[R5CPD]

Date & Time:

Saturday 1st April 2006 @ 05.45am

Location (Town/City):

Euro Tunnel Terminal Folkstone, Kent.

Venue:

Nrburgring Nordschleife, Germany.

Multimap Link:

http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?cli...=&keepicon=true

Contact Persons:

Chris Downes - chris.downes@pendragon.uk.com - Tel: 07719748863

Alan Mowberry - bigboyal82@aol.com - Tel: 07855400472

Introduction

Join in with this first Pumapeople visit to the Nrburgring Nordschleife, the ultimate driving experience. Completed in 1927, the 13 mile long circuit, has at least 73 bends which adds up to what even racing drivers describe as the most demanding circuit in the world. Greats such as Rudolf Caracciola, Manfred von Brauchitsch, Hermann Lang, Juan Manuel Fangio, and Graf Berghe von Trips have all made motorsport history here. Jackie Stewart reverently christened the serpentines through the impressive landscape of the Eifel "The Green Hell".

Positioned in the beautiful German Eifel mountain range, the track used to be the home of the German Grand Prix circuit until Nikki Lauda's severe accident in 1976. The circuit has also been the scene of many Ford triumph's with cars such as the Zakspeed Capri and Lotus Cortina. In more recent times, the Puma has competed in the circuit's famous 24-Hour race on several occasions.

The Nordschleife is not a modern race course, such as Silverstone. Blind bends, high speed straights, treacherous crests, steep inclinations as well as constantly changing road surfaces and weather conditions, make the Nordschleife one of the most demanding challenges for every motorsport fan.

Meet Plan

The basic plan of the event, will be for us all to meet up at the Channel Tunnel Terminal at 05.45am on Saturday morning. After crossing under the Channel, we will travel on into France, drive through Belgium, and on into Germany and to the Nurburgring in time for the afternoon session that day. We can then stay in a local hotel, and enjoy some time at the circuit, as well as the lovely surrounding countryside and other local attractions during Sunday. So there will also be plently to do and see for those wishing not to drive at the circuit too. After the weekend, we will return to England on Monday lunch time.

I also hope to include during the event, a brief visit to the Ford Factory at Cologne where the Puma was made. Might be a nice spot for a couple of photo's outside and return to their birth place for our Kats!

Joining the Meet

You can take part in this event in two ways. Firstly, you are welcome to join us in your own Puma and travel accross with us. Alan and I have booked our outward bound Euro Tunnel crossing at 6.24am on the morning of Saturday April 1st, with the return trip taking place at 3.12pm on Monday April 3rd at lunchtime.
If you could book a similar crossing, then we could convoy over to the Nurburgring as a group. Typically, the return Euro Tunnel booking is Å“111 return.

Alternatively, both Alan and I are still looking for Co-Drivers to join us on this event. All we would ask is that you pay for any additional accomidation costs, and that you may contribute towards some of the fuel costs too. In addition to this, I would need assistance with the map reading, pass me cans of Red Bull at various points of the journey, and put up with my taste in music (Kaiser Chiefs and Hard-Fi anyone?)

If anyone is interested in either of these options, then please post up here, or let Alan or myself know directly. We can then co-ordinate our travel plans together to fit in with your own.

Below is a list of those Members which have shown a desire in attending. Displayed is their forum Username, vehicle being driven, position, and if they are confirmed to attend the event at this stage.

R5CPD - Puma (Confirmed - Organiser) + Vaspetrol (Confirmed - Co Driver)

Big Boy Al - FRP (Confirmed - Vice Organiser)

d170sam - Puma 1.7i (Confirmed - Driver)

Mike Pass - Puma (Confirmed - Driver + Passenger)

puma931 - Focus RS (Confirmed - Driver)

Warning

So you wish to take your Puma around the Nordschleife, then you should be fully aware of the possible dangers of the circuit. The circuit is an incredibly unforgiving place. With the exception of a handful of bends, there's no run-off: if you fail to make a bend, you're going to hit something hard. Worse, most of the bends and crests are blind, so the chances of one accident leading to a second one are also relatively high. On average, the Nurburgring see's between 10-12 fatalities a year, and many other serious accidents.

I'm not trying to put people off this event, but please fully consider these risks prior to coming along. If you drive safely within both you and your Puma's limits, then you will share with the exciting experience of the best 13 miles of tarmac in the world.

Further Information

For those unable to attend this event, but would like to visit the Nurburgring. Then this thread discussing a proposed visit to the Nurburgring later this year, may be of interest.

http://www.pumapeople.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=33404

These two websites give good information about the Nurburgring:

www.nurburgring.org

www.nuerburgring.de

[pumamartin]

Date of the 'touristen fahrten' for your weekend in April are aveileble on the side now.
Have FUN

[Lantik]

Chris,
I went to the 'ring a couple of year ago... fantastic experience... (ooh err!!!)

Have a look at Ben Lovejoy's site loads of essential info.... http://www.nurburgring.org/

We stayed at Sliders which is run by a friend of a friend (brendan) who was on Top Gear last year when then did the Nurburgring slots of the Transit and the diesel Jag http://www.slidersguesthouse.com/ he usally gives preference to bikers but if it's not too busy he'll help you out. Make sure you book you eurotunnel and hotel early as it gets busy on the open weekends at the 'ring...

I'm hoping to go later in the the year but prefer 2 wheels over 4.

Hope you have a good one...

Cheers.

[R5CPD]

Date of the 'touristen fahrten' for your weekend in April are aveileble on the side now.
Have FUN

Thanks for the advice Martin. I've tried to tie the event into these available sessions, so we should get a copule of chances to experiance the circuit whilst we are over there.

Chris,
I went to the 'ring a couple of year ago... fantastic experience... (ooh err!!!)

Thanks for that Steve. I found Ben Lovejoy's site a year or so ago now and it's a superb source of information, especially reading his reports of his previous trips there. I'd recomend anyone thinking about the Ring, taking a look at his site first.

Thank you also for the hotel tip. We've yet to decide on where we will stay, so I will certainly chase this up.

Meet Update

Please take time to re-read the first post in this thread, as it has been updated with further information regarding details of the Nurburgring Mini-Meet in April.

[Big Boy Al]

woo woo were going on holiday and im gonna get so lost drving on the wrong side of the road.

come on people this will be a great weekend meet and an experience of a lifetime to see the greatest circuit ever made. and possibly drive it.

i think the weekend will end up costing a few hundred quid in total but we can cut them costs if we have co pilots
but it will be well worth it.

i wonder if ill be the first frp to do the ring.

[Zip It]

Wish I was coming, maybe I can have my stag weekend at the ring

[Big Boy Al]

Wish I was coming, maybe I can have my stag weekend at the ring

good plan then we could arrange strippers for the hotel

[THE PREDATOR]

@bigboy al

i donït think that youïre the first frp on nurenberg

cause in belgium is alsow one(the only frp in belgium)frp and for us is it 1/1,5h to drive two nurenberg




maybe an idea to combine this idea with a meeting or a tour with the puma club belgium?

www.pumaclub.be

[R5CPD]

cause in belgium is alsow one(the only frp in belgium)frp and for us is it 1/1,5h to drive two nurenberg
maybe an idea to combine this idea with a meeting or a tour with the puma club belgium?

www.pumaclub.be

That could be a good idea. I will need to make sure with Alan, but perhaps Sunday could be a good time to all meet up. I will be at the Nurburgring when it opens at 8am, but would happy to meet with you all later that morning. We could eat lunch together or have a 'Puma Picnic' if it is not raining.

[R5CPD]

C'mon, who else is up for this one?

It should certainly be a great weekend, with the chance to visit one of the most famous Racing Circuits in the world, and have a flying visit to the 'Birthplace' of your Puma at the Ford Factory in nearby Cologne.

There are still two Co-Driver places available in both Alan's and my Puma, or you are still welcome to drive your own Kat along with us instead.

Don't miss out on what should a memorable and fun weekend.

[amino]

I might be up for Co-Pilot

[R5CPD]

I might be up for Co-Pilot

That's great Amino.

As posted earlier, the only costs required from yourself will be your 2 nights accomadation in Germany (+ a possible additional passneger fare on the Euro Tunnel), and we would also welcome a fair contribution towards the costs of fuel, food, etc during the trip.

If you are ok with this, then I'd certainly welcome you along to what should be a really fun event.

[amino]

I wasnt thinking of free loading Chris id be more than happy to halve the cost for fuel food etc etc and pay my fare for the tunnel, need to address the cost and if I can get the time from work

[R5CPD]

I wasnt thinking of free loading Chris

Of course not! I knew that you would be more than happy with that arrangement my friend! I just wanted to post the likely costs involved so anyone else attending as a possible Co-Driver knew what to expect.

need to address the cost and if I can get the time from work

Not a problem. When you are sure to attend, then please let Alan or myself know and we can work you into our travel plans.

Thank you for your interest again, and I hope to see you there with us come April!!

[amino]

Top stuff Chris

I will let you know as soon as humanly possible

[Big Boy Al]

Top stuff Chris

I will let you know as soon as humanly possible

amino mate will be top if you can come.. shall be a very good weekend.

we go on sat morning and come back on the monday afternoon. so hopefully you can arrange the time off.

i hope so mate

[warrenpenalver]

If i can get the monday off I'm up for this.

I won't know for a few weeks though as i will be on a course in Plymouth and sometimes we can rearrange the lesson programme to get either the friday or monday off as the course is not that intensive.

How many hours realistically does it take to get back to england from the Ring, because i may consider driving back sunday night if its possible to get through the tunnel late at night if I don't get the time off.

Also i would stay in kent on friday night as its a 6 hour drive from plymouth!!!

[Big Boy Al]

i think its about 4 hours to the ring from calais?? not 100% though. and 45 mins on eurotunnel.

[warrenpenalver]

Just had a look at the prices and eurotunnel want Å“54 for a return ticket which seems quite cheap to me.

The 0624 train is sold out but the 0658 one is not so i may have to play catch up!!

I'm confused!!

Eurotunnels website says 0624 is sold out, yet cheap4ferries says its available??

Who's right?????

[Big Boy Al]

not sure mate??

this is how long it takes

clicky here.

ours was Å“111 return??

im sure if its half hour mate we can wait