Formula 1 action will return to Nurburgring’s fabled Nordschleife (“Northern Loop” in German) after more than three decades, courtesy of BMW Sauber.
Racer Nick Heidfeld will steer a BMW Sauber F1.07 on April 28 as part of the German’s marque annual motorsport extravaganza at the 22-kilometer (nearly 14 miles) track, which hasn’t been used for F1 racing since 1976, when Niki Lauda suffered a fiery, near-fatal crash during the German Grand Prix. F1 has since returned to the venue, but utilizing the shorter, much safer “Sudschleife”, or Sourthern Loop, which has hosted the European Grand Prix since 1995.
“This day is our way of saying thank-you to the fans for their support,” BMW motorsport boss Mario Theissen said. "BMW is a longstanding partner of the Nurburgring.
"This is a kind of second home for us, as well as the scene of victories in all disciplines of racing. The Formula 1 car’s laps of the Nordschleife will be the highlight of a day devoted to BMW Motorsport.
“Nick’s demonstration will not be about setting records, but a tribute to a unique race track - one which is inextricably linked to the heritage of BMW Motorsport.”
His time was 8:34. Weak. It was just a parade lap. People beat that time every weekend in their street cars. I would like to see what an F1 car can REALLY do on the ring.
That’s true, but it wasn’t the full GP track, it was the VLN configuration. The lap record for that configuration he ran is 8:09, which was done in a VLN prepped Poresche 911 Turbo. A member of the Ringers board (who happens to be a VLN driver) estimates his North Loop time at about 7:00 (record is 6:11), that’s pretty fast, but still a parade lap given the machinery. Given better tires an more laps he should have been able to smash the record. It’s definitely not a time people are breaking in their street cars on weekends though, I didn’t know they used the VLN setup, I assumed he started where everyone else started (for comparison I did about a 9:30 in a rented SLK 200)
