LOR Trackguide Nuerburgring Nordkehre
Contents
First Corner (Left hander)
- Entrance speed: approximately 165 mph [266 kph]
- Speed through the corner: approximately 70 mph [113kph]
- Arrival time at the corner: 32.63 seconds
- Time to negotiate the corner: 6.49 seconds
- Exit time of the corner: 39.12 seconds
This left hander comes at the end of the long straight which passes directly behind the pits. This is the second overtaking opportunity on the lap. You should take full advantage of it as the next one won't appear for another eight minutes. Hopefully you got a good exit out of the previous turn in order to maximize your speed down the straight.
Approach
You should be up to fifth gear as you approach this turn. Move the car over to the right side of the track for the entrance. This is slightly tricky as you need to be about a foot or so away from the rear wall of the garages to get the right line. At almost 170 mph that is not much space, so be careful that you don't scrape your right hand wheels against the wall.
The alternating yellow and red advertisements on the garage wall make an excellent braking reference point. The racing groove will darken right next to a yellow banner. Go past the next red one, then when you reach the following yellow banner (the second yellow banner after the groove has darkened) start to brake as hard as possible and begin to shift down to second gear. Make sure you keep the car dead straight and parallel to the wall. You don't want to start turning in too early or you'll go wide on the exit.
Apex
You probably won't reach second gear until after passing the end of the garage wall. Almost immediately after getting down into second, begin to turn into the corner. You should be a few car lengths away from the white line on the inside of the corner now. Ease off the brakes to help you rotate the car into the corner. Then, in a similar fashion to the first corner of the lap, get off the brakes and back onto the accelerator about half way between turning in and reaching the apex. The turn has a positive camber to it, as well as a slight uphill at the exit. This, along with a careful amount of power, will allow you to maintain 70 mph through the turn.
Exit
You want to make an early apex here, and begin to drift away from the inside about midway through the turn. Let the car move out towards the right side of the track as you exit. Try to get more power down as you finish the turn. The uphill, cambered nature of the turn which allowed you to brake less on entry will help you spin here if you get too much power down too soon. Take it easy and go right out to the grass. Once there, however, you should be back to full power. Make sure you don't put a wheel off as you'll spin very quickly.
Second Corner (Left hander)
- Entrance speed: approximately 105 mph [169 kph]
- Speed through the corner: approximately 45-50 mph [73-81 kph]
- Arrival time at the corner: 40.75 seconds
- Time to negotiate the corner: 5.27 seconds
- Exit time of the corner: 46.02 seconds
After the first three relatively easy turns, this next left hander begins to ease you into the interesting style that accompanies almost every turn at the Ring. The track crests a hill at about the exact moment you need to start braking, making the rear very light. You probably won't get out of second gear on the short straight after the previous turn.
Approach
Approach the crest of the hill under full acceleration in a perfectly straight line, right next to the outside edge of the track. Your perfectly straight line needs to be parallel to the edge of the track. Just to make this difficult, there is an access road on your right, making it impossible to see the edge of the track until you crest the hill, by which time it is too late to correct your line. This means you need to align yourself before you reach the access road (i.e. - you need a perfectly straight exit out of the previous turn.)
Apex
Just as you reach the crest of the hill, brake hard for a moment. As you go over the hill, the rear of the car will get very light, so ease off the brakes a bit to reduce this as much as possible. Then once over the hill, get back on the brakes. If you're really good, you may be able to hold off until you are completely over the hill, but I've never been able to do that successfully.
Exit
As you come down the hill into the turn stay to the right until just before the warning sign (gotta love those) on the right. Turn the car in and ease off the brakes a little. Unlike the previous turns, you trail brake all the way into the apex here, as the track falls away at the exit. Hit the apex just before the middle of the turn, and get off the brakes. Start to unwind the wheel and get back on the power as you leave the apex. A good balance between acceleration and turning can be achieved so that you push the car right out to the edge of the track as you leave. Go right to the grass, being careful not to run over it, and get back to full acceleration as you drive off down the track. Once you are going straight again, move the car a few feet away from the grass.
Third Corner (Right hander)
- Entrance speed: approximately 130 mph [210 kph]
- Speed through the corner: approximately 85 mph [137kph]
- Arrival time at the corner: 50.39 seconds
- Time to negotiate the corner: 3.71 seconds
- Exit time of the corner: 54.10 seconds
Getting trickier now. This corner starts an entire section that doesn't require much braking as long as you turn in earlier than you'd expect. After leaving the previous left hander you should be able to get up to third gear. The track rushes downhill towards this turn, pausing momentarily for a slight right hand bend in the track, which can be taken flat. Get right next to the inside edge of the track as you go round it and the car will then push out to the left on exit, setting you up perfectly for this right hander.
Approach
The racing groove darkens slightly just after you pass
the lone bush on your left. Brake moderately for a
moment, then ease off the brakes and start to turn in.
Apex
As you ease off the brakes and turn in, the car will rotate towards the apex, but its speed will overcome the ability of the tyres to grip and you'll slide towards the left. However, a slight four wheel drift is fine. Keep a small amount of power on until the wheels grip again. Once they do you may have to turn the wheel more to continue around the corner, but you will hit the apex perfectly, just past the midpoint of the turn.
Exit
Quickly unwind the wheel and get back onto the power as you straighten the car out against the left side of the track. The track has a slight bump in it at the exit which will help you get the power down and stabilize the car as you exit. Then stay against the left side of the track as it starts downhill again.
