Nürburgring — The Best Racing Track in the World
Nürburgring (often referred to simply as "The Ring") is undoubtedly the most famous racing track in the world.
Today, the Ring has become a true Mecca for car enthusiasts from all over the globe. On weekends, not only Germans, Dutch, and Brits gather here but also avid car fans from distant countries. Finally, Nürburgring has gained recognition in Russia and other CIS countries. We hope our website becomes a reliable and useful guide, not only to the race track itself but also to its surroundings, featuring numerous car rental agencies, tuning studios, auto services, hotels, and restaurants.

Facts About the Nordschleife:
Built: 1925–1927
Opened: June 18/19, 1927
Cost of Construction: Around 15 million German Marks
Track Length: 20.8 kilometers
Number of Turns: 73 (33 left and 40 right)
Elevation Difference: About 300 meters
Highest Point: 616.80 meters above sea level (Höhe Acht section)
Lowest Point: 320 meters (Breidscheid section)
Maximum Ascent: 17%
Maximum Descent: 11%
Lap Cost (20.8 km): €25 (Monday–Thursday) and €29 (Friday–Sunday)
Accommodation Cost: From €50 per night (with breakfast)
Tow Truck Cost: From €150
Nearest Airports: Frankfurt, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf

Nürburgring offers a unique mix of grandeur and accessibility. Somehow, the Germans managed to resist imperial ambitions and made the Ring experience affordable and enjoyable for everyone — from a British student in an old VW Golf III to an elderly American millionaire with a dozen collectible Porsche 911s.

It’s simple.You can drive to the Nürburgring in your own car and, by purchasing a pass for a couple of laps, embark on the most thrilling ride of your life. Don’t have your own car? Turn to companies that rent vehicles specifically for the track. Nürburgring.ru offers a complete range of services. Several German companies also provide sports car rentals, such as Rent Car Nürburgring. They have their own hangars, cars, maintenance, and transfers.

Nowadays, most major car manufacturers test prototypes of their future models on the Nordschleife. It’s believed that the classic Nürburgring Nordschleife, with its incredible combination of curves and straights, reveals the strengths and weaknesses of a car’s key components from the very first lap.

Initially, German manufacturers primarily tested their pre-production models at the Ring, focusing on their top-tier sports cars. Now, experienced mechanics and engineers from American, Japanese, and British companies have established themselves at the Ring. They’ve built or rented spacious hangars, creating facilities that resemble a hybrid of a wealthy racing team’s garages and a powerful research laboratory.

Even PR departments of car manufacturers have become devoted to the Ring. Initially, they proudly announced that new models underwent rigorous testing on the Nordschleife.

Now, they frequently disclose lap times achieved by factory test drivers and often crown new models with unofficial titles like "The FastestSedan." For instance, the Cadillac CTS-V held the title of the fastest production sedan on the Ring for over a year until the arrival of the Porsche Panamera Turbo S.

One day on this site we will tell you what tricks the factory engineers use to help their test driver achieve the best lap time behind the wheel of a new product. After all, even the right choice of rubber compound of a seemingly quite ordinary-looking tire can win up to a few seconds. What to speak about more aggressive components of brakes and even a slight increase in boost pressure...
A fairly objective source of information about the behavior of the sports car on Nordschleife is the German magazine Sport Auto. Its editor-in-chief Horst von Saurma, having a huge roll on the Ring, tries to test cars in almost identical conditions - with honest factory settings and components. It is von Saurma's lap times that are telling in academic comparisons of sportscar performance.

It is hard to believe it, but the Nürburgring was built in just 2 years. The project was approved in April 1925, and already on June 19, 1927 the first race was held on the new track. The victory was won by young Rudolf Caracciola on a Mercedes car. Since then, it was with victories at the Nürburgring that the most talented drivers were universally recognized. Throughout the 1930s, the Nürburgring became one of the main stages for demonstrating the genius of German automobile designers and the omnipotence of their home concerns. It was in preparation for another race at the Nürburgring that Mercedes mechanics stripped the white paint off Mercedes cars, exposing the silver aluminum parts.

Only Auto Union cars could compete with the Silver Arrows at that time, with Ferdinand Porsche himself taking an active part in their creation... Mercedes and Auto Union compression engines produced more than 500 horsepower, allowing them to gain more than 300 km/h on the straights.
The Nürburgring's racing heyday came in the 1950s and 1960s with the Grand Prix rounds. Ascari and Fangio, Moss, Hill and Sertes, Clark and X were able to fully demonstrate their unique capabilities, sometimes at the wheel of not the fastest cars. Fangio's victory in a Maserati 250F in 1957 became a legend. After an unscheduled pitstop, he entered the track only third, conceding pilots Ferrari a full minute. However, for the remaining 8 laps he was able to catch up and overtake them. Subsequently, Fangio himself noted that is unlikely to want to ever want to ever again roll on the track in such a style.

The significant growth of Formula 1 cars in the 1970s set completely new requirements for the safety of race tracks. In 1970, barriers were installed along the track - before that there were only trees and hedges on the sides... But in 1976, Niki Lauda's famous accident with a car fire occurred, which put an end to the performance of formula cars on the Northern Loop. However, already in 1984 a new relatively short racing ring GP Strecke was built in the neighborhood, which has a modern safety complex. The complex at the Nürburgring now includes several racetracks: the legendary Nordschleife with a length of 20.8 km and the more boring GP Strecke with a length of 5.1 km.

Interestingly, during the iconic VLN marathon series, these tracks are combined to form what is probably the most unique track configuration on the Ring. For free races on tourist days, most amateurs use the Nordschleife circuit (20.8 km) exclusively. The GP track can also be used for races, but much less frequently.

That's the way it is. Come, the Nürburgring is waiting for you.
Photos © Nürburgring.ru
All photos and videos belong to their authors.
Source: http://www.nuerburgring.ru/