I promised a full trip report on the 2018 ADAC Zurich 24 Hours of Nürburgring in my last post about using my new Rylo camera on The Nürburgring during touristenfahrten public sessions. This post is that report.
If you want the quick 3 minute video summary, see the video directly below. Also, all the details are in the 2018 ADAC Zurich 24 Hours of Nürburgring trip report below the embedded video. Video also on Vimeo.
Thursday, May 10
I arrived in Frankfurt, grabbed my rental car and headed to The Nürburgring. Traffic getting past the parking and camping at Brünnchen and the “YouTube corner” was already heavy. I made my way to the InfoCenter to pick up my tickets and credentials. Once I had my VIP parking pass, I made my way to the garage, parked the car and headed to Ring Boulevard.
The crowds here were still pretty light, so I checked out the various manufacturer displays and vendors before catching FIA WTCR Race 1 which was one of the other on-track events during this busy week. It had been a long trip from the US to Germany, so after that I headed into Adenau to check-in, get settled in my room, grab a quick bite and grab some sleep before a full day at The Ring Friday. I did take time to see the camps people had set up at Breidscheid.
Friday, May 11
The classics on the track were the big attraction for me on Friday. It was fantastic seeing some of these older Porsches, BMWs, Alfas, etc. making their way around the track! It was a real shame that the single Ford GT-40 had an crash that caused significant front-end damage.
Following the classic race and the Audi R8 LMS Cup qualifying/race, I spent a good amount of time wandering the paddock before the top 30 qualifying for the 24 hour race. During this qualifying the 30 fastest cars from the previous qualifying sessions race for grid position.
I capped the evening off with the public pit walk as the sun set on another beautiful day in the Eifel region.
Saturday, May 12
Race day! There was a race warm up in the morning followed by FIA WTCR Race 3 before grid for the 24 hour race. I’d purchased VIP tickets, so the VIP suites were open today as well meaning pretty much non-stop food and drink until the race was over.
The uncharacteristically good weather held through the start of the race and into the evening before giving way to some spectacular storms with lightning in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Sunday, May 13
It started with a gray, drizzle before the fog moved in that red flagged the race for a couple of hours. In the end, the restart allowed the Manthey Racing Porsche to get past the Black Falcon AMG for the eventual win. It was an exciting close to the race!
Monday, May 14
There were no public sessions at The Nürburgring today, so we opted to head over to Spa Francorchamps in Belgium as there was a track day happening there and we figured the car spotting might be good. We were not disappointed!
Tuesday, May 15
We had to wait for the evening, but we were finally getting to drive The Nordschleife! We spent some time waiting for the track to open at the Ring*Werk museum on Ring Boulevard. I hadn’t visited in a couple of years and liked the new display focused on the history of racing at The Nürburgring.
We also killed some time watching various prototypes and test mules make their way around the track during Industry Pool before we got our chance.
Wednesday, May 16
No trip to The Nürburgring is complete without a side trip to Stuttgart to see the Porsche and Merecedes museums. That’s how we chose to spend Wednesday.
thursday, May 17
This was our last day before I departed and the rest of the group moved on to other stops in Europe. We stopped at a couple of castles in the morning and afternoon before hitting the track for taxi laps with Dale Lomas in the Jaguar Race Taxis.
That’s a wrap for the 2018 ADAC Zurich 24 Hours of Nürburgring trip. We’re taking reservations for the 2019 race which is scheduled for June 20 – June 23, but it’s never too early to lock in your room, so contact us if interested!