Roy

Thanks Graham, I will certainly be giving those a try when I get a moment and clear up some space on my laptop. So, a few observations from the last few days at Nurburgring and Spa. When you turn 18 in Germany your dad gives you a pork knuckle, a stein of beer and the keys to a 996 or 997 GT3RS. If you are a busted ass uni student you seem to have to make do with just a Carrera. If you do well in your exams then you get a GT2 or a Turbz, leaving you the option of driving it to the track where you park it and swap to the race car....or just for the hell of it punt the GT2. I saw plenty last year, but this year as you will see from the pics, every car park in the surrounding burbs were full of GT2/GT3 and combinations of RS/CS versions. BMW really need to pull their finger out and ge the M3 up to speed as there were very few M3s, Ferraris and Lambos. Funny enough Astons seemed to out number the Italian jiggers. So, the weekend at Nurburgring was not without drama. Good thing we got two days of running, (Fri/Sat) as the Sat was a bit of a debacle. But first the Friday. After using RentaRacecar last year (http://www.rent-racecar.de) I again ponied up and went for a VW Scirocco 2.0 TSI. It is caged, DSG, suspension work and has road tyres or semis depending on the weather on the day. I wanted BMW 120i Coupé but it was booked out for both days. Baron had gone for the Alfa option from RSR, based on the advice that it is fun to drive, makes good noise and has good tyres. The Scirocco is a good thing, and if ever released here in Aus you would have to seriously think about getting one for a daily The Alfa, well , presentation was not great and a bit of a shame as RSR turn out all their other cars in top condition. Barons first Alfa did not last a lap. A failed fuel pump left him stranded by the side of the track and took about 120mins to retrieve the car from the circuit, return to RSR and get a replacement...you guessed it another Alfa. RSR were good about getting him another car and back to the track. But losing 2 hours of running on a 7 hr day means it makes it a challenge to get value for your day's car hire. (An important thing to remember when hiring cars at the Ring, track closures, car breakages can make a mess of plans) We later found out they have about 20 spare Aflas to use for parts so the old Alfas wont be going anywhere anytime soon. So, I had already done something like 3-4 laps whilst Baron was stranded and trying to get another car. Then the rain came as Baron returned to the track. Looking at the condition of the second Alfa, there was mutual concern that Baron would suffer the shame of breaking down two laps in a row in two different cars. So i gave him the keys to my modern little pleasure of a car and I took the Alfa out. I had driven it all of 25mtrs through a car park before trying to drive it at speed on a wet Nurburgring. So after a giggle attack which saw tears rolling down my cheeks, I ventured out to realised the Alfa did not have 200hp, it would be lucky to have 120hp. Second was that whilst it stopped ok its brakes feel terrible. Visibility was terrible as the Italians installed hamsters that spun a fan in the dash to try and demist the windscreen....so within 30 seconds and a few corners the thing was scary. But the revelation was it is a sweet handling car. As the tyres got some resemblance of temperature it was starting to corner sweetly, until I got to the evern wetter back half of the track where it was a real handful with understeer and with very prevalent lift of oversteer meaning I had to try and be very smooth...something I am not known for behind the wheel. But it turned out that Baron was right and the thing handled great, and whilst a completely different experience to the Scirocco, was still great fun. When it started to dry out a tad it was even more entertaining when you were able to use the grip of the chassis and tyres. I sat out the last few sessions of the day whilst Baron went out to try and catch up for some lost running before the track closed So the next day rolled around with great anticipation of picking up the keys to a race prepp'd E36 M3. Only to be told at the point of collection that it's engine had blown up and the car had not returned from the mechanics. They were going to give us the 996 Cup Car instead but it got binned two days earlier by a crazy Russian...and of their 7 cars only 1 was running Seems they were having a tough season with car breakages. So after some running around we were back at the track in another Scirocco...but due to track closures with the usual crashes etc on a full weekend tourist day....we probably should have just gone to Cologne and hit the sauce. Instead we got 2 laps each , including me getting lost on the track and going flat through a blind left only to realise it was a long way from flat and giving Baron a scare as i tried to keep his side of the car off the armco So, lesson learnt. Don't let a situation frustrate you and try and go too quick on your fist lap fearing it will be your only Factory Astons, Rapide and DB9 kitted out with cages and race seats, which were lapping in the morning when the track was closed and only open to manufacturers. So i can only explain gutted and caged Astons that appeared to be otherwise standard as test/development mules