The queues at the Nürburgring Nordschleife touristenfahrten sessions have become legendary. While race grids on the (bigger) 23km+ layouts are limited by FIA safety regulations to just over 200 cars, the amount of cars allowed on the smaller 20.8km Nordschleife during touristenfahrten is theoretically uncapped.
10% DISCOUNT: "BTGBLOG"
But to the regular visitor, the ‘limit’ seems to about 400-600 cars, if you choose to believe the somewhat inaccurate digital sign opposite the Devil’s Diner restaurant. And while I’ve been posting crazy photos of crazy queues for at least 15 years, I’ll be the first to say that I think they’re getting bigger since 2020.
Possibly in an effort to reduce these queues, the Nurburgring management have announced a new traffic flow to the Nordschleife tourist carpark, effective immediately (May 1st, 2024).
The new system looks like this:
So What’s Changed?
Basically, not much. Here’s the old version, excuse the roughness of the edit job:
At first glance, instead of every single car being forced to navigate the carpark before leaving, there’s a ‘short-cut’ heading up past the Devil’s Diner. This is exactly how it used to be done for nearly 20 years. And it was a shit-show then too.
It’s worth noting that in BOTH the diagrams, the total flow of cars entering the track is still bottle-necked (restricted) to one lane at the roundabout, and the total number of cars exiting the track is also restricted to just one lane at the same roundabout.
The biggest change is in the last 24 years was the closure of Breidscheid bridge, remember? Reducing the total number of exits to the track by 50% was KIND OF A BIG DEAL.
Wait, what?
Erm, yeah, nothing’s actually changed with these new rules. From the perspective of the driver already on the track, there are still no signs offering any new visitor any information on which lane to use, or even how to make an emergency lane for the ambulances, safety cars (and taxis, lol).
And you’ve still got an absolute knife-fight occurring at the end of that queue above, even with the ‘new’ system. All your ‘parkers’ are going still going right, all your ‘exiters’ are also going right, and quite a few ‘lappers’ will go right as well because the main straight barrier is harder to use because of SIMPLE ERGONOMICS and it’s not compatible with RHD cars either.
AND THE WORST PART?
You see those photos of 600-1200 cars on the straight away? At the start of any session, those cars will just be stuck on the outside now, blocking the roundabout, and making it even harder to get in.
So WTF should I do?
Stay on the track as much as possible. Park at T13 between laps, refuel at T13, only come to the Devil’s Diner or exit the track if you have to. And yes, the MANY red flags will undoubtedly strand you on the main straight before you can get to T13, and then force you to exit the track completely, but that’s the luck of the draw.
AND WTF should the Nürburgring do?
Hey, I’m no expert, I’ve just lived and worked in the Nürburgring Nordschleife Touristenfahrten sessions for 16 years, but I do have an opinion…
- Re-open Breidscheid bridge as SEASON TICKET HOLDERS ONLY
- Open T13 to the public, exit can be for anybody (hey, €35 for 1km of driving is good business) and entrance can be SEASON TICKET HOLDERS ONLY
- Call me crazy, but make an EXIT to the B258 at the end of Galgenkopf, opened in emergencies, or severe traffic situations.
Yes, all of these things require more staff, but also, ticket prices have gone up, season tickets have gone up a LOT, and you’ll sell more season tickets too.
