The more or less written laws of the Nurburgring can sound ironical to the uninitiated. Let’s take the driving speed, for instance. Most crashes that occur during the tourist day events see amateurs carrying too much speed into a corner.
As a result, a novice might be tempted to believe that lapping the Nordschleife at a steady pace before learning the ways of the 14.2 miles (22.8 km) of evil tarmac is not a problem. We have to advice anybody considering this to redefine their acceptance of “steady pace” before attempting such a lap.
For one thing, going slow on the ‘Ring has all the chances in the world to get you into rear-end trouble. The latest example of this took place over the weekend, with a pair of Porsches showing what can happen on such extreme occasions.
The driver of a 993-generation 911 Carrera Cabriolet played the role of the rear-engined snail, while a guy in a 991 GT3 was understandably the speedy protagonist.
Passing on the Nurburgring is only allowed on the left, but the GT3 driver was forced to get around the 993 on the other side. That’s because the track-savvy Neunelfer approached its senior family member at an alarming speed rate - perhaps the GT3 driver misjudged the pace of the open-top Porsche in front of him (a frequent mistake).
Fortunately, both the GT3 and the guy behind its wheel performed extremely well once the two Porsche were side by side. The GT3 almost ended up with all four wheels on the grass, but there was no sign of a dangerous movement. Everybody who’s played on tricky grip under braking in a rear-engined car, be it gifted with modern electronics, knows that’s no small feat.
As a result, the risky ‘Ring episode ended up being filled under “brown trousers” instead of a more damaging label.
For one thing, going slow on the ‘Ring has all the chances in the world to get you into rear-end trouble. The latest example of this took place over the weekend, with a pair of Porsches showing what can happen on such extreme occasions.
The driver of a 993-generation 911 Carrera Cabriolet played the role of the rear-engined snail, while a guy in a 991 GT3 was understandably the speedy protagonist.
Passing on the Nurburgring is only allowed on the left, but the GT3 driver was forced to get around the 993 on the other side. That’s because the track-savvy Neunelfer approached its senior family member at an alarming speed rate - perhaps the GT3 driver misjudged the pace of the open-top Porsche in front of him (a frequent mistake).
Fortunately, both the GT3 and the guy behind its wheel performed extremely well once the two Porsche were side by side. The GT3 almost ended up with all four wheels on the grass, but there was no sign of a dangerous movement. Everybody who’s played on tricky grip under braking in a rear-engined car, be it gifted with modern electronics, knows that’s no small feat.
As a result, the risky ‘Ring episode ended up being filled under “brown trousers” instead of a more damaging label.