75Experience Driving School (R&T)

Sir Edmund Hillary needed to climb Everest "because it's there," and the same can be said for every racing junkie about "The Green Hell."

"Hell"? Think 13 miles, dozens of corners, 1000 ft. in elevation change and a hotly debated number of annual fatalities among those brave enough to tackle it. Online fan forums mention anything from five to 50.

One day, I woke up and decided the Nordschleife had been there for too long. Enter a rental Opel Corsa and a €124 ticket worth eight laps of fun at the Ring, the world's most challenging toll road.

A mundane booth grants access to the "north loop," the circuit. The gate opens as soon as the ticket is inserted: You're on your own, pal, no questions asked. Just be aware that, in case of hitting the Armco, the bill will run €1300 per meter.

Too many hours spent playing Gran Turismo meant I knew (most of) my way around, but the corners are so blind and fast that conjuring the huevos to truly scare myself was not possible. Plus, the Corsa was slow as a dog.

Enter Ron Simons, owner of 75Experience, the de facto official Nordschleife driving school. It holds the largest collection of Alfa Romeo 75s in the world, and one look at the Alfa's boxy shape immediately explains why.

But get over the looks: A very capable, lightweight racing machine hides underneath, courtesy of rear-wheel drive, a rear-mounted transaxle and a torquey V-6 that can be massaged to nearly 300 horses, all sounding as Italian as Pavarotti.

These traits and sheer age make the Alfa an ideal Ring car: "It's got no ABS, no ESP, no TC — no BS," grins Simons, who's covered over 20,000 Nordschleife laps in his life.

The 75Experience's basic €575 program buys you four outings: one riding shotgun in Simons' own Alfa and three driving a trio of race-prepped 75s on distinct performance plateaus, from a nearly-stock 4-cylinder up to a V-6-powered one with a full racing suspension and semi-slick tires.

On my first lap, Simons points to tire tracks going seven feet up the hill on the inside of the Exmühle corner, a fast right-hander that morphs from a downhill slope to a steep climb at the apex. "Those were left by a 911 yesterday," he reveals. "Notice how it's all new Armco around this turn."

Worrying words as I strap in for my first laps.

As soon as I turn the ignition, a full-house of warning lights flash on the blocky 1980s' dash — including ones for parts you'd really like to trust. Like brakes. I tell Simons there might be something wrong with the car.

"That's how it is," he replies on the radio. "If all lights go off, then it's a problem." And people wonder why Alfa failed stateside...

This would've been a good time to panic were it not for the school's biggest coup: Simons always drives his own car ahead of the student while simultaneously radioing instructions. As a result, even Ring rookies like me are quickly able to truly attack corners.

Thus, students with some racing experience see their confidence levels grow exponentially with each completed lap. When I finally climb aboard the full-on V-6 Alfa, powerful enough to bother some of the rats, I'm already feeling like Gabriele Tarquini.

Taking the downhill portion of the Flugplatz section, a tricked-out Evo blasts by on my left, courtesy of its power advantage. On the next complex of corners at Adenauer-Forst, however, Simons' knowledge allows me to bridge the gap and move past the Mitsu, and then, after the tricky Metzgesfeld and Kallenhard sequences, lose him completely. Indescribable satisfaction.

Boosted, I start to push Simons, who increases his rhythm to accommodate my newfound élan. When we reach the approach to the Exmühle climb, I downshift the Alfa and floor the throttle to keep momentum up the steep hill; the rear end snaps violently and the 75 steers toward the inside, ready to add its own tire tracks to that mountain-climbing 911's. Owing nothing to talent, I'm miraculously able to serve a spoonful of opposite lock to correct the mistake.

Simons can't help himself: "That, my friend, is what we call snap oversteer," the radio barks.

At the end of the day I had logged 14 laps around The Green Hell and emerged mostly unscathed, physically and financially. If 100 laps are indeed the minimum before one can claim to know the Nordschleife, I can't wait to get my remaining 86.
[..]

By Cassio Cortes
Road&Track, February 2009

Nurburgring Nordschleife Supertests (braucējs: Horst von Saurma, 150+ testi)

Alfa@Axisofoversteer


Alfa 75 drift@Nordschleife (Axisofoversteer):


Nürburgring Nordschleife. Drifting. from MrBTG on Vimeo.


Onboard Nordschleife Drift lap. from MrBTG on Vimeo.