You know how when there's an obvious shorter route in a park, people have no problem walking over the grass and eventually there's a path forming there? And then the Parks and Recreation administration comes and builds an "official" alley, basically recognizing the people are right and the layout of the park is now improved.
If the same principle were to be applied to the Nurburgring, we'd end up with the largest and greenest asphalt oval NASCAR drivers would feel right at home on. Well, at least that's what would happen if we're to look at the latest touristenhfahrten clips.
Apparently, a very benign looking left corner is proving a real deathtrap (without the "death") for all sorts of motorists attempting to tackle the Green Hell in their motorized vehicles. It is as if they're not even trying to turn, going for the green grass in front like the off-road incursion was planned in advance.
We don't know about you, but watching over ten minutes of footage showing cars and motorcycles alike giving up on following the beaten track in the exact same spot is strangely entertaining. We really thought the point of driving around a track was to try and take the turns, as that's the whole challenge, but apparently we were wrong.
And the best of all are the bikers. Being on two wheels means there's even less you can do about it if you didn't properly prepare for a corner (i.e. you didn't break enough), so they accept the humiliation of ploughing through the grass instead of falling off the bike. So they sit up to avoid the shock caused by going over the vibrator and take follow the tracks set by those who did exactly the same thing before them.
This is the kind of video you need to show those experts who say "don't get front-wheel drive, you'll understeer", as if rear-wheel drive is an oversteer guarantee. Just count how many BMWs and other rear-wheel drive cars go through the same ordeal - go too fast into a corner and you'll understeer no matter which of your four wheels get power from the engine.
Of course, there is an explanation for all this and it's not they were filming a Benny Hills episode. This whole disaster happens in a longer left-hand turn that quickly tightens towards the end (the bit we get to see), taking unsuspecting motorists by surprise and forcing them to make a decision: try to stay on track and risk a spin, or go out on the grass and get to fight another day?
Here is why touristenfahrten days are a hard to decline, yet delicate offer:
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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