This is only going to be a quick post, but I think it’s an important one. While irrelevant yet irritating speedlimits are damaging the well-deserved reputation of our beloved ‘northloop’, there are a whole bunch of people deciding the fate of our track. And, therefore, the fate of the thousands of people directly (and indirectly) employed by it.
10% DISCOUNT: "BTGBLOG"
One thing that’s surprised me most is the venom reserved for the idea of changing of the track.
Now before I write anything else, watch the video below. It’s a lap with Motorcycle World Champion (and later VHS/DVD mogul) Geoff Duke. And it’s superb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91Yx3b_Eets
So now, can you see why change isn’t always a bad thing? How ‘original’ do you think the 2015 Nordschleife really is? Exactly 60 years later, it’s a whole different game.
We don’t jump inbetween Brunnchenn 1 and 2. Dottinger Hohe straight is about a million times safer.
Would you prefer to lap your modern 200-500hp car on the old circuit, or the new? And what about racing it?
Fast forward a little to 1967 and you can see some more changes:
Now I’m not going to go full crazy here, and suggest that the idea of a chicane before Quiddelbacher Hohe is good, but I do want to say that change isn’t automatically bad.
And even though the speedlimits barely affect any traffic whatsover on a tourist session, they’re far more damaging to the ‘Ring and its ‘mythos’ than any flattened jump or speed-lowering chicane.
Enjoy your friday night, and see you on the ‘Ring!
P.S. That moment in the 1955 movie, where the motorbike blasts past on the right-hand-side? Epic. It made my evening!
