Nurburgring Track day prep and options

Well my first advice would be to do Octoberfest after you do the ring.

32 laps is not a ton of track time, but you’ve been out and know the feel. A simulator will surely help.

The cost sounds very low, I spend much more than that tracking my older 458 Challenge at tracks on the east coast. Arrive and drives are as much as $25.5k for a two day event.

Preparation wise, I always bring a fully track-ready car. A mechanic always goes over it, makes sure everything is good to go. I also try to get a good nights sleep, not always possible, but I don’t go out on the town the night before.

I’d say enjoy the experience, no need to push 10/10, drive

 

Its been a long, long time since I was on the Nordschleife. I'm pretty comfortable behind the wheel, with lots of single seater time.. and closed race car seat time. I don't think much can really prepare you. The track is OLD and Narrow, way more narrow than it seems on I racing... or Asseto Corsa. when I was there it was in late October and raining - slight sleet... so not ideal. even then, there were crazy people out on the track. I got passed by this massive Mercedes sedan going down into the Fox hole... at top speed in the rain... crazy. I'd start out in a golf or something low power, and good traction. get used to it and then go to one of the schools there... If I can find my driver acquaintance I'll PM you .. he works there as one of the BMW instructors.

 

I’ve never been, I’d hate to go all the way there and find out they’ll let anyone on the track w/o demonstrating some proficiency, and it turns out to be a free for all.

I’ve worked hard to progress my tracking skills to run in all the advanced groups at the various HPDE events to avoid exactly what you’re describing,

 

unless you are doing a dedicated track day - or rennen - you will be on a Tourist day... good luck!

 

This info is from 2018.
We did a track day with Getspeed (https://www.getspeed.de/en/homepage/) and hired a Renault Trophy 225 ? from RSR Nurburgring https://rsrnurburg.com/ took a 10 lap package including 2 laps with an instructor. I recall the track day entry was around 1100 EU and the car / instuctor about 1400 EU. Prices have changed since then.
If you break (crash) the car the insurance excess is large, (and they swipe your Amex before you set foot in the car) plus you'll pay for any damage to the track and for the time the track is closed while they recover your car. On a track day, everyone is responsible for their own costs, so even if someone else crashes in to you, you pay.
A track day is probably better than a normal tourist drive day as you are on the circuit with people that have a clue and there are less cars on the road ( I recall there were about 40 cars in attendance but not all on the road at the the same time ). If you are slowish, you stay out of the way and the faster cars are pretty good at avoiding you. On the day there there were a couple of cars destroyed, apparently that's normal.
Good fun to do, ticked a bucket list item.
Oh, and the instructor from RSR was excellent.

 

30 laps at the Ring will be plenty! I cant imagine doing more than 5-10 in a day. back when they ran F1 a full race was 15 - 17 laps... at about 6 - 7 min per lap back then.. it was about an hour and half of racing.

 

No simulator can prepare you what is coming on this track. My mate in chassis engineering sends his new staff for 100 laps on the Ring as they start their job.
You find that tire developers accumulate 10-20.000 laps.

At times, you may spin, and you have to wait for the next car to see which direction you need to go. You will be literally lost for a moment. I met people (there) who realized that after two corners it's better to ease off, let the arm dangle out the window and wave everybody else past you. This is on the "tourist" days, where anybody can enter for a fee. No license required. https://nuerburgring.de/driving/touristdrives?locale=en

Find someone in the parking lot who offers a passenger seat for a fee and decide after what you like to do. I had a VERY experienced driver take me around in my 90s RS Porsche. I thought I knew my car very well from 100s of laps in Hockenheim. It was wet, slippery, foggy. No heater fan. I decided not to drive this track myself, ever.

I like that you consider the options in Belgium and Netherlands.

Btw, on your way to the Oktober-Fest you come past Hockenheim. They offer tourist sessions. Used to be Thursdays from 17:00 to 20:00 for a small fee.

Last warning: Don't underestimate your jet-lag after the flight.

 

When I went to the 'ring the first few laps I got taken around the circuit in an old Mazda Miata (In Europe also known as MX-5) with an instructor who'd driven thousands of laps and he knew every corner. It was the best introduction to the course I can think of.
1) Your not driving too fast so you can take it all in, stuff you just don't notice on simulators like inclines/declines, negative and positive camber changes, etc.
2) Your sliding around learning all the braking points (quite a lot!) which needs a little re-calibration once you get into faster cars.
3) You get a feel for what to expect. Trying to remember all the corners, well good luck, that's incredibly tough.

The next car I drove before taking out the Ferrari (it was a long time ago when the values where not very high) was a M3 BMW CSL. This sounded absolutely fantastic on the track and it had fresh Cup 2's. The car gripped well, handled way better than I remember any other BMW of that era driving and give you a lot of feedback of your mistakes. Your now driving a LOT faster than the Miata so its starting to get interesting!

My biggest advice is to drive with a club or private session and try to avoid at all costs a general busy public day. They are or at least where, "totally crazy", with all kinds of dangers just waiting to bite you like a double decker bus around a corner or a transit van, or even a caravan! Everything you just don't want when you committed to a fast corner. Good luck and enjoy!

 

Like Mike I did a fairly low powered small BMW from RSR or Jaco on a track day and prepared with watching relatively low speed video such as this and research such as this http://nurburgring.org.uk/