The Nurburgring is enough of a Green Hell in the dry, but when the rain hits the track, drivers should enter a special mode called “the slightest mistake can lead to the greatest of crashes”. How can you do that? Simple, it’s all explained in the clip below.
The footage, which comes from ‘Ring aficionados BridgeToGantry, shows us what it means to do a fast-yet-safe lap of the Nordschleife in the wet. It all takes place in a SEAT Leon Cupra, which means we’re dealing with FWD here.
Before diving deeper into the secrets of a wet Nurburgring, we have two mention two things about the Leon Cupra. First of all, this is one of the best front-wheel-drive cars in the world. For one thing, it can lap the ‘Ring in under 8 minutes.
Secondly, FWD cars may be the safer choice, especially in low grip conditions, but they have plenty of ways to bite you. And the Nurburgring has a special talent of making hot hatches lose control.
The delicacy of hooning
The Nurburgring, especially when wet, is full of secrets. For instance, coming across a small river that flows across the track in the rain is not something unusual.
Then there are the little tricks that apply to many tracks. For example, the racing line doesn’t always coincide with the path that offers you the best braking grip. And sometimes turning or braking under compression (the ‘Ring is loaded with elevation changes) is not the best idea.
Grab a “bookmark” or a “watch later” button, along with a bag of popcorn and hit the “play” button below.
In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist. Full profile
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