The Nürburgring Nordschleife is a motor racing circuit in Germany. Its over 20.8 km long old section dating from 1927, was truncated in 1982 as international championships had started to boycott the track after 1976. The adjacent modern Nürburgring Grand Prix track was opened in 1984. The two tracks can host events independently, or they can be combined, e.g. for the 24 Hours Nürburgring. As a result, lap times have been set in racing events on numerous Nordschleife track variants ranging from less than the shortest 20.832 km to the current maximum of nearly 26 km. An even longer approx. 28 km combined track that included the 7.7 km Südschleife was seldom used for major races since the 1930s. This shorter southern circuit was not modernized in the 1970s and was sacrificed for the 1980s construction of the modern track, as were the old pit facilities, the Südkehre (southern turn) and the straight behind the pits which were used in an original Nordschleife lap.

[Grey: Nordschleife original 1967-1982 layout, 22835m

Black: modern GP track (layout since 2002, ca. 5km) | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Circuit///N%C3%BCrburgring-Nordschleife.png]

1927-1939 Original track

The track was inaugurated in 1927 with the Eifelrennen events for bikes and cars, taking place on the combined Nordschleife and Südschleife, with a length of 28.265 km. On the unfamiliar track, the best motorcyclists achieved an average race speed of about 90 km/h. The best driver was Rudolf Caracciola in the big Mercedes S, at an average of 96.5 km/h. In the three German Grand Prix that were contested there in the late 1920s, 18 laps resp. 508 km distance had to be covered. The cars of the time managed that in just under five hours, with an average of just over 110 km/h, with lap times not under 15 minutes. The Eifelrennen events soon moved to the much shorter Südschleife.

<!-- 1927 Eröffnung mit Eifelrennen http://www.pro-steilstrecke.de/rennbericht1927.htm Samstag, 18. Juni 1927 1. Rennen Toni Ulmen auf einer englischen Velocette in der 350ccm-Klasse. Für die 5 Runden auf der Nord- und Südschleife benötigte er 1:40 Stunden (Durchschnitt 84.2 km/h). Die 250er-Klasse gewann Walter Glöckler (NSU). In der Klasse bis 175ccm gewann DKW-Werksfahrer Sprung. Im 2. Rennen das kurz nach 16:00 Uhr gestartet wurde, fuhren die Solomotorräder bis 500ccm, bis 750ccm und über 750ccm zusammen mit den Seitenwagenmaschinen bis 600ccm und bis 1000ccm. Die 500er-Soloklasse war dabei mit 17 Maschinen sehr stark besetzt. Nach den sechs Runden auf der Nord- und Südschleife gewann Toni Bauhofer (BMW) mit mehr als vier Minuten Vorsprung vor dem Kölner Zündorf auf DKW in der 500ccm-Klasse. Toni Bauhofer benötigte für die 6 Runden 1:53.51 Stunden. Dies entspricht einer Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit von 89.6 km/h. Bei den 750er-Solomaschinen fuhr der spätere Weltrekordmann Ernst Henne (BMW) die schnellste Runde, musste aber schon nach der zweiten Runde mit Motorschaden aufgeben. Eine Tornax mit Jap-Motor gewann. In der 1000ccm-Klasse siegte Paul Rüttchen mit seiner Zweizylinder-Harley-Davidson. 3. Rennen Am Sonntag 19 Juni fuhren bei den Sport- und Rennwagen alle Kategorien und alle Klassen in einem gemeinsamen Rennen. Die Sportwagen hatten zwölf Runden zurückzulegen, die Rennwagen unter 1100ccm ebenfalls zwölf, die Rennwagen der größeren Klassen 14 Runden. 45 Teilnehmer starten in den 4 Sportwagenklassen, 19 Fahrer bei den Rennwagen. Jede Klasse musste ihre volle Distanz fahren. Rudolf Caracciola ging nach 12 Runden in der Sportwagenklasse über 5-Liter-Hubraum mit einem Mercedes-Kompressor Typ S nach 3:33.21 Stunden durchs Ziel (Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit 96.5 km/h), während der Sieger der kleinsten Rennwagenklasse (bis 750ccm), der Hannoveraner Buthenuth auf Hanomag, mit einem Gesamtdurchschnitt von 60.6 km/h noch nach 5.5 Stunden auf der Strecke war. Auch er musste seine zwölf Runden absolvieren, und da seine beiden Mitstreiter in dieser Klasse, bereits in der dritten und in der fünften Runde ausgefallen waren, zog zum Schluss Buthenuth ganz allein um den Ring. Auch die schnellste Runde der kleinen Klasse fuhr Buthenuth in 25:21.1 Minuten, was einem Durchschnitt von 68.1 km/h entsprach. In der Klasse 2000 bis 5000ccm standen vier Sportwagen am Start: ein Steyr, ein Bugatti, ein Stoewer und ein Austro-Daimler. In dieser Kategorie gewann Graf Eckard von Kalnein auf einem 2.3-Liter-Bugatti, der einen Durchschnitt von 85.6 km/h erreichte. Sechs Minuten hinter ihm kam als Zweiter Hans Stuck auf einem Austro-Daimler durchs Ziel. Die schnellste Runde in der Sportwagenklasse bis 3 Liter ging aber weder an Hans Stuck noch auf das Konto von Graf Kalnein. Diese fuhr Gräfin Bea von Einsiedel auf einem Steyr in 18:23 Minuten. Drei Boxenstopps - statt einem zum üblichen Nachtanken - warfen sie aber so weit zurück, daß sie drei Minuten hinter Stuck nur auf Platz drei kam. Die 1500er-Klasse wurde von dem Frankfurter Andreas auf einem Bugatti gewonnen, die 1100er-Klasse von Gockenbach aus Arnstadt mit einem Pluto. http://www.teamdan.com/archive/gen/1927.html#deu II Großer Preis von Deutschland 17 July 1927 - Nürburgring: 508.77 km (28.265 km x 18 laps) Sportscar GP 1 Otto Merz Mercedes S 4h59m35.6, 101.89 km/h Fastest Lap: Christian Werner, 15m51.6 (106.93 km/h) http://www.teamdan.com/archive/gen/1928.html#deu III Großer Preis von Deutschland 15 July 1928 - Nüburgring: 508.77 km (28.265 km x 18 laps) Sportscars 1 6 Rudolf Caracciola/Christian Werner Mercedes SS (3.0+) 4h54m24, 103.69 km/h Fastest Lap: Rudolf Caracciola, 15m13.2 (111.43 km/h) http://www.teamdan.com/archive/gen/1929.html#deu IV Großer Preis von Deutschland 14 July 1929 - Nürburgring: 508.77 km (28.265 km x 18 laps) Sportscars 1 Louis Chiron Bugatti T35C (2.0) 4h46m06.4, 106.70 km/h Fastest Lap: Louis Chiron, 15m06.0 (112.31 km/h) http://www.teamdan.com/archive/gen/1930.html#eifel IV A.D.A.C. Eifelrennen 6 July 1930 - Nürburgring Südschleife: 234.000 km (7.800 km x 30 laps) 1 Heinrich-Joachim von Morgen Bugatti T35B 2h08m53.0, 108.94 km/h http://www.teamdan.com/archive/gen/1931.html#adac V A.D.A.C. Eifelrennen 7 June 1931 - Nürburgring Südschleife: 312.000 km (7.800 km x 40 laps) 1 5 Rudolf Caracciola Mercedes-Benz SSK 2h50m47.2, 109.61 km/h -->

After the 1930 German GP (and again the 1933 round) had been cancelled due to the great depression, major racing resumed with the 1931 German Grand Prix which from now on took place only on the Nordschleife. Its track length of 22.810 km remained unchanged until 1966. The track surface was altered and improved, with the ditch inside the Karussell being altered to a concrete banking as drivers like Caracciola used to put their inside wheels in there for extra grip. Also, the Nürburgring in the Eifel mountains became notorious for frequent bad weather, and due to its length with lap times of 10 minutes, conditions could change significantly in the meantime. Probably due to this, it took four years between Nuvolari beating the 11 minutes barrier in 1932, and Rosemeyer breaking the 10 minutes in the 1936 GP after several pilots came close in practice. The speeds rose from 115 to 140 km/h in 1937, at the peak of the unlimited capacity era with 600 hp Silver Arrows like the Mercedes-Benz W125. From 1938 on, rules limited the capacity to 3 litres supercharged, but 480 hp and better handling equalized the disadvantage. Smaller Voiturettes with 1500cc were favored by the Non-Germans, and Mercedes had already built their W165 which proved able to win in this class, too. The new rules were expected to take effect in 1941, but the war changed the rules even more drastically.

1951-1966 Classic Green Hell

The war and subsequent ill-treatment had damaged the track and the facilities. After 20 years, the track was now lined with tall hedges and trees, and thus was later baptized Green Hell. Smaller races resumed in the late forties, but Germans and Germany remained excluded from major sports events until 1951. The pre-war voiturette rule set for supercharged 1500cc engines (or 4500cc normal) had basically been made the Formula One in the 1940s. In 1951, major international racing returned to the Ring, but even though the Alfas had also about 400 hp, they failed to eclipse the pre-war records set by Lang, who raced again for Mercedes in 1952 and 1954. Two rule changes brought less powerful machinery, and the Le Mans disaster in 1955 led to the cancellation of many GPs in that year, including the German. By 1956, the old records were finally beaten. Single seater open wheel Grand Prix cars soon came close to 9 minutes and 150 km/h. Also, sports car events emerged in the 1950s, as did touring car racing in the 1960s. The Ring saw two more years without F1 races, as Berlin's AVUS had been chosen for 1959, and in 1960, the German Grand Prix was run on the Südschleife to F2 rules which would become F1 rules in 1961. After three years of progress, including a revival of the mid-engine layout pioneered by Auto Union, the 9 minutes barrier was easily beaten despite small 1500cc engines with less than 200 hp, similar to the power of cars three decades earlier.

1967-1970 Chicane added

The Hohenrain chicane (and 25 meters extra, now 22.835 km) was added in early 1967 to lower entrance speed to the Start/Finish straight and the pitlane. Lap times were affected only initially, as technical progress, especially aerodynamic aids, made the cars significantly faster in the years to follow. Due to safety concerns, the Formula One drivers on short notice forced a move of the 1970 German Grand Prix to the Hockenheimring. To meet drivers demands, construction works at the Nürburgring started in fall of 1970. Despite the official track length remaining the same, this altered the character of the track and its surroundings significantly.

[Mike Spence 1967 in the Chaparral 2F

during practice at the Nürburgring | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Chaparral///2F///-///Mike///Spence///-///1967.jpg]

1971-1982 Rebuilt Nordschleife

By early 1971, the Nordschleife track had been resurfaced, several bumps and jumps (e. g. Brünnchen) had been removed, and the hedges had been replaced by Armco barriers. As a result, the track became even faster, with sportscars setting new track records before Formula One returned. The Südschleife was not updated and abandoned after 1971. Formula One held its last Grand Prix on the Nordschleife in 1976, the last Motorcycle Grand Prix there was in 1980. Due to aerodynamic advance, Formula Two in almost equalled the record set by Formula One in 1975, and even turbo-powered touring cars came very close. As Grand Prix racing had not returned to the Ring after 1976 (Formula One) and 1980 (motorcycles), it was decided to build a new track. In late 1982, after the 24 Hours race, the start/finish loop with the pit facilities section was destroyed, putting an end to the classic 22.8 km layout.

1983 (and later) Nordschleife only

With the old start/finish loop and pit facilities having been destroyed, a short bypass with improvised pit facilities was added to allow racing in 1983 while the new track was under construction, to be ready in 1984. Thus, this stop-gap 20.832 km Nordschleife-only variant was used by International motorsport sanctioning bodies only in 1983. While Formula Two, World Sportscars and the ETCC competed here, allowing comparison to 1982, DRM and Interserie remained absent, with the DRM having by now switched to Group C sportscars. The 24 Hour race was not held either, as the pits could not accommodate over 100 cars for 24 hours. Since, this version is used by national events even while other events take place on the adjacent Grand Prix track. The Time Trial Challenge CHC / RCN / BMW-DEC is done on half a dozen Saturday afternoons, with race cars over 15 laps in total, of which 9 are flat out, and the others have to be done within a given time frame, as warm up lap, pit stop laps, and cool down lap. The GLP Regularity Test on Saturday morning is no racing series, with road legal cars having to cover 12 laps in a constant lap time of their choice, between 10 and 15 minutes. Top ten finishers achieve less than 1/10 second difference per lap.

1984-2002 Combined variants (VLN & 24h)

The VLN series of touring car endurance races was founded in 1977. The long track and the large modern Grand Prix track pit facilities can accommodate up to 230 cars. Usually, VLN races use the short sprint version (Sprintstrecke) of the GP track, taking the Kurzanbindung short cut U-turn on the bridge over the B 258 road, thus bypassing the 1.5 km long section down to Dunlop Kehre. This reduces the number of track workers and adds one or two extra laps of the Nordschleife in the course of a 4h race. In 24h races, the full layout was used.

2002-present Combined variants (VLN & 24h)

In early 2002, the former Castrol S chicane was replaced by the tight Ω-shaped Mercedes Arena. This added 586 metres and about 20-25 seconds to lap times, and also lowered average speeds by about 4% or 6 km/h. As the 24h Nürburgring weekend includes various supporting races, the organizers use parts of the track as additional paddock area. In 2004, the VLN track variant was used, and the Dunlop section was used as paddock area, but access to the actual pits was impractical. Since 2005, the adjacent Mercedes Arena serves as extra paddock area, and is bypassed by a new, tight Castrol-Z chicane which resembles the old Castrol-S chicane. The track length is reduced by 569m, or, compared to the layout used until 2001, prolonged by c. 20m.

2007 BMW F1 demonstration laps

After the VLN 4h endurance race of 28 April 2007 which hosted also a BMW publicity day for fans, Nick Heidfeld drove a BMW Sauber F1.06 Formula One car around the Nordschleife and short GP-track, as used in VLN races, with a track length of 24.433 km (thus comparison with 1970s times is difficult). For safety reasons, BMW had announced that the car was slowed with hard demonstration tires, maximum ride height, and 275 km/h top speed limited by the transmission. Heidfeld drove three laps on the combined Nordschleife, slowing down once in each lap when passing a camera car. The official lap time released by BMW Sauber was declared to be 8:34, thus slower than the 8:17 of the pole-setting Porsche. The German press duly reported this lap time, yet criticized BMW. In each lap, Heidfeld had slowed down once to pose for a slow video truck, at Schwedenkreuz on the first lap 1, Kesselchen in lap 2, and Döttinger Höhe in the last lap. The two time spans in between the three passes of Heidfeld were clocked by some fans around the track, first Wehrseifen to Wehrseifen in about 7:28, then 7:31 from Klostertal to Klostertal, which was over 40 seconds quicker than the pole-setting Porsche 996 GT3 RSR. This translates to an average of about 195 km/h, similar to Bellof's race record, but it's hard to judge the average speed on the slower GP section with the setup Heidfeld had to use. In the 2007 GP, the fastest lap was barely faster, 199 km/h. Fans who respect the official record of the late Stefan Bellof settle for an "estimated 6:12". Road & Track magazine reported Heidfeld's lap was a 5:57 or 5:58 (for the Nordschleife only), however their times were generated by measuring the speed in some corners, and then calculating a lap time, and not timing a full lap. Heidfeld has since expressed his desire to repeat the experience with less restriction, as well as for a participation in the 24h race. According to F1 Racing magazine of June 2006, BMW engineers had estimated that a BMW-Sauber F1.06 could lap in under 5:15.8, which equals to an average of 237 km/h.

Motorcycles

Due to safety reasons, motorcycle races moved to the modern track since 1984. Similar to the Isle of Man TT, amateur enthusiasts continued to compete on the old track in endurance events. In the 1990s, only the so-called Zuverlässigkeitsfahrt (Zuvi, reliability run) series remained, for amateurs on road legal stock bikes. The events consisted mostly of regularity laps, also on other race tracks like Hockenheimring, with a short time trial. On the Nordschleife, after a reliability run with road legal bikes and tyres, a single lap time trial from standing start covered an incomplete lap of about 20.7 km. As the event was discontinued after 1994 in which Dähne's time was not beaten, his 1993 time remains the fastest officially timed motorcycle lap ever on the 20.832 m variant. Dähne set the first of his record there in August 1988 with a Suzuki GSX-R at 7:55.07. Then, with a 750cc Honda RC30 VFR750R, he subsequently lowered it to 7:53.08 in July 1990, to 7:50.71 in June 1992, and on 23 May 1993, using Metzeler ME Z1 tyres, set yet another record, with 7:49.71. After the 1993 event, an onboard-video was produced in which Dähne did another lap, about 10 secs slower, carrying camera equipment on his back.