Re: Classic & Sports Cars

[Steve An <giulietta@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Scott,

I, too, flipped immediately to page 164 (coincidence??) to check out the GTA
at the Ring. And to my surprise, the article was about Scuderia Hanseat, the
same school I attended with my 911 in 1986, I still have the same pin with
my name, the maps of the Ring and the trophy and some other misc. trinkets
they handed out at the end.


- - Firstly, the Nuerburgring, more precisely the NordSchleife (Northern Loop)
is about 28 Km, or 14 or so miles, with something like 170 turns, but who is
counting, almost no flat part and only one straight (all from rusty memory),
lives up to all accolades and more. No one tells you how beautiful the Eifel
moutain region is, or the fact that you can see Schloss Nuerburg while
driving, or how hairy the downhill turn before the bridge is, or how
wickedly strange to hit the Karusell for the first time...

The SuedSchleife no longer exists and the GrandPrix COurse is totally lame
by comparison.

- - Secondly, the print press always brings up the Lauda accident, but it
happened at a very mundane part of the track, there is still writing on the
rock wall where it happened, I don't know the specifics but to conclude that
the ring caused the accident is a little stretched.

- - Lastly, my opinion somewhat differs from yours on this school vs the
Bondurant, Barber etc...Granted, I attended this school in 1986, but  from
the description in the article, it hasn't changed much, except that it was 4
days long back then and it costs 900 DM which at the time was about $300 US.
At 800 UK pounds, it is extortionist, considering you have to bring your own
car. I'll take the formula ford schools anyday.

The school had about 250 cars, divided into 10 groups, they grouped the
classic cars together; when I went, the Morgan club was there.

We did a morning of slalom and skidpad exercises and then off to the track
we go. They divided the track into about 10 sections and the groups into 2
sub-groups, one drives while the other watches.

What didn't I like?

1. There was no class-room instruction, which is not great if you are a
novice. In contrast, the Barber Formula Dodge I attended last fall had great
class room instructions.

2. The school had mostly very experienced drivers or racers who just wanted
track time, some of them attended every year for the previous 15 years.
Again, not great for novices.

3. The ring is a terrible place to learn to drive, IMHO. I spent so much
time and energy trying to learn the damn track, I forgot to pay attention to
anything else, like driving. And the last day, i.e. timed trials, they
removed the marking cones. It was hairy trying to remember all the turns,
which no-one whose names isn't Ickx, or Bell or Stueck does.

In contrast, I attended the 3 day Skip Barber last fall at Lime Rock, it was
such a simple track that you can learn it after a few laps and the rest of
the time pay attention to your driving, braking points, car rotation,
suspension loading, drafting, passing  etc... That said, it is such a
slippery and momentum track that it is not that easy to go real fast and
stay on the track.

I also love open wheel cars far more than any street cars.

For my money, I would attend a Formula Ford school and drive on the Ring
whenever I get the chance, which you can still do for 20 DM per lap.

At 800 lbs Sterling, Scuderia Hanseat is even more boutique racing than it
was in 1986, I can't honestly recommend it. 

The Apres driving/eating/drinking was great though. And they let you go nuts
at the end of every day, imagine following a tricked out Ruf at 150+ mph at
dusk and seeing flames from his tail pipes as he backs off into the sunset.

        - Steve.


At 02:09 PM 8/3/98 -0700, Scott Fisher wrote:
>I was out looking for the current European Cars magazine this weekend,
>and while I failed to find it at a couple of likely spots, I chanced
>across the August (I think) issue of Classic & Sports Cars.  ALways a
>fun read, I leafed through it -- and was immediately sent to page 174
>where there was a picture of what appeared to be a Sixties-era GTA
>running hard down a short straight at the Nurburgring.
>
>Sure enough, the article describes a 2-1/2 day driver's school, focusing
>on classic/historic racing cars, at the Nordschliefe, the original
>Nurburgring, from the viewpoint of a magazine staff member driving a
>borrowed Alfa coupe for the weekend.  The school costs 800 pounds, a
>fair bit of money but not out of line when compared with the Russell,
>Bondurant or Barber racing schools -- and as much as I enjoy Laguna Seca
>and Sears Point, they're NOT the Nurburgring.  
>
>

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