Nrburgring Management Bans Manufacturers From Attempting, Publishing 'Ring Times

Cameron Aubernon
by Cameron Aubernon

Depending on one’s point of view, this is either the best or the worst thing to happen: The ‘Ring time is no more on the Nürburgring.

During filming of “APEX: The Story of the Hypercar” — a documentary following auto manufacturers like Ferrari, Porsche and Koenigsegg over three years as they battle for halo-car dominance, with the ‘Ring as the backdrop — director J.F. Musial said he received a phone call from Koenigsegg founder and CEO Christian Von Koenigsegg, informing him the track’s management had banned all manufacturers from attempting and publishing times achieved on the famed course. Koenigsegg had planned to put his One:1 through the pace prior to the ban.

The ban stems from an accident during a VLN race in March involving driver Jann Mardenborough, where a spectator was killed as a result. Management reacted by imposing a speed limit at the site where the accident occurred, followed by similar limits on other high-speed portions of the ‘Ring.

While management is set to review the limits at the end of this year, manufacturers are barred from making lap-record runs, even if the entire track was closed to the public for said runs. However, a run recorded by Lamborghini with its Aventador SV was allowed — under the claim the run happened before the limits were in place — while WTCC is permitted to ignore the limits altogether.

(Photo credit: elyob/ Flickr/ CC BY-SA 2.0)

Cameron Aubernon
Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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  • Zykotec Zykotec on Jun 20, 2015

    I have never been at the ring in real life, so the only experience I have from it are a couple of hundred laps in a ton of different cars in Gran Turismo, and tons of Youtube videos, but I don't think 'ring times' are useless. Well, at least not compared to most other race tracks. The Nurburgring is a horrible old track, which looks a lot like normal old European roads. Any car that is able to go around the ring fast has to have some suspension and ground clearance, some torque for the hills, and 'economical' gearing to do well on the straights. So, most cars that do well on the ring will not be completely useless in the real world, unlike cars that do well on Daytona, or on the top Gear track.

  • Akatsuki Akatsuki on Jun 20, 2015

    Why would this be a good thing? Having a reference track to compare cars performance was amazing. Now instead you will have to rely on manufacturers choice of picking tracks that suit their car best (cough... VIR for C7) and not have a direct way to compare performance.

    • Pch101 Pch101 on Jun 20, 2015

      If you owned the track and could be held liable for deaths caused by such competitive testing, then it might suck for you.

  • NeilM NeilM on Jun 22, 2015

    If the author, and any who followed, are going to imply a (probably unmerited) pet name familiarity with the place, then you might at least punctuate it properly. The punctuation mark before the name needs to be an apostrophe, denoting something left out, and not a a single opening quote. However simply terming it the Ring would be quite enough in English, which doesn't go in for German's compound nouns.

  • VolandoBajo VolandoBajo on Jun 23, 2015

    It would suck for you unless, and until, you could obtain insurance for such risks, and could find a way to pass those costs on to the users of the track. But until such time, the owners' lawyers will tell you that you must shut it down, or you will be sued for, and lose, every penny the track is worth. I predict that this move is both a short-term defensive move by the track, and a longer-term strategy to get manufacturers to come to the track hat in hand, asking how they could get their track times back. Then, bingo, the insurance costs will come up, and the track is hoping, will be resolved.

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