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- Mar 12, 2006
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It was pretty awesome. There were two Taxis running that day, and the track had just shut down for almost an hour because someone put a motorbike into a guardrail, and they had to clean that up. It didn't look good because there were medical people moving around when the bike came back in pieces on the back of a truck. We also found out that when you caused a track closure, not only do you have to pay for the damage you caused to the facilities, but you also have to compensate the track for the lost time!
Anyway, Sabine was driving one of the cars and another Ring instructor (who happened to be a police officer for his day job) was driving the other. We timed ourselves in the line so we'd get Sabine, and my friend was kind enough to let me ride shotgun. They normally take 3 people per car, but we only had two of us in the car. BTW, you can sometimes show up without a reservation, and hop onto someone else's ride by offering to pay for the empty seat. It was pretty expensive (EU180), so most people are happy to split the rides.
As we headed out, I asked Sabine about the various cars we saw on the track (lots and lots of Z4s, as well as R8s for some reason, and the usual herd of 911s) and what she liked. She didn't like the R8, and her favorite car at the time was a C6 Z06! I think if the ZR1 had been available then, she would have picked that.
It was like being a minor celebrity because everyone knows her, and knows when she's driving, so there were lots of pictures taken and fans yelling her name as she queued up to go out. She gave us a messy lap in the best sense of the word --- I think she must have drifted sideways through more than half the turns on the track. Especially when there was a big crowd around a corner, she'd put the car into a lurid drift (and to my meager skills, they all felt unrecoverable) after which the crowd would cheer. Anyway, there was a lot of laughing and fun in the car, and I would highly recommend it. The track itself is stupidly awesome in a way that can't be communicated except by direct experience. There is really nothing like it. And to have someone drive you around it like it's Play-Doh in her hands, that's next-level.
The sound is also my favorite part of the video. Combine that with the smell of hot brake pads ... heaven.
It was pretty awesome. There were two Taxis running that day, and the track had just shut down for almost an hour because someone put a motorbike into a guardrail, and they had to clean that up. It didn't look good because there were medical people moving around when the bike came back in pieces on the back of a truck. We also found out that when you caused a track closure, not only do you have to pay for the damage you caused to the facilities, but you also have to compensate the track for the lost time!
Anyway, Sabine was driving one of the cars and another Ring instructor (who happened to be a police officer for his day job) was driving the other. We timed ourselves in the line so we'd get Sabine, and my friend was kind enough to let me ride shotgun. They normally take 3 people per car, but we only had two of us in the car. BTW, you can sometimes show up without a reservation, and hop onto someone else's ride by offering to pay for the empty seat. It was pretty expensive (EU180), so most people are happy to split the rides.
As we headed out, I asked Sabine about the various cars we saw on the track (lots and lots of Z4s, as well as R8s for some reason, and the usual herd of 911s) and what she liked. She didn't like the R8, and her favorite car at the time was a C6 Z06! I think if the ZR1 had been available then, she would have picked that.
It was like being a minor celebrity because everyone knows her, and knows when she's driving, so there were lots of pictures taken and fans yelling her name as she queued up to go out. She gave us a messy lap in the best sense of the word --- I think she must have drifted sideways through more than half the turns on the track. Especially when there was a big crowd around a corner, she'd put the car into a lurid drift (and to my meager skills, they all felt unrecoverable) after which the crowd would cheer. Anyway, there was a lot of laughing and fun in the car, and I would highly recommend it. The track itself is stupidly awesome in a way that can't be communicated except by direct experience. There is really nothing like it. And to have someone drive you around it like it's Play-Doh in her hands, that's next-level.
The sound is also my favorite part of the video. Combine that with the smell of hot brake pads ... heaven.
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