~ ~ Cal ~~

One of the yanks has commented ..........." I'm diggin' the forigen slang, bloke, heheh. petrol, tyres, nutter, thats great! That seriously looks like a ton of fun." Do these cats not know that we are their forefathers !! Will add budgets tonight [8-|] Cal

May as well spread the love :- http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread...23#post18024123 The yankee boys love the euro uber chat ! ( I await the "player haters" amongst the US of A boys though...........you'll always get some strange posts ) That report took me 3 hours. I did it purely the enlighten those who have not been there to get over to the Mecca of Fuel Combustion..........it really is that good ! Cheers Cal

I just tried to shove everything in one thread but the dubious forum software could not cope ( hence the apparent gaps in the story) Mods - please delete the blank slots CGS

I will come back with further thoughts on the trip and a breakdown of the budget tonight True Grip is not a bad idea..........I would have to tidy the text up and make it more readable ( i.e strip out the Scots banter) Phil,JohnS Mods........any thoughts on that ? Cheers Cal

Man those image tags killed me...........!!! Yeah Gav was with us in the white Evo...........top bloke Deffo up for another trip but after writing that report..............." am aff it " ( for 24 hrs at least !) Cal p.s Phil - why are image tags so fickle !? Damn near killed me sorting them out

There was only one thing Fraser and I wanted to do……………hit the famous “Pistenklause” for steak on a stone. The fodder was sublime and the whole place reflected the history of the little village with an overly large and fruitful past.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> The next day we went to the Nurburgring museum which was absolutely tremendous. Many a rare chariot in there and we tackled the GT4 simulator which was sponsored by Subaru. Slipped in a 7.45 time despite the simulator suffering from timing lag and over eagerness to ping the mobile participant offline at a moments notice ……. And no sooner had we arrived and we were back on the Autobahn for another easy ferry journey. I have spent a lot of time writing this because I want other people to appreciate what a magical place this is………………it really is Petrolhead heaven. Many thanks to my road trip companions for the banter and laughs. Also to Gary Kinghorn and Ben Lovejoy.. Please excuse any typo’s…………I will proof read tomorrow and tidy up if required Cheers Cal Shand p.s I am plotting to go back over asap...................you only live once ! I will leave you with my favourite picture There are lots of pics on my main site :- http://calum-shand.fotopic.net

We then trundled off to Adenau bridge for more spectating only to see Gav, Don and James hurling round the infamous bend. I have some footage somewhere and some pics that I’ll send to Gav.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> We then headed off the the GP circuit for the free Renault World Series event which was not too bad considering it was “gratis” Meganes, Cups and and an F1 display ( which we missed but heard on Saturday – see video above) It is a great circuit but it did not float my boat sitting on a plastic perch having driven all that way. It was okay I suppose but we were ultimately drawn back the Nordschleife by the lure of whole place and it’s wonderous atmosphere……..so back we went for another spank round the car park. And yes another day had been endured with all cars in tact and no blood spilled. Everyone had an immense time indeed……….

Car park pics ……….<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Generally a busy vibrant place to be…… Pflantzgarten car park........beasts lurking everywhere Track pics in here :- More track pictures http://calum-shand.fotopic.net/c1275220_13.html

The Highlight<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Donaldo was quite content building up his confidence on his bike and initially was being understandable canny on the sweet Aprilia. Gav was having a ball in his white Evo 5 whilst James in the black Evo was cutting loose like a thousand wildebeast. This was the highlight…………… After 3 trips to the ring, James’s confidence was progressively building. He then took me out for a pax lap and did a 8.30 lap which was unbelievable. The AP 6 pots and sticky rubber were the key to a rapid drive. We later had a mini duel with a BMW M3 CSL which was great fun. To be fair my new found paternal instincts ( my wife is pregnant) told me to get out of the car and never return. But a few hours later we were out on track and were never passed by anything that was out there. Huge cojones on this guy indeed ! The Lancer in this state of tune was undeniably a Nordschleife weapon. A keen fellow in a 911 was politely flashed as if to say “chase yersel’…..I’m coming through”……damn fine driving. Here is the beast taking a breather. We then went back to Pflantzgarten to spectate and see all The Ringers in action. You can see for a good stretch of the circuit and people regularly run wide after the drop zone. It’s worth a snifter for the sound of the induction, throttle bodies and exhausts alone. Gav’s genuine walloper was deemed tasty…………..but international relations failed miserable when the jovial sausage vendor confused the word “ roll” wi’ Mother Pride ( a type of Scottish bread) !

Day 3 Sunday 6th May<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Woke up to the sounds of some idling beast outside. It was 0700 hrs and the sun was shining upon our eager coupons. The Scooby and two Evo's were sat outside patiently waiting to be primed for action. I dived out and cleaned the nasty euro uber bugs off the windscreens before getting suited and booted. Weirdly and unlike most hotels, The Ringhaus opens for breakfast earlier at the weekends than it does during the week. The reason being that 99% of people staying there are gagging to lay down some rubber on the 80 year old circuit as early as possible. So we bounced down the road and got some brekkie taking in some advice from Martin ( the friendly new co-owner) By 0815 I had been a run to the petrol station to fill up on the motion lotion and to get some heat in the car. By 0830 we were back at the Nordschleife for some more action. This time I was way more confident and there were less tourists around at that hour. My ( foolish) target was to beat Jeremy Clarksons time of 9.59. However I had brand spanking tyres ( just scrubbed in) and new pads and discs so wasn’t really prepared to go hell for leather and trash these new bits and bobs. Coupled with the fact that there was some light traffic on track and that I wasn’t keen on binning my car due to putting my pressure on myself, I still managed a 10.12 lap. Had I booted it from the barriers, and not got held up by some bikers I would have breached Jezza C’s time with ease. To be fair he was in a Jag but I was “one up” and if Jezza had pranged his car he would have simply asked for a fresh one ! Okay, a relatively lame excuse but a factual one…… Managed to hit 120 mph on the track but this pales into significance when you watch old Dirk hitting 180mph in the GTR. The blind corners were pretty scary and already a few victims had succumbed to the Teeth of the Ring. A biker on an R1 had bailed just before the Karousel, an M6 had had a tank slapping moment at Bergwerk, a tourist in a Laguna had pranged the armco (£££) and a BMW 3 series cabriolet had closed the track for 30 mins or so after a “moment”. It was always a chilling reminder that chasing lap times was foolish and that the Ring bites hard. Therefore, I managed 5 laps on the Sunday and most of them were mix of shear fear and outright fun. It was like Knockhill on crack with a 50 ml shot of adrenaline in the direct to the heart. It was nice to do a bit of showboating in front of the crowds too though.

Battling through a pack of bikers at the world famous Karousel……….having been blown away by a 911 GT3rs ( one of the 9 UK porkies that were over visiting the Ring)<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Ariel Atom flying past me……. Happy and relieved to be one piece …….. There was a few light showers round the track so I only did one more lap that night before retiring. Luckily I met Gary Kinghorn from Northloop.co.uk out on track and I followed him whilst he showed me the lines. He knows the track and the area very well so that was a bonus to tail him round the track The whole place felt pretty surreal because the whole village gets very quiet pretty quickly. Anyway back to The Ringhaus for beer, man-grub and some war stories. All in all, between the build up, the atmosphere in the car park and the buzz on track I was already in love with this manic little village which sits deep in the beautiful Eiffel mountains. Grub at The Ringhaus was braw and the patter was flowing. This was there idea of a starter portion ! A carbonara maxi was more a appropriate way of peddling the mini-portion as stated in the menu. Still ma’ brother did not fall short of the challenge and polished it off with ease. We could have bevvied all night but the Nordscleife was open at 0800 the next day. There was "hee haw" chance that I was going to wake up @ 11 am with a honking hangover having driven 500 miles to get there ! So banter was ceased relatively early and we swiftly fell asleep high on v-powered thoughts and the cool hanging Eiffel mountain air. So…………end of day 1 and the three chariots of destiny were still in one piece with there pride in tact

Eventually the gates were opened and the grid lock eased. After some strategic parking we got on track pretty quickly. This was after we’d bought a 4 lap pass @ 13 euros a pop ( pretty well priced I thought). Problems started straight away as my pass had been sat too near a magnet on my dash ( which wiped the “data” off it) so I sat like a gimp until I got a replacement ticket. Zee German chappy on the barriers was helpful enough<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> So now I was ready for my first ever lap and boy was I bricking it !!!!!!!!!! I knew the track pretty well from the PS2 but the sheer gradient, bumps, lumps and cambers are something else. Managed an 11 min 48 on my first outing and that was taking it REAL easy. It’s pretty scary when you are approaching Schwedenkreuz at 110 mph and someone nails it past you @ 140 mph ! Also got smoked by a nutter in an X3 BMW jeep. Not too mention the bikers who are all over the place and do not have the luxury of being able to check their mirrors every 2 seconds. Here are some snaps (later found out I wasn’t supposed to take stills on track but knew camcorders were banned)

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> I have never seen so machine Porsche 911’s in one place. Lots of M3’s and local guys in stripped out, "rollcaged up" old skool beemers and golfs. Other cars included Porsche Carrera GT’s, Bentley, Astons, a Ferrari 430, a Maserati and lots of bikers. Highlights of the cars can be found in here :- http://calum-shand.fotopic.net/c1275202.html Note the “train” of cars leading away from the mini-roundabout outside the gates.........we were all champing at the bit.

Cals Nurburging Report <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> 1243 miles and LOTS of V-power 4th to the 8th May 2007 Background Ever since I saw The Nordschliefe on TV and on Gran Turismo I promised myself I would go to the Nurburgring . I even got a sticker from Ebay and shoved it on my boot as a kind of reminder. It was there everytime I washed the car and one day I said to myself….what is holding me back ? So I basically looked into the Ring opening times and booked a ferry that coincided with a public holiday there and then. What followed was 3 months of “Faszination Nurburgring”…….preparation included :- · Compiling a list of kit to take with me ( I hate balls-ups or surprises) · Attempting to draw up a rough budget · Watching John Felsteads DVD “ On Track Nurburgring” · Nailing GT4 on the PS2 and learning the 12.9 mile circuit and it’s 73 bends · Downloading lots of different videos onto my Ipod ( even watching them in the gym) · Doing lots of research online · Researching Ben Lovejoys site and checking out spectating points etc · Generally being a man on a mission….. Bing and his brother were going to come along with us but in the end it ended up being me, my brother and 3 other guys from the MLR ( James, Donaldo & Gav)…..all 3 of them have Evo’s with over 330 to 390 bhp so there was never going to be a dull moment. Donaldo’s car was giving him gyp so he opted for plan B, his Aprilia Sports Bike. Not a shabby back up plan to be fair Day 1 Friday 4th May Left Aberdeen to pick up my brother in Glasgow. The usual 2.5 hr journey but this time pre-occupied with thoughts of apprehension, titillation (sp) []and general excitement. It dawned on me several times how dull the A90 would be compared to the autobahn. Took the back roads from Stirling to Bearsden en-route to Glasgow which was a welcome break and a chance to cut my 300 torques loose. Weather was braw…… Picked up my brother and hit the road to Northshields, Newcastle to catch the DFDS ferry to IJmuiden ( Amsterdam). M74 could be taken at a higher rate of Tuts than the A90 and the patter in the car was already reaching breaking point. Eventually hit the A68 with the trusty Tom Tom proving to be a winner. I had preloaded it with all speed cameras for the UK and Europe which turned out to be a real life saver. The pace was average but it’s so easy to drift off concentration and be zapped by a Scamera. Eventually reached the Ferry terminal 2 hours early ( 3 years before..., I acquired a puncture on my Civic Type R doing the same route and had driven on a crappy space saver from Abbington to Lockerbie and then onto bloody Carlisle before I got hold of the right kind & size of rubber…………luckily again I had set off 2 hours early and a disaster was averted). Man I am going off on a tangent already The WRX at Northshields with the ferry in the background...... Fraser ( my brother) watching a clip of Dirk Schoysmann hitting speeds of 180 mph on the Norschliefe on the ipod. Evo magazine was also consulted again for it’s "Ultimate Guide to the Ring" from August 2005. So the 2 hrs waiting was a breeze…..pretty much all cloggies who were getting on the ferry and no “Ringers” in sight as yet. Me in research mode......... The Ferry was an over night sail and a very calm sea prevailed thanks to a long period of high pressure. The ferry was mobbed with stags and hens which provided some sport and amusement. Buffet food was alright and the beer went down rapid style. All in all a decent sail…… Day 2 Saturday 5th May Arrived in IJmuiden and deafened half of the ferry when the starting the auld girl whilst waiting to get off the ferry. Fired up the Tom Tom and simply entered “Nurburg”……….next up was a driving playlist on the iPod which was full of driving tunes designed for full boost motoring. Off the ferry and on our way to the tune of the flat-four/ guitar soundtrack. I had been to Holland many times before with work and knew there were Gatso’s everywhere so we took the motoring equivalent of “ having a ‘smchoke’ and a pancake” and took it pretty easy through the flatlands of Holland. Cameras all over the shop but the Tom Tom never faltered. Having “hacked” the software of the Tom Tom and filling it full of American police siren style wav files for Gatso warnings, it was an amusing journey nonetheless( Naturally, a few jokers were smoked en-route). Outwith the main cities, the countryside is flat ( obviously) and very dull so the hills of Germany near the border brought renewed hope. By this time we had the Fleetwood Mac tune “ The Chain” ready for deployment the minute we hit the German border. ( you the know the tune ITV use for the Formula One soundtrack). Weather was a very nice 22° On hitting the first Autobahn we did "Zee German thang" and cruised at 120mph with the MicroRoad pilot programmed to kick out speed in kilometres per hour. Man it was a real buzz when we later went for full pelt on our first de-restricted stretch of autobahn ( Top Gun" sound track being pelted out for full effect) I had been on autobahns before in a few different coach trips and never really appreciated them before. When driving on them yourself they demand 110% concentration when you are averaging 115 mph. The Germans lane discipline and gaps maintained between cars is very reassuring though. Never saw any real autobahn beasts until we saw our first sign for the Nurburgring. However, TDi Passats, Audi's and 5 series Beemers seemed to be the local choice of steed for top end cruising. I took it pretty easy as the scoop on the WRX’s does not yield the best airflow at these speeds. 100 Ron V-power and Millers OB would help the Scooby’s engine though. On occasion we would open the WRX up for a top speed run but never hold " her" under severe load for any lengthy period. ( excuse the writing on the photo but some people I know would balk at such speeds and I have been putting these pics on my “family & friends” website.) Seems pretty weird doing double the speed limit yet knowing you wont loose your license in the process. On the way back we briefly hit 145 mph ( the WRX will be given a full oil change as a consequence !!). The auld girl never flinched an inch and the Prodrive geometry settings meant the car felt really planted . So we basically horsed the German bit of the journey and got increasingly excited as we neared the seemingly peaceful little village of Nurburg. 30 km’s away from the village we started to see a variety of nice cars and superbikes. By this time the iPod was belting out Maximo Parks “ Our Velocity” and we skelped round the sweeping countryside asphalt which was pothole free unlike Blighty. By this time it was 2.30 pm and we wanted to get our room key at the hotel and hit the Ring for some spectating ( some great racing was on at the Nordschleife and it only opened to the public @ 17.30 pm. ) On approach the the village of Nurburg we had not seen any sign of any real action but hells teeth did we not hear it first. It was only when we entered the village that we found out what Nurburg was really like. See the small movie clip below which was of some F1 or F3000 Renault race cars nailing it round the GP circuit. (As luck would have it there was a Renault World Series event on at the GP circuit the whole weekend). What a swell way to start the touch down mission ! Video or direct URL http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v242/cgs...chtoNurburg.flv Already high as kites when we heard these sounds it was great to drive into the village and see all the places we’d read about. The BMW M test centre, the famous hotels, restaurants and of course the hallowed Nordschliefe itself. Like gypsies into a skip, we bailed into The Ringhaus ( 200m’s away from the Nordschleife) and got our keys. After some farting about we freshened up and headed out for a snifter rounded the village. We then called Donaldo & Co who had gone via Rosyth and Zeebrugge the night before. They were already spectating at the famous corners of Bruunchen so we tried to meet them there. We could hear a race spec Dodge Viper and lots of Beemers in the background so made haste to meet them. With the Tom Tom pre-programmed with the ad-hoc Ring car parks for all of the famous bends it was a breeze to find the likes of Pflantzgarten, Bruunchen and Breidscheid . Eventually met the Evo squad in Adenau and went back to the Ringhaus ( actually the sister premises, The Burgstube 200 m’s hotel up the road) via some mental hairpin bends………even the taxi's dont hang about over here. Track Action At 1700 hours we were scouting round the Nordschiefe entrance……….. Due to the racing that was on, the track opened slightly late and as a consequence there was prime machinery abandoned all over "the shop" I have never seen so machine Porsche 911’s in one place. Lots of M3’s and local guys in stripped out, "rollcaged up" old skool beemers and golfs. Other cars included Porsche Carrera GT’s, Bentley, Astons, a Ferrari 430, a Maserati and lots of bikers.

Still mucking about with photos and haven't started my report as yet ! Let's just say it involves an 8min 30 sec lap, some damn expensive machinery, lots of immense automotive noise, autobahns and 22° C weather and lots of gout inducing food. Managed to find one photo of me in this thread thanks to Gary Kinghorn......... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v501/tvr...ring%20May%2007 Gary's report is in here :- http://z8.invisionfree.com/Northloop/index...c=4707&st=0 I was not with him for the weekend but briefly met him in the car park and followed him for my cherry popping lap His report gives a great insight into these weekends Cheers Cal

"The official debut of the car is still a few months away — probably at the Tokyo Motor Show this October — but we were able to get our hands on some vital information that provides a clear picture of what the next WRX STI will be like, including its basic appearance." just posting this before St3ph3n shoots me down !

I actually saw the magazine whilst I was in the Ringhaus and did some sniffing round on the net........ It looks VERY nice indeed ! I cannot find a scan of the whole article though Not doubt photo chops but it looks immense in that bottom picture ! More info :- http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?se...article_id=5213http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=31&article_id=5211''>http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=31&article_id=5211' mce_href="http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=31&article_id=5211"> Cal p.s if this is old news then apologies, I have not been online for 4 days

Thanks for all of the kind comments folk.............just back from The Ring with a decent report to follow ..........I am already planning how I can get back across [<)]. I have no words to describe just how good it was !

Yeah I think T&C in Aberdeen would be your best bet............they have access to the Porsche facilities and do the work there I believe....... You wont believe the difference it makes ! CGS

Great news Billy ! Time to stock up on Werthers Originals ...

I am offski tomorrow !! Drive to Glasgow, pick up my brother, then hit Newcastle for the ferry Arrive @ 0900 hours in IJmuiden the next day and nail it to the ring in time for the Renault World Series Then the Nordschleiffe opens @ 1730 for 2 hours.....then booked into the famous Ringhaus for dinner. Then we hit the concert at the Nurburring GP circuit and try not to get ratted....... On Sunday the Nordschleiffe is open from 0800 till 1930 hrs ! The get officially ratted....... Drive to IJmuiden early doors and then have lunchtime stroll round Amsterdam [<)] Canny wait ! However, when you read this excellent guide is brings you back to earth with a bump http://www.bmw.com/generic/com/en/fascinat...ordschleife.pdf See you fellas Cal

Cheers folks.........[Y]

Yip, gonna be a dad for the first time and pretty darn excitit' ! We did not really plan it and let nature take it's toll but I think my mojo must have been pretty high recently as my Natalie fell pregnant almost straight away....... We went for the 12 week scan today and the wee man / lady was wriggling around all over the shop........was great to see Here's a little mpeg I uploaded to Youtube too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkozkU2h98U Luckily we got rid of Natalies 3 door Polo for a 5 door Golf ( thinking ahead in terms of a Milf mobile)so the Scooby is safe and will remain on my driveway [Y] Any advice welcome ! Cheers Cal