The Nürburgring Nordschleife is a motor racing circuit in Germany. Its over 20.8 km (12.9 mi) long old section dating from 1927, was truncated in 1982 as international championships had started to boycott the track after 1976. The adjacent modern Nürburgring Grand Prix track was opened in 1984. The two tracks can host events independently, or they can be combined, e.g. for the 24 Hours Nürburgring. As a result, lap times have been set in racing events on numerous Nordschleife track variants ranging from less than the shortest 20.832 km (12.9 mi) to the current maximum of nearly 26 km (16.2 mi).
An even longer approx. 28 km (17.4 mi) combined track that included the 7.7 km (4.8 mi) Südschleife was seldom used for major races since the 1930s. This shorter southern circuit was not modernized in the 1970s and was sacrificed for the 1980s construction of the modern track, as were the old pit facilities, the Südkehre (southern turn) and the straight behind the pits which were used in an original Nordschleife lap.
Grey: Nordschleife original 1967-1982 layout, 22835m Black: modern GP track (layout since 2002, ca. 5km)
1927-1939 Original track
Almost half a century after setting the pre-war lap records, the Mercedes-Benz W154 is being demonstrated in 1986 by Hermann Lang.
The track was inaugurated in 1927 with the Eifelrennen events for bikes and cars, taking place on the combined Nordschleife and Südschleife, with a length of 28.265 km (17.563 mi). On the unfamiliar track, the best motorcyclists achieved an average race speed of about 90 km/h (55.9 mph). The best driver was Rudolf Caracciola in the big Mercedes S, at an average of 96.5 km/h (60.0 mph). In the three German Grand Prix that were contested there in the late 1920s, 18 laps resp. 508 km (315.7 mi) distance had to be covered. The cars of the time managed that in just under five hours, with an average of just over 110 km/h (68.4 mph), with lap times not under 15 minutes. The Eifelrennen events soon moved to the much shorter Südschleife.
After the 1930 German GP (and again the 1933 round) had been cancelled due to the great depression, major racing resumed with the 1931 German Grand Prix which from now on took place only on the Nordschleife. Its track length of 22.810 km (14.173 mi) remained unchanged until 1966. The track surface was altered and improved, with the ditch inside the Karussell being altered to a concrete banking as drivers like Caracciola used to put their inside wheels in there for extra grip. Also, the Nürburgring in the Eifel mountains became notorious for frequent bad weather, and due to its length with lap times of 10 minutes, conditions could change significantly in the meantime. Probably due to this, it took four years between Nuvolari beating the 11 minutes barrier in 1932, and Rosemeyer breaking the 10 minutes in the 1936 GP after several pilots came close in practice.
The speeds rose from 115 to 140 km/h (71.5 to 87.0 mph) in 1937, at the peak of the unlimited capacity era with 600 hp Silver Arrows like the Mercedes-Benz W125. From 1938 on, rules limited the capacity to 3 litres supercharged, but 480 hp and better handling equalized the disadvantage. Smaller Voiturettes with 1500cc were favored by the Non-Germans, and Mercedes had already built their W165 which proved able to win in this class, too. The new rules were expected to take effect in 1941, but the war changed the rules even more drastically.
The war and subsequent ill-treatment had damaged the track and the facilities. After 20 years, the track was now lined with tall hedges and trees, and thus was later baptized Green Hell. Smaller races resumed in the late forties, but Germans and Germany remained excluded from major sports events until 1951. The pre-war voiturette rule set for supercharged 1500cc engines (or 4500cc normal) had basically been made the Formula One in the 1940s.
In 1951, major international racing returned to the Ring, but even though the Alfas had also about 400 hp, they failed to eclipse the pre-war records set by Lang, who raced again for Mercedes in 1952 and 1954. Two rule changes brought less powerful machinery, and the Le Mans disaster in 1955 led to the cancellation of many GPs in that year, including the German. By 1956, the old records were finally beaten. Single seater open wheel Grand Prix cars soon came close to 9 minutes and 150 km/h. Also, sports car events emerged in the 1950s, as did touring car racing in the 1960s. The Ring saw two more years without F1 races, as Berlin's AVUS had been chosen for 1959, and in 1960, the German Grand Prix was run on the Südschleife to F2 rules which would become F1 rules in 1961. After three years of progress, including a revival of the mid-engine layout pioneered by Auto Union, the 9 minutes barrier was easily beaten despite small 1500cc engines with less than 200 hp, similar to the power of cars three decades earlier.
The Hohenrain chicane (and 25 meters extra, now 22.835 km (14.189 mi)) was added in early 1967 to lower entrance speed to the Start/Finish straight and the pitlane. Lap times were affected only initially, as technical progress, especially aerodynamic aids, made the cars significantly faster in the years to follow.
Mike Spence 1967 in the Chaparral 2F during practice at the Nürburgring
Due to safety concerns, the Formula One drivers on short notice forced a move of the 1970 German Grand Prix to the Hockenheimring. To meet drivers demands, construction works at the Nürburgring started in fall of 1970. Despite the official track length remaining the same, this altered the character of the track and its surroundings significantly.
1971-1982 Rebuilt Nordschleife
By early 1971, the Nordschleife track had been resurfaced, several bumps and jumps (e. g. Brünnchen) had been removed, and the hedges had been replaced by Armco barriers. As a result, the track became even faster, with sportscars setting new track records before Formula One returned. The Südschleife was not updated and abandoned after 1971. Formula One held its last Grand Prix on the Nordschleife in 1976, the last Motorcycle Grand Prix there was in 1980. Due to aerodynamic advance, Formula Two in 1982 almost equalled the record set by Formula One in 1975, and even turbo-powered touring cars came very close.
As Grand Prix racing had not returned to the Ring after 1976 (Formula One) and 1980 (motorcycles), it was decided to build a new track. In late 1982, after the 24 Hours race, the start/finish loop with the pit facilities section was destroyed, putting an end to the classic 22.8 km layout.
1983 (and later) Nordschleife only
The Ring in 2008 during a VLN race on the 24.4km variant. In the foreground the bypass at T13 grandstand.
With the old start/finish loop and pit facilities having been destroyed, a short bypass with improvised pit facilities was added to allow racing in 1983 while the new track was under construction, to be ready in 1984. Thus, this stop-gap 20.832 km (12.944 mi) Nordschleife-only variant was used by International motorsport sanctioning bodies only in 1983. While Formula Two, World Sportscars and the ETCC competed here, allowing comparison to 1982, DRM and Interserie remained absent, with the DRM having by now switched to Group C sportscars. The 24 Hour race was not held either, as the pits could not accommodate over 100 cars for 24 hours.
Since, this version is used by national events even while other events take place on the adjacent Grand Prix track. The Time Trial Challenge CHC / RCN / BMW-DEC is done on half a dozen Saturday afternoons, with race cars over 15 laps in total, of which 9 are flat out, and the others have to be done within a given time frame, as warm up lap, pit stop laps, and cool down lap. The GLP Regularity Test on Saturday morning is no racing series, with road legal cars having to cover 12 laps in a constant lap time of their choice, between 10 and 15 minutes. Top ten finishers achieve less than 1/10 second difference per lap.
Christian Danner's 1982 March 822 BMW, Techno-Classica 2007Porsche 956, overall record holder on the 20832m variant
Rundstrecken Challenge Nürburgring, record for VLN-Serienwagen [135][136]
1984-2002 Combined variants (VLN & 24h)
The VLN series of touring car endurance races was founded in 1977. The long track and the large modern Grand Prix track pit facilities can
accommodate up to 230 cars. Usually, VLN races use the short sprint version (Sprintstrecke) of the GP track, taking the Kurzanbindung short cut U-turn on the bridge over the B 258 road, thus bypassing the 1.5 km long section down to Dunlop Kehre. This reduces the number of track workers and adds one or two extra laps of the Nordschleife in the course of a 4h race. In 24h races, the full layout was used.
Variants
20.832 kilometres (12.944 mi) without GP track, used by VLN in early 2000 due to construction of new pit lane facilities, no significant times as all races were in wet condition
20.932 kilometres (13.007 mi) without GP track, used by VLN in the first two races of 2002 while the new Mercedes Arena was built. The Coca-Cola curve was included, driven in opposite direction, to allow the use of the GP track pitlane and timing facilities
23.849 kilometres (14.819 mi) short GP track without Dunlop section (with Castrol-S, 1984–2002)
25.359 kilometres (15.757 mi) full GP track with Dunlop section (with Castrol-S, 1984–2002)
Manthey RacingPorsche 997 GT3 RSR, four-time 24h-winner (2007, '08, '09 & '11), with the #1 inherited from the 996 that won in 2006
In early 2002, the former Castrol S chicane was replaced by the tight Ω-shaped Mercedes Arena. This added 586 metres and about 20-25[153] seconds to lap times, and also lowered average speeds by about 4% or 6 km/h.
As the 24h Nürburgring weekend includes various supporting races, the organizers use parts of the track as additional paddock area. In 2004, the VLN track variant was used, and the Dunlop section was used as paddock area, but access to the actual pits was impractical. Since 2005, the adjacent Mercedes Arena serves as extra paddock area, and is bypassed by a new, tight Castrol-Z chicane which resembles the old Castrol-S chicane. The track length is reduced by 569m, or, compared to the layout used until 2001, prolonged by c. 20m.
23.87 kilometres (14.83 mi) short layout without Dunlop section, without Mercedes Arena via Castrol-Z chicane, not yet used
24.4 kilometres (15.2 mi) short layout without Dunlop section, with Mercedes Arena, from April 2002. The official track length was since changed twice without explanation. As the VLN uses the S-shaped motorcycle version of the NKG chicane, it is not affected by changes to the layout of the tight Z-shaped version used by Formula 1
24.433 kilometres (15.182 mi) short layout from 20 April 2002[154] to 12 May 2007[155]
24.358 kilometres (15.135 mi) first given for the 2004 24h[156] then used in VLN since 26 May 2007[157]
24.369 kilometres (15.142 mi) since 2008 VLN season[158]
25.378 kilometres (15.769 mi) long layout with Dunlop section, without Mercedes Arena via Castrol-Z chicane, used in 24h since 2005 [159]
25.947 kilometres (16.123 mi) maximum layout with Dunlop section, with Mercedes Arena, used in the 2002-2003 24 Hours, and 2003 VLN Eifelrennen.
After the VLN 4h endurance race[212] of 28 April 2007 which hosted also a BMW publicity day for fans, Nick Heidfeld drove a BMW Sauber F1.06Formula One car around the Nordschleife and short GP-track, as used in VLN races, with a track length of 24.433 km (thus comparison with 1970s times is difficult). For safety reasons, BMW had announced that the car was slowed with hard demonstration tires, maximum ride height, and 275 km/h top speed limited by the transmission. Heidfeld drove three laps on the combined Nordschleife, slowing down once in each lap when passing a camera car.
The official lap time released by BMW Sauber was declared to be 8:34, thus slower than the 8:17[213] of the pole-setting Porsche. The German press duly reported this lap time, yet criticized BMW. In each lap, Heidfeld had slowed down once to pose for a slow video truck, at Schwedenkreuz on the first lap 1, Kesselchen in lap 2, and Döttinger Höhe in the last lap. The two time spans in between the three passes of Heidfeld were clocked by some fans around the track, first Wehrseifen to Wehrseifen in about 7:28, then 7:31 from Klostertal to Klostertal, which was over 40 seconds quicker than the pole-setting Porsche 996 GT3 RSR.[214] This translates to an average of about 195 km/h (121 mph), similar to Bellof's race record, but it's hard to judge the average speed on the slower GP section with the setup Heidfeld had to use. In the 2007 GP, the fastest lap was barely faster, 199 km/h.[215] Fans who respect the official record of the late Stefan Bellof settle for an "estimated 6:12".[citation needed]
Road & Track magazine reported Heidfeld's lap was a 5:57 or 5:58 (for the Nordschleife only),[216] however their times were generated by measuring the speed in some corners, and then calculating a lap time, and not timing a full lap. Heidfeld has since expressed his desire to repeat the experience with less restriction, as well as for a participation in the 24h race.[217]
According to F1 Racing magazine of June 2006, BMW engineers had estimated that a BMW-Sauber F1.06 could lap in under 5:15.8,[218] which equals to an average of 237 km/h (147 mph).
Motorcycles
World Champion Walter Villa on Harley-Davidson (Aermacchi) 250cc in 1976
Due to safety reasons, motorcycle races moved to the modern track since 1984. Similar to the Isle of Man TT, amateur enthusiasts continued to compete on the old track in endurance events. In the 1990s, only the so-called Zuverlässigkeitsfahrt (Zuvi, reliability run) series remained, for amateurs on road legal stock bikes. The events consisted mostly of regularity laps, also on other race tracks like Hockenheimring, with a short time trial. On the Nordschleife, after a reliability run with road legal bikes and tyres, a single lap time trial from standing start covered an incomplete lap of about 20.7 km. As the event was discontinued after 1994 in which Dähne's time was not beaten, his 1993 time remains the fastest officially timed motorcycle lap ever on the 20.832 m variant.
Dähne set the first of his record there in August 1988 with a Suzuki GSX-R at 7:55.07. Then, with a 750cc Honda RC30 VFR750R, he subsequently lowered it to 7:53.08 in July 1990, to 7:50.71 in June 1992, and on 23 May 1993, using Metzeler ME Z1[243] tyres, set yet another record, with 7:49.71.[244] After the 1993 event, an onboard-video was produced[245][246] in which Dähne did another lap, about 10 secs slower, carrying camera equipment on his back.
^After qualifying the 1600cc car 2nd, Trips raced the 1500cc car, and in lap 13 suffered a broken rim. He changes the wheel at Galgenkopf - Födisch, R.Louis: Graf Berghe von Trips, eine deutsche Rennfahrerkarriere, Heel-Verlag, 1996,ISBN3-89365-548-4, S. 58
^Hill puts car #4 of Ginther/Gendebien on pole, but races in #3 with Hill until that car fails in lap 25. Trips is then put on the other car, too. - Födisch, R.Louis: Graf Berghe von Trips, eine deutsche Rennfahrerkarriere, Heel-Verlag, 1996,ISBN3-89365-548-4, S. 93
^Trips car fails in Friday practice, does not want to use Hill's, is too tall for Ginther's, and Mairesse has problems, too. In extra free session on Saturday morning, Trips does a sub-9min lap, but in the afternoon, more trouble means 9:05.2 and 5th on grid. - Födisch, R.Louis: Graf Berghe von Trips, eine deutsche Rennfahrerkarriere, Heel-Verlag, 1996,ISBN3-89365-548-4, S. 101-103
^Trips has a bad start behind Brabham, catches up, sets new record at 9:08.1 in lap 6, 9:04.3 150.8km/h in lap 7, then Moss 9:02.8, Trips 9:01.1 in lap 9 and 8:59.9 in lap 10 while 2nd, but Hill is 3rd and does 8:57.8 in same lap before falling back. Trips does not try to catch Moss, protects his lead over Hill. Track gets wet. - Födisch, R.Louis: Graf Berghe von Trips, eine deutsche Rennfahrerkarriere, Heel-Verlag, 1996,ISBN3-89365-548-4, S. 101-108
^Ferrari-Testfahrten Juli 1968: Erstmals unter 8-Minuten - Im Juli 1968 hatte Ferrari die Nordschleife für Reifentests gemietet. Ferrari-Werksfahrer Chris Amon erzielte seine beste Rundenzeit in 7:57.8 Minuten. Der offizielle Rundenrekord wurde 1967 von Dan Gurney in 8:15.1 Minuten aufgestellt. - http://www.pro-steilstrecke.de/nordschleife19651974.htmArchived 2 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^1974 Nordschleife erstmals unter 7:00 Minuten 13. - 16. Mai 1974: Der Ferrari-Rennstall hatte die Nordschleife in der Woche vor dem 1000-Kilometer-Rennen gemietet. Niki Lauda und Clay Regazzoni unternahmen Test- und Abstimmungsfahrten mit dem Ferrari 312B3. Als erster Fahrer überhaupt blieb Niki Lauda unter der Nordschleifen-Schallmauer von 7:00 Minuten. Die Stoppuhren blieben bei 6:58.2 Minuten stehen. Die schnellste, gemessene Zeit für Clay Regazzoni war 7:01.0 Minuten. Niki Lauda analysierte die Runde nachher als (Zitat) "eine gute Runde mit maximal zwei kleinen Fehlern, die aber nur ein bis zwei Zehntel gekostet haben". Bei den Testfahrten fuhr Niki Lauda erstmalig mit einem Ferrari-Formel-1-Wagen auf der Nordschleife. - http://www.pro-steilstrecke.de/anekdoten19651974.htmArchived 28 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^Lauda had set 7:00.6 the day before, and with 6:58.6 broke the magic barrier of 7 minutes. Carlos Pace was 1.4 sec slower with his Brabham, qualifying second. (translated from German) p.102, Jörg-Thomas Födisch, Robert Ostrovsky: Grüne Hölle Nürburgring, 1995, ISBN3-922300-53-7
^Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 91. ISBN0-85429-380-9.
^Regazzoni, starting from third row (with 7:01.6), in lap 7, while on position 2, set a new lap record with (192.79 km/h) 7:06.4. This record will stand forever. (translated from German) p.102, Jörg-Thomas Födisch, Robert Ostrovsky: Grüne Hölle Nürburgring, 1995, ISBN3-922300-53-7
^Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 93. ISBN0-85429-380-9.
^Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 135. ISBN0-85429-380-9.
^Starting grid mainly determined on Friday, due to wet weather on Saturday: Hunt 7:06.5 Lauda 7:07.4 - Günther Effelsberger: Niki Lauda, ein Leben für die Formel 1, Heyne Nr. 5427, 1978, ISBN978-3-453-00826-7
^Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 138. ISBN0-85429-380-9.
^Eifelrennen 30 April 1978 Nurburgring Alex Ribeiro, Keke Rosberg, Eddie Cheever, Marc Surer, Brian Henton, Ingo Hoffman Pole Position Giacomelli 7m 11.5 Fastest Lap Rosberg 7m 17.3 - Eifelrennen 29 April 1979 Nurburgring Marc Surer, Brian Henton, Manfred Winkelhock, Siegfried Stohr, Huub Rothengatter, Rad Dougall Pole Position Rosberg 7m 06.9 Fastest Lap Winkelhock 7m 29.1 - Eifelrennen 27 April Nurburgring: Teo Fabi, Brian Henton, Derek Warwick, Siegfried Stohr, Jochen Dauer, Huub Rothengatter, Pole Position Dallest 8m 56.56, Fastest Lap Thackwell 7m 23.65 - http://www.motorracing-archive.com/Motor-Racing/Events/European-F2-1976-1980Archived 6 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^Archived copyDer finnische Formel1-Weltmeister Keke Rosberg tritt zusammen mit Rallye-Ass Ari Vatanen und Dieter Schäfer (Heimerzheim) in einem Ford Capri 3.0 an. Keke Rosberg ist so beeindruckt von der Grünen Hölle, das seine Teamkollegen nachts fahren müssen. Das Trio erzielt trotzdem oder gerade deswegen die schnellste Rundenzeit mit 9:17.58.Archived 25 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^23. April. Christian Danner (München) fuhr beim ersten Training zum Eifelrennen auf dem Nürburgring mit einem March-BMW die schnellste Zeit. Der Formel-2-Fahrer erzielte auf der wegen Bauarbeiten auf 20.8 Kilometer verkürzten Strecke 6:31.88 Minuten und erzielte dabei eine Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit von 191.4 km/st. - http://www.abendblatt.de/extra/service/944949.html?url=/ha/1983/xml/19830423xml/habxml830406_2608.xml
^"auf dem 24.433 Kilometer langen Kurs aus Nürburgring-Nordschleife und der Sprintstrecke des GP-Kurses samt integrierter Mercedes-Arena" [1]Archived 1 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
^Bulletin 2a of 25 May 2004 stated that the track length was 24.358km, superseding the original 2004 AUSSCHREIBUNG - REGULATIONS: Die Veranstaltung wird auf der Grand-Prix-Strecke (Kurzanbindung) in Verbindung mit der Nordschleife des Nürburgrings durchgeführt. Die Rundenlänge beträgt laut DMSB Streckenabnahmeprotokoll 24.427 km, gefahren wird in der NGK-Schikane die Motorradvariante. - The event will take place on the Grand Prix Circuit (short version) connected with the Nürburgring "Nordschleife". The length of the circuit according to the DMSB Track Licence is 24.427 km with the motorcycle version at the NGK chicane. -
^Die Veranstaltung wird auf der Grand-Prix-Strecke (ohne Mercedes Arena) in Verbindung mit der Nordschleife des Nürburgrings durchgeführt. Die Rundenlänge beträgt laut DMSB Streckenabnahmeprotokoll 25.378 km, gefahren wird in der NGK-Schikane die Motorradvariante. - The event will take place on the Grand Prix Circuit (without Mercedes Arena) connected with the Nürburgring "Nordschleife". The length of the circuit according to the DMSB Track Licence is 25.378 km with the motorcycle version at the NGK chicane.
^"Archived copy"(PDF). www.nuerburgring.de. Archived from the original(PDF) on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^The layout includes 73 corners, and a simulation by BMW has today's BMW-Sauber F1.06 cutting the timing beam in 5m15.80s. - "Jacques at the Nürburgring", F1 Racing magazine, June 2006, p.83 [7]
^ abcdeDr. Helmut Krackowizer: Der "Ring" und die Motorräder, p.128-135, in: Jörg-Thomas Födisch, Robert Ostrovsky: 70 Jahre Nürburgring, 1997, Heel Verlag, ISBN3-89365-577-8
^ abcdefgJörg-Thomas Födisch: Der Nürburgring, 1999, p. 98, 106, 108, 382-383
^1 Edmund CZIHAK GER Yamaha 72'19.900, 2 Horst KASSNER GER Yamaha 74:18.500 1:58.600, 3 Walter KALETSCH GER Yamaha 74:36.700 2:16.800, 4 Udo KOCHANSKI GER Koenig 79:16.000 6:56.100 - Not starting: Giacomo AGOSTINI ITA Yamaha, Jack FINDLAY AUS Suzuki - Results and statistics 1974
^In the Moto-GP, Walter Villa on Harley 250cc sets best lap time, Toni Mang wins his first GP (Morbidelli 125) - J-T Födisch: Der Nürburgring, 1999, p. 106
^Last motorcycle race: 1994, Lap record motorcycle: 7:49:71 by Helmut Dähne, 1993 (on Metzeler ME Z1), at metzelermoto.com [8]
^Mein Rekord mit 7:49:72, aufgestellt am 23. Mai 1993, ist immer noch nicht alles. Ich weiß daß mit dem gleichen Motorrad auch 7:45 möglich sind. - Foreword by Helmut Dähne to Ulrich Thomson: Das Nürburgring Fahrer-Handbuch, 1997, ISBN3-89365-533-6at amazon.de
^7:49.71 - Der Ring. Der Dauerbrenner von Futura. Erleben Sie Helmut Dähne mit der Honda RC 30 auf seiner Rekordrunde auf der Nürburgring-Nordschleife. 7.49.71 die Rekordzeit, die bis zum heutigen Tage von keinem Motorradfahrer gebrochen wurde. Onboard-Video (VHS/DVD) by Futura Video, reenacting the record setting ride by futura-media.de
^7:49.71 Der Ring DVD, with infos as given on sleeve, netleih.de
^Foreword by Helmut Dähne, to Ulrich Thomson: Das Nürburgring Fahrer-Handbuch, 1997, ISBN3-89365-533-6
^7:49.71 - Der Ring. Der Dauerbrenner von Futura. Erleben Sie Helmut Dähne mit der Honda RC 30 auf seiner Rekordrunde auf der Nürburgring-Nordschleife. 7.49.71 die Rekordzeit, die bis zum heutigen Tage von keinem Motorradfahrer gebrochen wurde - Onboard-Video by Futura Video, reenacting the record setting ride [9]
^"Fakten". www.ring-freunde.de. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
^according to Mike Frison, Nürburgring local, Seriensport rider, and 200832.com forum host, in a 2002 post at ghbiker.de forumArchived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine