Grand Dame of 24 Hour Races : Nürburgring

“You coming ? You will not regret it..”

Again !!! Every time someone uses this on me…and if i happen to be around in that area, i will definitely fall for it. This time its the grand dame of the 24 hour races at the Nurburgring.

Its completely different from all the other 24 hour races i have attended. You cannot imagine the size of the crowds that goes to this race. It must be like 100,000 or something. Everywhere its people, their cars and their bikes. Heck, even babies that cannot open their eyes yet ! Its like a Formula 1 event or something. The Germans must be very serious about their racing….come to think of it….they are serious about everything. 🙂

“Allright I will go, but i am now an old fogey, please do not expect me to last thru out the night, moreover, its the world cup season, i need to catch up on the matches later at 8pm !, I have heavy bets on Germany and this old heart and only take so much stress.”

We have the showgirls that look more interesting this time, the last few at Barcelona and Dubai……i think the road marshals looked better. Just that i could not believe that some teams even brought their own race queens. I do not know how they help you guys in the race but eye candies are always welcome. By the way, a team of 4 drivers, each will take turns to complete the race in 24 hours. The team with the most laps wins.

At areas around the track, you can see many camper cars and trailers. I heard they were there at least 3 days before the race to secure the best locations ! and if you think its free, you are wrong. The organisers have worked out a most comprehensive strategy that covers the entire 20km track. If you see a hole in the woods, you think no one’s there, you race up to it and voila !! A race marshall will be there to shoo you away.

While we are at the 20km track, the man who designed this must either be a genius or a madman ? 20 km is really bad ass. now imagine it with steep climbs up the hills and slushing braking down the stretch to the 90 degree corner while 3 or 4 cars are just side by side with you with little run off areas. There are just no room for mistakes.

Lots of people brought their own chairs, sleeping bags and even BBQ pits ! I suppose it makes a lot of sense when my 250ml coke light costs Eur3 and a curry wurst is Eur 5 !! Why didn’t any one remind me !???

All in all, i had lots of fun. The crowd, i thought, was very important as they added a carnival like atmosphere to the race. To be able to see the wide array of international drivers among the 200 plus cars, i was both impressed and amazed. The feeling was exiliarating!!!! We even saw drift driver Kiki from Thailand. I could not help but ask “Kiki, you know you are suppose to go straight ? and not sideways ?” Kiki laughed “My job today is just to last the 24 hours and make sure the car survives. And i have been racing since i was a baby…what do you think??” “Really Kiki ? Okok….you win….and yes, i am jealous, you have the best job in the world for today.”

So the race started, they had to do it in 3 batches are the are simply too many cars and too many categories ? I think around 12 categories ? My only gripe is that after an hour, i am pretty lost who is leading the race and who is at which position. The cars were just zooming by and being a 20km track, it maybe a good 10 mins before i see the car again from where i was. And then, a little angel told me that they reason why do not display it on the boards anymore is that there is an app on the phone which tells you everything !!” Genius !!! I thought until i learn that i have to pay USD0.99 for it……Zzzzzzzzzzz

The first car i saw upon entering was the Bugatti Veyron. There was a strong urge to go up, act like I am possessed, open the door and sit right in it. But i saw the burly lady lurking at the side…….she might just bite my head off….common sense prevailed in the end.