First thing in the morning was the Classics Race. Many old vintage cars were present and was even a [very very loud] BMW M1! It was interesting to see all these old cars having a go around the Nordschleife as if re-living their hay-day in motorsports. It never ceases to amaze me how many coveted BMW e30 M3(1986-1992) were being used for racing. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to find spare parts (body or otherwise) if one were to crash. But the same goes for any of these classic vehicles. After the Classics Race, there were more qualifying rounds for the MINI Challenge, 24hr and Porsche World Cup.
We visited the Paddocks (Fahrerlager) by teh Grand Prix circuit and welcome center. We saw many of the cars being worked on, tuned and lots of merchandise. I made my way through the different staging areas and met up with Jörg Weidinger as he was coming back from qualifying in the MINI Challenge. He placed 2nd! I had a map of the Nürburgring and I was finally able to ask him for his autograph, not as my boss, but as a racecar driver. I asked him to sign by his favorite curve/corner/place on the ring. He is quite awesome and enthusiastic about motorsports, I introduced my friends to him and they were all excited to talk to him. I took his picture, and asked him where I could find Claudia Hürtgen, whom I picked up a couple weeks ago from the airport. Claudia Hürtgen is a very skilled and respected driver of the Schubert Motorsport Z4 GT3. I got the Paddock/Garage numbers and headed off to try to catch her before the 24hr qualifying run. I spotted her shortly in the booth but she was off to the staging area and I couldn't pass through the massive crowd in time to catch up with her. She was quite busy anyhow, so I will try again the next day.
There were some really high end race cars and some oddballs as well. The Artega GT was a strange looking car no one could initially identify. The Ferrari's were loud and very fast. There was a Lamborgini and a Dodge Viper. Sprinkle many Volkswagens, Renault, MINI, Peugot, Audi, BMW and Porsches into the mix and there is a well rounded grouping of cars. It rained a little bit more and there was so much slippery mud, it was as though you risk your shoe being stuck with every step.
There was a massive party at Campground Brünnchen, we were told good thing we didn't stay there if we wanted to sleep. I contemplated going, but I had a headache and was quite tired from catching less than 5 hours of sleep for the day. We sat around a fire and talked to friendly Germans about everything under the sun. Making jokes, laughing about cultural differences, and comparing life and travel in different countries. The people there were so friendly and open, we all felt like old friends even though we may have only met eachother the day, hour or minute before. It was epic.
Photos from Fahrerlager:
Porsche World Cup Paddocks
Click here for the Flickr Album for Nürburgring
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