A long time ago, before social media, before blogs like this one, a sub-10-minute lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife was a badge of honour. It took driving skill, track knowledge and courage to achieve.
But nowadays you could do it in airport rental car. I mean you shouldn’t. But you could. Which means it’s all about sub-8-minutes now.
Some BTGers might buy quarter-million-€ cars to do it, others will build 400hp racecars with plates. I even have my own sub-8 family wagon Cupra! But the mission is always to dominate touristenfahrten with 7-minute laps. I’m guilty as anybody, but I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that the Nürburgring has been contaminated by this attitude.
Now BTG’s #Club1000 offers the antidote!
Inspired by our Citroen C1 racing adventure, where we discovered next-level-racing fun, at low-level speeds, BTG is bringing 1-litre fun to the Nürburgring Nordschleife, and other great racing tracks!
The emphasis is on driver skill, big fun, great meets and building your own #RingTool to a good standard. It’s not about how much horsepower you can buy or how many times you can post your first Sub8 youtube link. There will be no Sub8s, no harry’s laptimers, and no excuses! DRIVING FOR FUN!
The 2018 #Club1000 is a CLUB and NOT a race, and it’s open to:
- Road-legal cars originally fitted with engines up to 1049cc – the cars will be driven at the Nürburgring and must meet all the standards that entails (read those here).
- Remember, you UK and NL types, that you’re bringing your car to the land of TÜV. All your German and Swiss friends have a tough job ahead of them to make their cars legal. We will expect neat and tidy cars with no sharp bits, no pokey-out bits and no dangerous defects.
- Cars must use the original chassis and original motors with original un-modified internals, only like-for-like replacements are allowed. No fitting Fiesta engines to Pumas, no de-stroking a 1.4 K-series to 1.0, or fitting Schrick cams to a Polo. Standard cam-timing, standard pulleys.
- No bike engine kit-cars, no turbos/superchargers (original or aftermarket), no nitrous, no methanol.
- Intakes and exhausts are free. (Remember those cams and cranks are stock, so your £4k Jenvey throttle bodies aren’t going to have much of an effect)
- Minimum safety requirements for participation on track will be half-cage, fixed-back bucket seat and road-legal 4-point harness, helmet and a hand-held fire extinguisher securely fastened.
- Nankang tyres are compulsory. We recommend an AR1 semi-slick for ultimate performance, an AS1 street tyre for the best price, or an NS2R for the best of both worlds
- Suspension: Dampers, springs and anti-roll bars are free, BUT no coil-overs or height adjustable platforms.*
- Weight-saving is fine, but ultimately the car should be considered road-legal by the Germans when entering the Nürburgring. So don’t think you can cut the roof off, or replace the windscreen with a sheet of sticky-back plastic. Glass front windscreens and intact body panels are compulsory, as are mirrors and windscreen wipers! Dashboards must be stock, door-cards must protect both driver and passenger from any sharp-edges.
- It’s a CLUB not a RACE!
Aside from the obvious fun at the Nordschleife (Touristenfahrten and trackdays) we are also planning some small-scale action at Kart tracks and the Nürburgring FSZ sprint track.
A small membership fee will be payable, and in return you will receive your official #Club1000 sticker kit, access to the members-only group forum for sharing technical information, and invitations to the planned events.
Trackday entries will be offered at a discount rate, and we will be endeavouring to bring you some interesting venues with a wallet-friendly entry fee.
The full sticker kit will be designed soon. Car numbers will be first-come first-served from 000 to 999, to be reserved soon. You won’t be alone in the car park!
Member Number | Car Number | Team Name | Lead Driver | Driver 2 | Driver 3 | Car |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | 000 | #TeamBTG | Dale Lomas | Ali Robertson | Alex Harrison | Toyota Yaris P1 |
1 | 007 | Fridge To Pantry | James Bright | Richard Kay | Russ Moulder | Toyota Yaris P1 |
2 | 23 | Mitch Sturing | Nissan Micra K11 | |||
3 | 002 | Team Slap & Tickle | Matthew Truscott | Vauxhall Corsa C | ||
4 | 956 | The Pflanzgarten III | Ed Arter | Tom Reynolds | Nissan Micra K12 | |
5 | 101 | Team Wizard's Sleeve | Chris Turner | James Lightfoot | Toyota Yaris P1 | |
6 | 88 | Team Unicorns | Michael Wheeler | Nissan Micra K11 | ||
7 | 69 | Team RST | Paul Roberts | Tony Strong | Toyota Yaris P1 | |
8 | 75 | Team Wahlberg | Terje Wahlberg | VW Groove UP! | ||
9 | 006 | Jay Ralph | ||||
10 | 888 | Bam Sport | David Gascoigne | |||
11 | 018 | BiB Motorsport | Neil Robson | Vauxhall Nova | ||
12 | 013 | Jo | ||||
13 | 27 | Laurin Johlen | ||||
14 | 959 | SSC | Thomas Gröner | VW Polo 86C | ||
15 | 484 | Jayk Allen | Daihatsu Charade | |||
16 | 094 | Alexander Schiffmann | ||||
17 | 555 | Neil Foster | ||||
18 | 93 | Mike Hope of Wooler LTD | Jamie Hope | Toyota Yaris P1 | ||
19 | 666 | "Cosworth Kid" | ||||
20 | 48 | Jake Forster | SEAT Arosa | |||
21 | 11 | Ziegelworks | Robert Wilkening | Carsten Hartmann | Nissan Micra K11 | |
22 | 3 | Howat Automotive | Alexander Howat | Vauxhall Corsa C | ||
23 | 701 | Flying Tofu | Andre Hartmann | Clemens Horn | Daihatsu Cuore L701 | |
24 | 44 | Nigel McGowan | Toyota Yaris P1 | |||
25 | 420 | Team Wizard's Sleeve | Rob Langton | Toyota Yaris P1 | ||
26 | 017 | By Gosh Height Motorsport | Bennett Warden | |||
28 | 004 | Fantastic 4 | Dan Kayser | Toyota Yaris P1 | ||
30 | 173 | Eagle HPDE | Jeroen Van Reeth | Toyota Starlet EP80 | ||
31 | 246 | Jan van den Hoek | Suzuki Swift G10 | |||
32 | 808 | Ray Francis | Francisco Borges | |||
33 | 187 | David Day | ||||
34 | 79 | Seven Nine Engineering | Latham Papworth | Honda Beat PP1 | ||
35 | 123 | Spinbach I Wimbach Racing | Aaran Herratt | Liam Straiton | Hefin West | |
37 | 456 | Empire Motorsport | Derek Mulder | tba | Vauxhall Corsa B | |
38 | 675 | Apex Nürburg | Robert Mitchell | tba | tba | |
39 | 998 | Rabbit Racing | Warren McKinlay | Citroen C1 | ||
40 | 83 | Eighty3 Racing | Chris Steel | |||
41 | 42 | Andrew Dryburgh | Toyota Yaris P1 | |||
42 | 924 | Erik Klootwijk | ||||
43 | 68 | Justin Maier | Peugeot 107 | |||
44 | 51 | Vrooom51 | Dominique Jahns | Toyota Yaris P1 | ||
45 | 234 | Power Racers | Kevin Paulus | tba | tba | Nissan Micra K11 |
46 | 77 | Litre Engine-ers | Emre Ates | Oliver Moorhead | Toyota Yaris P1 | |
48 | 777 | Anthony Gaylard | Moran Gott | Chevrolet Matiz | ||
49 | 100 | Bavarian Micra Works | Olli Pahkala | Nissan Micra K11 | ||
50 | 696 | KÄHLI | Albert Saenz de Tejada | Toyota Yaris P1 | ||
27 | 999 | Jens Noeske | VW Up! |