Cochem & Nurburgring

Brrrrmmm… Start your engines!  Ladies… today is boys day out.  Kath will just need to roll along with it and hey, she might enjoy the day out anyway…. maybe a little bit?
Today Muzza has a track ride booked for Nurburgring (not the F1 track but the infamous Nordschleife ‘North Loop’ track).

But first some late mail from last night. A couple of pretty evening shots of Cochem.  First though the noisy party boat. They went down river, back, then up river, then back, and finished at Cochem about 10:30pm. The ‘band’ was in full flight and the amplifiers ensured none of the locals missed out!  Noise control – yeah nah.  I’m up for a party but the band’s singer sounded amateurish at best. If only she could hear herself from my vantage point.  But hey, many of the pissed people on board were jiving along regardless (as you do). 🙂

Pretty Cochem at night. Click on these photos to see a bigger version (unless you’re viewing on a tablet or phone in which case you should stop and find a PC!)

Today we woke to something different (not) clearing skies, but….. less heat!  Sort of comfortable almost! 🙂
After a cracker breakfast we woke Hermann and headed towards Nurburg.  About 40kms so it’s just a short drive. But first a morning snap from the bridge. Such a beautiful place.

And the castle.

Off we go north. Well what do you know. Locals. 🙂

We called into Buchel Air Force Base on the way but gates meant no entry.  Couldn’t even get to see the 3 planes on display through the gates. Dahh no photos… I’ll probably get told off.  fyi  Since July 2007, Buchel Airbase is the only location in Germany with nuclear weapons! (apparently!).  No wonder security is tight.
Trivia: Buchel Air Base was built on the west side of the village of Buchel after WW2 by the French occupational forces, and was later transferred to the Federal German administration in 1955. The base is home of the Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 33 (TaktLwG 33) of the German Air Force and the 702 Munition Support Squadron (702 MUNSS) of the United States Air Force. Thanks for the info Wiki.  Ok. “Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader” Now say that 3 times fast on a Friday night!! (or even once!). 🙂
Nice try. So what planes do they have here? The TaktLwG 33 operates Tornado jets which are capable of delivering the twenty B61 nuclear bombs, which are stored and maintained by the 702 MUNSS of the USAF.  The B61 bombs require a dual key system, with the simultanoeus authorisations of Germany and the USA, before any action is taken.  Phew!
Moving on..  We arrive at Nurburgring and head across towards the F1 track.

Nurburgring comprises two tracks: The F1 Grand Prix track (built 1984), and the 20.8km Nordschleife ‘North Loop’ track around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains (completed 1927).  Nordschleife is pronounced ‘Nord-shly-fah’.

Ok.. first car seen down below… surprise… a Ferrari.

A visit to the Paddock shop. Racing clothes, caps, cars, stuff for Africa!

It seems each shop has to have a car inside!


And whammo… Brendon Hartley!!  Ok… a cardboard cut-out of the kiwi.

This must be our lounge?

Another window another car. Not everything is open. It’s Sunday!  France & Germany are not big on working on Sundays!  Sooo old hat.

Unfortunately the Nurburgring Ringracer roller coaster doesn’t operate anymore (deemed non economical). Here we could’ve experienced the forces the F1 drivers experience. They start at the beginning of the straight with a massive acceleration, and loop at this point before sending you through two parts of the building. Bugger it’s not operating.

Inside an under the main straight stand.

The F1 German Grand Prix was scheduled to be raced here this July (17-19 July) but for the first time since 1960 there will be no F1 this year in Germany. The Nurburgring race promoters couldn’t come to an agreement with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone re the hosting fee. Forecast fan numbers (which were down on expectations at recent events) provided the nail in the coffin. Apparently it came down to a paltry 2 or 3 million Euro. Come on Bernie! Anyway, I can now say ‘phew!’, because in mid 2014 I made a big effort to book accomm here for the F1 and work the rest of our trip around this event, but everything was well pre-booked and, after probable impact on other points of our journey it all got too hard, so I reluctantly dropped it from our itinerary. Who’d have thought the German GP wouldn’t go ahead!!  Another display.

Breaking news there’s no baby next door. They’ve moved on. (Just sayin’). Plus it didn’t sqwark during the night (not that we heard anyway).
There was a Porsche day on the F1 track (rides were being given). For €2ea we had access to the main grandstand for a look.  They’ve just come in – and are in pit lane. Kath waits on with her mates.

Is that Andy Richards?

The Mercedes stand at the end of the straight.

Andy puts in a big lap.

Muzza with all his mates.

Time to move up the road.

On the road to The Paddock where vehicles gather to launch themselves onto Nordschleife.

From a car park at The Paddock. Kath is upstairs outside. We had some chips and a drink or two here while we waited fro Muzza’s taxi lap.

Warning. This section is for petrol-heads.  A look around the car parks reveals some big dollars. Love the Viper.








Ouch. The track has been closed after an incident. We were told later that there had been a few today already.

The coppas have been called. Reporter Muzza is on the scene.  Surely a woman couldn’t have been to blame.

Another car park… ridiculous!




The track is re-opened. Muzza clocks in for his ride. It was to be in a Porsche 911 Turbo S but the Porsche 911 GT3 was available so a late switch was made!  This was my original preference.  🙂 There was a short wait while they changed the tyres (apparently they last (at best) about 20 laps).  I’m ready. Driver Theo is ready. We’re both pumped.  The track is light on traffic so a fast lap is in store.


Off we go.

Photos by Kath who would wait patiently for the sub 8 minutes max this 20.8km flying lap would take.

This was a huge experience. Theo (who owns this Ring Taxi company) has done upwards of 15,000 laps so knows the track well.  You could tell he loves his work, and any car in front of us is a target. There was no way we were getting passed by anyone.  Here’s the video I took: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXHqQabT4Ik

We’re back. A magical ride. These things go like snot and stick to the road like glue.  The 190kmph I got Hermann up to all of a sudden seems very Nana-ish!!  What a buzz. Thoroughly recommended.  Get driven at race speed by the experts. RentRaceCar. (Or you can rent any number of cars and drive yourself – but why would you if you can experience this).  A true highlight that I’ll never forget.

The two old boys.


Meanwhile, haven’t we seen you before?

Ok so it’s time to leave.  What a memory. Ridiculous speeds and awesome to experience the handling of the GT3.  At the back car park.

We drove down towards Adenau  to look for a track viewing position. Here we found a GT4. There are class cars wherever way you look around here.  Nurburg and surrounds were plastered with them.

Looks a tad ordinary next to Hermann <not>.


A couple of shots of the track.

Inappropriate graffiti trackside. Surely not a DC typo either.


Here comes Theo with another customer. Ready to take out an easy target.

And does.

Soon after… track closed again. Another incident.  Track closed. We move on to Adenau for a drink.  Nice signpost at Adenau.

Markplatz.

Blaue Eck (1682) (Blue House)


Bikers leave. Heaps of bikes on the road today. Heaps.  These ones were all 30s-40s women!

Drinks please!

Ummm… yup.

Kath crosses the road oblivious to the dollars driving by.  They keep appearing out of nowhere!

Back to base we go. Back past Nurburgring.

Past the views down on Cochem.



And straight into these two bottles!!! 🙂

Lovely!

Weather today at peak would’ve been 37C but cooler at the start and end of day so we’ll have a comfy night tonight.  It wasn’t too hot during the Porsche run (even though it was dripping inside!). Probably about 27C as I type this late evening.  Guten nacht!