, with the Bimmer sliding towards the metallic protection element on the inside of the track.
At this point, probably everybody watching from the side expected the 3 Series Coupe to touch the guardrail with its rear apron. Fortunately, though, the BMW stopped just one or two inches away from the protection element - the driver's expression as he looks out the window is priceless.
Speaking of which, the aficionado is well aware of the fact that he's being filmed, hence his reaction upon returning to the track.
We're glad this adventure ended the easy way, since other drivers who have recently lapped the Ring weren't that luck (here's a Honda S2000 example for you).
Thanks to the piece of footage at the bottom of the page, we can see the man entering the Brunnchen 2 corner at reasonable speed. However, as he accelerates out of the bend, the 3er, an E46 model, loses traction - judging by the lack of decibels, we can expect a mix between poor tires and a slightly wet track surface to have caused the rear end to step out.
The guy behind the wheel doesn't even seem to try and save the car, since we're not dealing with any serious countersteering efforts, while he quickly steps on the brakes - keep in mind that when trying to bring the rear end back in line, hitting the brakes is not the way.
As such, the spin of the car is amplified, with the Bimmer sliding towards the metallic protection element on the inside of the track.
At this point, probably everybody watching from the side expected the 3 Series Coupe to touch the guardrail with its rear apron. Fortunately, though, the BMW stopped just one or two inches away from the protection element - the driver's expression as he looks out the window is priceless.
Speaking of which, the aficionado is well aware of the fact that he's being filmed, hence his reaction upon returning to the track.
We're glad this adventure ended the easy way, since other drivers who have recently lapped the Ring weren't that luck (here's a Honda S2000 example for you).