The Nurburgring

[Jipster]

Fcuk it!.... next thing you know it was over (sorry Lee… I didn’t time the run.…)…. this was supposed to have been a photo but the setting on the camera was in motion picture mode… sigh… gonna have to ask Noel for his copy….

 

[Jipster]

Walther does 21 separate laps a day (sometimes more if there are 'guests'.... BMW guests I guess...) ...Sabine probably does the same number.

Visibility on the track that day was BAD… maybe 50m at most…. In parts it seemed like we were driving blind…Walther does the bends mainly from memory …. a bit like having a rally navigators notes in your head… where to brake, where to accelerate.... on the full video you can hear him count down a turn, braking point etc...

The ride seemed to defy the laws of physics…. the track was wet goddammit... there was no way the car could have gripped at the speed it was going.

Noel thought he saw between 80-160kmh in the corners.... it was unreal .... can someone really be this good ? YES.... or rather Walther is that good!!…. credit to both the driver and the car…..

 

[Jipster]

Some loot I gathered.... heheheheh

This was from the Tiergarten place I had lunch at on Saturday 17 May.... a signed postcard thing by Sabine... apparently the place is owned by Sabine's mom or something.... way cooo.

My ring taxi sticker has now found a new home on my filo.... niiiiice...

 

[Jipster]

The following pics record my journey back to Frankfurt airport to catch MH5 at 12.30 (noon) on 19 May...

As I mentioned I had decided to make a quick exit from the Ring as I wanted to avoid the morning fog so I left at about 4pm on 18 May about a couple of hours after my taxi ride.... fog had cleared then and I heard that the track was opened to 'tourists' ....thats what they call evryone else who use the track....

This time I got lost only once .... again I went the wrong direction so had to turn around but after that it was fine.....

I had monday morning paid for for the car so decided to stop and rest at a motorway motel about 70km away from Frankfurt... dont know where it was though....


basic but nice.... EUR59 for the night.... airport hotels apparently are ruinously expensive and only for those on company expense accounts... as this portion of my journey is for personal use I opt for cheap and cheerful...

creepy corridor outside .... on auto lights... absolutely dark if no one is in it....

actually paid attention to the car this time.... Opel Mireva 1.6 Manual.... not bad power was good touched 160kmh on a derestricted part of the autobahn....

Its a huge place this...

In house Burger King...

thats where I'm headed...

 

[535i]

were you travelling alone ? hmmmm .... :105: ..

Where is Noel ?? :love: ...

Your jeans, t-shirts and all - on your bed ...
hmmmmmm ....

 

[pussy]

cool info dude, and you had a taxi ride on the Ring on a M5..

Salute !!

regards.

 

[YellowMellow]

great pics bro..

 

[Zoggee]

aiyooo.........:help:aiyooooo.......:help: ayam sooo jealous!!:stickyman:

 

[Jipster]

were you travelling alone ? hmmmm .... :105: ..

Where is Noel ?? :love: ...

Your jeans, t-shirts and all - on your bed ...
hmmmmmm ....

You have a vivid imagination my friend....

Imagine this then.... you could have been my travelling buddy on this trip but alas many many excuses later you are still imagining the Ring :burnout:

 

[Jipster]

cool info dude, and you had a taxi ride on the Ring on a M5..

Salute !!

regards.

Thanks dude.... but you'll still have a tricked out E30 which I am envious of.... it rocks !:rock:

 

[Jipster]

great pics bro..

Thanks mate.... Panasonic LUMIX FX01 .... tiny little thing does well most of the time but fails when its too bright or too dark ....

Wish I had a DSLR with me....

 

[Jipster]

aiyooo.........:help:aiyooooo.......:help: ayam sooo jealous!!:stickyman:

I was already in Bonn for something else so it was a chance in a lifetime - I had to do it.

 

[Jipster]

OK last pic post.... 19 May pics.... the journey back...

Woke up early on 19 May Monday, didnt want to have to deal with rush hour traffic around airport area. Left the Motel and hit the autobahn (the A3) at about 6.15AM.

Got to airport safely at around 7am and headed for T2 rental car drop off ....

A sight for sore eyes.... MAS counters at T2 Frankfurt....

Seen at the airport.... the wierdly name KIA cee'd sport wagon... yes cee'd dunno how to pronounce it... maybe rhymes with seed? Anyway, pretty cool looking I thought.... good stuff coming out of Korea these days....

Since I am early have to wait.....

FYI I am back in Malaysia .... arrived at 6.30am today and am posting from home in DU.

It was a fun trip but its good to be back.

I will post some final random thoughts later.... going to sleep now zzzzzz

 

[OSFlanker]

Sabine!!!!! The picture shows she turned up with her handbag, shows driving the M5 is just a little detour from her trip to the local supermarket.........

Jipster, any biodata on your taxi driver, Walther?

 

[zaskar]

jippy not a bad way to spend a weekend eh!!!!

 

[ALBundy]

Wow...great write up Jip!!! And great to see you having the time of your life on the Ring!

Cheers

 

[JoeYazid]

........ Anyway, it wouldnt do to have too many in KL running around with Ring stickers would it.... there wouldnt be any exclusivity right? hehehehehe... sorry mate.

Jip .... Last time when Abe VeeLapan or now M5 went there, he bought me a T-shirt which I wore for 7 days and night.... hehehehe now keep in safe. seldom wear it ....

Abe VeeLapan also put the club Sticker and his Grand TT name tag, at the Restaurant there ... what about you ...?

Anyway ... congrate for the experience ....

YAzid

 

[Jipster]

Sabine!!!!! The picture shows she turned up with her handbag, shows driving the M5 is just a little detour from her trip to the local supermarket.........

Jipster, any biodata on your taxi driver, Walther?

She is a real joker and very obliging with her fans.... the men all take advantage of that by throwing their hands around her during pics and stuff like that... and as she drives away you can see she's joking away with her passengers.

Getting her as the driver would have completed the pic but to be honest Walther was really really good....

I have never seen driving like that except in maybe WRC (in cockpit footage).... its race driver quality (in fact he is a race driver - 4th is Nurbirgring 24 hours once)... very calm very deliberate nothing rushed.... throughout the trip I wasnt scared at all.... just hysterical from being pulled in all different ways....

Bio on Walther.... I'm not even sure if his name is spelt that way but since being German I assumed its spelt with a 'h'.... apparently there are more than one walthers .... I suspect there is a pool of drivers they call on the most famous one being Sabine. Can hep you there mate.

In a conversation with the guys at the Ringhaus they think each driver is good all of them know the Ring like the back of their hands... each corner, curve, crest etc. Its a bit unfortunate that its Sabine that gets all the publicity. They reckon it was Top Gear that did it and since Clarkson featured her on TV she's been a household name ....

 

[Jipster]

jippy not a bad way to spend a weekend eh!!!!

Yes it was mate.... yes it was....

Didnt think of it that way but it was.... came in Saturday 17 May around noon and left on Sunday 18 May around about 4pm-ish....

I was supposed to have checked out on 19 May monday in early morning but was afraid that there would be fog again in early morning.

Since I had to drop car off at 9am latest on Monday and also because my flight was at 12.30 I decided it was too much of a risk..... so left on the sunday itself....

 

[Jipster]

Wow...great write up Jip!!! And great to see you having the time of your life on the Ring!

Cheers

Thanks 'Bund's.... "time of my life" is exactly it !!