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Safely does it

Dan Trent writes:
You may have noticed a certain Nurburgring bias in recent blog posts - this is the last one for a while - promise!

Now safety probably isn't something you'll hear many people talking about in relation to the Nordschleife but with the inherent dangers of the place (and we're not just talking about unsuitably tyred Lotuses slithering about...) crashes are frequent. And more and more of them involve the ever growing numbers of Brits making the journey out there. Thankfully most are no more than inconvenient and expensive slithers into the Armco but even then the hassle of getting your  car home, negotiating with German insurers and suchlike can be enough to really spoil your day.

Of course, it's better to avoid crashing in the first place and there are various firms out there offering resources to 'ring visitors such as training, car preparation and, should the worst happen, repair and native language negotiation skills. NurburgMotorsports, set up by Brit ex-pat Ken Harris and local man and ex-VLN team manager Manfred Scheer, is one such operation. They'll store your car out there and make sure it's in fine fettle and ready to go for when you fly in, saving time, hassle and - crucially - the risk of something failing on the car.

Or you can use their car, a fully prepped Suzuki Swift, and get training along the way. Doesn't sound that fast? Well it humbled my Exige, although going by the speed it came past me I'm guessing (or is that hoping...?) it was one of the instructors at the wheel.

Dan