The Nürburgring: what’s all the fuss about?

It gets labelled as the place to go if you're a driving enthusiast. "You've got to go before you die", "it's such a challenge" and "bloody hell, it's difficult" are generally the standard lines you hear when anyone mentions the Nürburgring in 'polite' conversation.

But as a 'ring first-timer, I was curious to see what all the hype was about, and whether two days trying to familiarise myself with the track, courtesy of BMW's M driver training programme, would see me infected with Nordschleife fever.

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It might very well be the twilight years of the 'ring, too, following recent reports that the company that runs the facility owes £235 million in redevelopment costs. Not only is the interest racking up, but the European Commission has put a stop to the €13 million state-funded bailout, meaning the Norsdchleife could go into administration.

But, hey, back to the here and now and the important bits as to why I went...

It's narrow, very narrow

The first time you get out on track, it's not the graffitied tarmac that draws your eye - in fact you don't even notice it. Instead, it's the track's less than modest width and buttock-squirmingly short run-off distances between asphalt and Armco that dry your mouth out.

Especially as you enter onto a 2km straight that would be flat out in seventh gear in our BMW Nürburgring driving school (we left the L plates at home) paddle shift dual-clutch transmission M3.

The two-day BMW Driving Experience tuition is available to paying customers at €2,750 a pop and sees the 21km circuit split up into sections.

It means that instead of messing up your line and having to wait another 10 minutes until you pass through on the next lap - correcting your mistake using your instructor's feedback - you can just turn round, go back to the start and do it all over again while it's fresh in your mind.

It makes what is an extremely daunting prospect - lapping one of the most technical tracks in the world in a 420hp V8-engined rear-wheel-drive coupé - seem manageable and attainable. It gives you confidence to drive the track and attack the circuit having built up a bank of experience in a small amount of time.

I'd never say I know the track, even after completing a sizeable equivalent of 55 laps in total - the moment you think you do, the circuit will bite you - but with a bit of confidence and a healthy dose of self-restraint, you can build your pace quickly.

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Infection, contagion, fever

One flying lap is all it takes for the Nordschleife bug to latch itself well and truly onto your petrol-fuelled cells, however.

It's the nuances of the circuit that grab you. For example, the braking zone after the fast left-hander of Metzgesfeld is severely rucked up as a result of the monstrous slick-shod racing cars that have so much downforce and so much grip they crease the tarmac into folds on the brakes.

You can't see it when you're standing right on top of it, but walk back up the track 100 yards as Frank, our BMW Drive Experience instructor told us to do, and you can see the sunlight picking out the high-frequency undulations.

It means you need to be half a car's width in from the white line to avoid the bumps - a guide you'd generally not pick up unless it was pointed out to you, but also one of the reasons the 'ring proves such an intoxicating challenge to drive.

The Nordschleife is basically a glaring anachronism in today's safety-oriented world - and it's all the better for it. Nobody wants to be picking up bits of bumper from the barriers - or even worse - but the little run-off focuses the mind and adds to the mesmeric nature of the track.

Sure, more modern short circuits with acres of raked gravel trap are safer, but would it really give you the same buzz? Judging by the way us Brits flock to the Eifel region in droves, driving anything from £500 bangers to £1 million supercars, you'd have to say no.

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Slippery when wet

In the dry the 'ring is a cruel mistress, ready to scorn you at the slightest wrong move. But in the wet, you'd be safer wrestling a bear while smothered in honey - it's treacherous.

The amount of rubber laid down in the dry from countless endurance races turns the track into an ice rink with the addition of a little moisture - so much so that walking up the steepest gradients around the 21km loop without slipping is a difficult task.

Think what it's like trying to transmit 420hp to tarmac on dry-biased track tyres and you get an idea of the speed at which your muscles will involuntarily go into spasm as the M3's rear end migrates sideways towards the barriers looming large. Thank you traction control.

Despite the added danger, it adds another element to the track. It's one more thing you've got to try and master - and that's why petrolheads return again and again.

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The best B-road ever

We should consider ourselves lucky in the UK - we're blessed with some of the greatest driving roads going, from the endless twisting ribbons of tarmac in north Wales to the secluded fast open sweepers of northern Scotland and East Anglia.

The Nordschleife is on another level though - and I honestly didn't believe I'd come away from the 'ring harbouring that view.

It's a continuous, stimulating and often perplexing lap that boasts an example of pretty much every type of corner you can think of.

Slow, technical sections; long, fast open bends; double, early and late apex corners; up hill and down dale; and fast flat-out straights. Throw in that everyone is travelling in the same direction and that there are no speed limits, and it's a car enthusiast's paradise.

I was curious to see what all the fuss was surrounding the Nürburgring as about - as being as green to the Nordschelife as the peaceful countryside that surrounds it - I was unaware just how the ring can affect you.

I felt trepidation that if I came away having not gelled with the place I would have to doubt my credentials as a driving enthusiast and a car fan. No worries. I didn't.

Even with the circuit fully closed for us, it's still difficult to build a rhythm, such is the length of the lap and my lack of knowledge. If you're a real track day junkie you might be able lap more consistently on a short circuit, but would you be challenged in the same way? It's doubtful.

Ring-meister in two days?

To learn it in such a closed-circuit environment with expert tuition from BMW's pro drivers means you can, well, actually learn it and really push so early on - it makes you feel like a hero. Even if you're not.

The proximity of the barriers serves as a constant reminder of the plethora of YouTube disasters out there, so no, I don't think you can become a 'ring-meister in two days. But you can certainly become a 'ring apprentice, and one that's well on their way to graduation.

After 48 hours in the Eifel region lapping the track (it only took two corners really) it's easy to see why the Nürburgring receives the hype it does. It's a brilliant place. I'll be going back.

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