Before your first lap!
Learning the track – Getting used to the track
Most accidents on the Nurburgring happen because drivers simply don’t know the track and hit the gas when they should hit the brakes or don’t properly calculate the breaking distance.
To mitigate this, I would suggest watching Misha Charoudin’s YT video where he explains everything you should know about the track:
and also think about getting some risk-free training with computer games like Project Cars 2. Make sure you put in a couple of laps 🙂
Directions – Getting there and finding a parking spot
If you’re using Google Maps, the easiest thing to do is search for “Devil’s diner, Meuspath”. You can’t go wrong since there’s only one.
To make things easier, this is where you need to go to:
Here you can find the parking lot. This is also the best place to cool down between laps or even have breakfast if you’re an early bird. The prices are very decent as can be seen from their menu and the food is actually quite good. Everyone speaks English and German so rest assured you’ll be able to understand each other!
The entrance and tickets – Where to buy tickets from and how to enter the actual race track
Buying tickets is the easy part. Just go here:
and tell the cashier how many laps you want to take. They’ll give you a card and register the amount of entries you want. Then, to top it up, just go back and ask for more 🙂 The price, as of March 2019, was 25€ during the week (Mon-Thu) and 30€ during the weekend (Fri-Sun). In order to avoid an overcrowded track, my recommendation for you is to be there at an early hour. There’s a whole other feel to it when you’re the only one there.
The entry point to the track itself is after the Devil’s Diner, to the right. You just need to swipe the card over the sensor and the gates of paradise will open to you.
Good to know
Filming/recording
Both are banned. Focus on the road. That being said, I haven’t actually seen anyone at the gates checking you for any video equipment and my passenger took out her camera and recorded the whole “ordeal”. Again, please, focus on the track since it’s quite challenging and expensive to crash.
Emergency situations/Accidents
In case something goes wrong and you do crash, please jump over the armco and wait there. Do not sit on the track or grass and hug each other or examine the damage of your car, this is how people die!
Once behind the armco, please call 0800 0302 112 and report your incident. Try to specify the section of the track you crashed in. Don’t worry about memorizing it but please try remembering the number of the last white plate you saw (they are located above the armco).
The last piece of advice is to always call the emergency number if you witness an accident and no yellow flag being flown before it. This is very important for the safety of the other drivers.
Additionally, check out the official safety regulations
Lap times
No one really cares and it’s of course banned. I can tell you that on my first try with an Mercedes E400 (W212/C207) on a very rainy morning, I did around 12-13 minutes. The way I calculated that was from the recording, I was focused on the track like a hawk — I even managed to overtake a Porsche GT3 hehe.
Overtaking
Last but not least, always check your rear view mirror and when you see someone behind you, use the right hand side turn signal to let him know he can overtake you, and do stick to the right side of the road throughout this maneuver. Remember, the Nurburgring is considered a one lane street by the german authorities and thus, normal road laws apply.
Opening days and hours
Go to the official website and scroll down to the very bottom. Open the “TOURIST DRIVES NORDSCHLEIFE” menu. This is where you can find the calendar with the tourist opening days and hours.
Renting a car or a professional driver with a kickass car
While at the Nurburgring, why not fulfill that childhood dream and get yourself a GT3. I can guarantee that after a lap of two, you’ll feel like you’re walking on clouds (also because your pockets will be a lot lighter :D).
Apex Nurburg offers some of the most amazing cars I’ve seen on the track and while this is not an affiliate link, I can only recommend the guys.
You have the choice between renting a car or taking a hot lap with a pro driver (AMG GT here I come)!
Last notes
Have fun on the track, it truly is the mecca for petrolheads. If you have a normal road worthy car with no track tune on it, like breaks or tires, do your car a favor and let it cool down between laps.
The Inforcenter, Giftshop and GoKart track
You can find the infocenter here:
Parking is free for the first hour or so, if I remember correctly but don’t quote me on that. I’d highly suggest visiting this place as well and if time permits, book a ride on the gokart track.
While at the infocenter, I noticed a group of guys having some fun. I whipped out my phone as quickly as I could and managed to capture this:
Poor guys, seems like they suffered immensely.
Here is my very first lap. WARNING: amazement levels are at an all time high and so are the comments 🙂