Euro 928 2006 – ADAC Classic
by Clive Lusted
Euro 928 was in Germany last September.
Pic From Clive Lusted
For 2006 the annual Euro 928 event was being organised by the German Porsche Club 928 e.V. and was in the capable hands of their President, Gunther Kussauer. The venue was the ADAC Nűrburgring Classic which gave the attendees the opportunity to drive on both the Nordschleife and the Grand Prix Nűrburgring circuit.
This was my first visit to the Nűrburgring and I drove over in a two car convoy with Paul Bird in his 1986 928 S2. We arrived at the Seehotel in Maria Laach at 1.00pm on Friday, September 22nd and after a brief stroll we made our way to the Nűrburgring paddock to check in and meet the rest of the group.
Eleven 928 drivers had signed up for the Saturday events on the Nordschleife and a further eight for the Grand Prix circuit on the Sunday morning. Although numbers were lower than envisaged the paddock area was visited by another twenty or so 928s and there owners. Cars from Germany, France, Holland, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the UK were in attendance as was a 928 S2 owner and his wife on holiday from Finland and on the look out for a GTS. As this was an ADAC event the cars had to have either 4x 1kg or 2x 2kg of Dry Powder Fire Extinguishers and all drivers and passengers had to wear approved crash helmets.
Now I know that many people reading this have far more experience on the Nordschleife than I so I will keep my driving tips to myself! I am normally apprehensive before taking to the track and my experience is pretty limited to say the least but I can honestly say my stomach was in knots while waiting to drive on the Nordschleife for the first time. Waiting in the paddock were the eleven 928s plus an assortment of AC Cobra’s, Austin Healey’s, Marcos’s, Morgan’s, a new GT40 plus Porsche 356s, a 964 and a gaggle of 914/6s – nice company to be in.
Personally I had never previously paid too much attention to the Porsche 914s but having seen the performance of these cars I have a new found respect for them. One driver, Udo Frey, put in four sub ten minute laps of the Nordschleife with his fastest being 9:28.5. One of the 914s even had a Porsche 4.7 V8 shoehorned into it.
The event was billed as a ‘Regularity Run’ which entailed a first lap to warm both tyres and brakes with the second lap being timed. This was followed by two further timed laps that (supposedly) were to match the time of the first lap. My own plan was improve on each lap as best I could and, hopefully, to have a lap time that would not be too embarrassing to talk about in the bar that evening. Out of five timed laps my first lap was completed in a ‘relaxed’ 13:45.1 with my fourth and best lap timed at 11:27.1 which could obviously still stand some improvement but not bad in an automatic.
Driving the Nordschleife was a revelation and I am thankful for the pieces of advice I received from the 928.org.uk list. Driving into the Karussell for the first time I have to put my hands up and admit to ‘bottling it’ and taking to the tarmac instead of the concrete banking. On the second lap I followed a French 928 GTS into the banked section and thought ‘this is OK’ until the corner continued to tighten and, despite my new Bilsteins, the car grounded three times over the last thirty yards. Another particularly memorable spot for me was Brunnchen where there were a number of spectators. The 3 km long start/finish straight provided an excellent opportunity to just bury the throttle into the carpet and get past those cars I was not aggressive enough to pass on the shorter straights or corners.
I was in two minds whether or not to drive in the afternoon event but I was finally convinced to take to the track as this four lap event was to be driven on the Nordschleife and Grand Prix circuit combined and I didn’t know how often I would have the opportunity to drive the two together. My best time in the afternoon was 14:50.4 and I apologise to all of you experienced ‘Ringers’. In my defence I was far from the slowest even amongst the 928s.
Sunday morning bought the chance to drive five (untimed) laps on the Grand Prix circuit. Even as a relative track novice I recognised this to be a great circuit and a major test for the drivers. The fact that the track was damp also helped to concentrate the mind somewhat given that we had to drive home in the afternoon. My son was fortunate enough to be a passenger in Dirk Herbert’s impressive Strosek 928 GTR that had originally been built by Max Moritz Racing.
Unfortunately the planned social events for Euro 928 were cancelled as the person responsible for these had to travel on business and was not able to attend. Therefore we had to cope with gathering in the hotel bar which was not too much of an imposition.
Gunther Kussauer is planning on arranging a similar gathering at the 2007 Nűrburgring Classic which I can now thoroughly recommend. As we all know there is an excellent 928 community within the UK and, after attending 928 events in both Holland and Germany I can confirm what I am sure many already know; that the 928 spirit of camaraderie is truly international. Trips like this are one of the reasons I bought my 928 and, to me, add to the enjoyment of ownership.
Pic From Clive Lusted
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