Nürburgring 2004 – Fun on the Nordschleife

On April 24, 2004 I wrote the blog post below, about my visit to the Nürburgring. Four weeks earlier I bought myself a red VW Corrado G60. So I would make some good fun on the German Autobahn and the Nordschleife…

Fun on the Nordschleife

On Wednesday April 21, 2004 I visited the Nürburgring. I had some good fun on the famous Nordschleife (the Northern Loop), where I did some fast laps with my VW Corrado. Only the last lap was not so quick, because I made an illegal stop to take some photo’s of the Steilstrecke. After that, I went to the forgotten part of the Nürburgring, the abandoned Südschleife…

The abandoned Südschleife

The first corners of the Südschleife are demolished by the construction of the new Grand Prix Circuit. The next part is the road to Müllenbach. However, here is nothing where you can see that this was once part of the world’s most exciting racetrack.

If you drive from Müllenbach back to the village of Nürburg, you pass the entry to a parking of the Nürburgring. If you enter the parking you cross a part of the Südschleife. One part is abandoned, while the other part is still in good condition and used as connection to the parking during events on the new circuit. When I was there I had bad luck because this part was closed for vehicles. So I must walk…

Walking this part of the Südschleife is not easy, because this is a very steep climb. After a series of fast kinks it ended with a slow 180° turn called “Scharfer Kopf”. From here it’s public road again.

Fuchsröhre

After I photographed the remains of the Südschleife, I want to visit the Fuchsröhre. The Fuchsröhre is a very fast section of the Nordschleife. An illegal stop during a lap on the Nordschleife, as I did at the Steilstrecke, would be way too dangerous.

So I went to the closest village and asked there how I could come close as possible to the Fuchsröhre. A local showed me the way. I should ignore a no trespassing sign… That was not a big deal he told, because it was not in a weekend.

Over a narrow winding road I came to the famous bridge after the Aremberg Corner, and parked the car there. Here I discovered an open gate where I could walk on the Nordschleife if I would. I decided that it was better to stay behind the barriers, but it was a great place to take a picture of the bridge and the corner.

Then I looked for a suitable place to photograph the Fuchsröhre. That was not so easy, because this is not a place for spectators. Then I saw a Marshall post on the other side of the track. So I walked back to the bridge to the other side of the and was lucky that I could enter the Marshall post. Here I made a few pictures of the Fuchsröhre. Unfortunately I could not take a photo of the dip below.

After I made my photos, I left the Nürburgring in a satisfied. The next destination was the Grenzlandring. But more about that in my next blog post…

Have you ever driven the Nürburgring Nordschleife? Please share you’re experience in the comments below!

Herman.