A thrilling lap of the legendary Nürburgring

Barbara and I were in Luxembourg last week, visiting Jon and family. It was our third visit to this beautiful small country, only three quarters the size of Cornwall and surrounded by Belgium, Germany and France. 

I will be 80 in November, and last Tuesday I received an early 80th birthday present from Jon and Kathryn, a very memorable experience at the Nürburgring, one of the most iconic and challenging race tracks in the world, located in the Eifel mountains of Germany and 155 km from Jon's home in Luxembourg.

The Nürburgring consists of two main circuits. The more famous is the Nürburgring Nordschleif, a 20.8 km (12.9 mi) long track known for its extreme difficulty, elevation changes, and over 150 corners. Originally built in the 1920s, it is still used today for testing, track days, and motorsport events but is no longer used for Formula 1 because it is too dangerous and outdated for modern F1 standards. The length makes it nearly impossible to properly film, manage, or communicate during a race and a single lap is so long that weather conditions can vary drastically from one part of the track to another. Niki Lauda's fiery crash during the 1976 German Grand Prix was the turning point, when he suffered severe burns and nearly died.

My exhilarating birthday present was a high-speed adrenaline-pumping lap of the legendary "Green Hell" with a professional racing driver, a thrilling way to experience the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Jon and I ready to go in the BMW M5 CS

The RingTaxi experience is very scary, riding in a high performance car driven at near-race pace, the driver taking corners at breakneck speeds  on a track which is narrow, twisty, blind in many spots, and surrounded by guardrails. Relying fully on the driver’s skill is both exhilarating and unnerving. feeling real g-forces, rapid acceleration, hard braking and tight cornering.

View the full lap on YouTube

It wasn't my first experience of being driven around a race track by a professional driver. In 1997 Jon and I were whisked around Silverstone, a 21st birthday present for Jon, an equally heart pounding experience, but probably not as frightening as the Nürburgring, particularly as I was aware that even professional drivers like those operating the RingTaxi have had serious accidents over the years. 

Jon at Silverstone in 1997

The lap at the Nürburgring certainly makes one aware of the immense skill and bravery of F1 drivers. The Grand Prix at this most challenging of tracks were held over 14-15 laps, at very high speeds of up to 290 km/h. Our top speed of 213 km/h was pretty unnerving on this tight and twisty mountain road, and our time of under 9 minutes is put into context by Niki Lauda's time of just under 7 minutes in his pole lap in 1975. The high g forces and hard braking also has an unsettling effect on the stomach, and Jon and I were not too sure that another lap would have been wise!