-Eddie-
Missing In Action
Randomly, 4 weeks ago myself and a friend had been wanting to go on holiday. Originally this started out as looking at a week away to the sun. As we are both into cars, F1 and more recently travelling we had an idea of a roadtrip round Europe. This initially was only going to involve the Nurburgring, Spa and Hockenheim. However things spiralled out of control and we ended up going on a 3,496mile trip through 11 countries in Europe over the period on 7 days.
Although we didn't do the journey in my R27, we took his FN2 Civic Type R. Below is the story, and quite a few photos.
We left from Belfast to Dublin to catch our first ferry to Holyhead. From there we drove across Wales and England to Dover and caught our second ferry from Dover to Dunkirk. We arrived at the Nurburgring exactly 24hours after leaving Belfast, 1300km journey by road - by this stage it was 10.15pm on Wednesday 14th.
We drove the short 500m to Hotel Burgstube, Nurburg. Some of you who have visited the 'Ring may have stayed here, or know the owner Martin Bird. Fantastic place to stay, really made us feel welcome and gave us some great tips as this was our first trip to the 'Ring.
On Thursday 15th we headed out quite early on to the Industry testing day. I had no idea of the experience this would be. As a huge fan of AMG and Porsche - this was like Christmas for me. There was the testing of new unreleased 911's, unreleased AMG's, the future M3, GTR's, R8's, the new Mercedes CLK Black Edition and perhaps the highlight of the day - Lexus LFA Nurburgring Edition which was there to set some sort of track record. Incredible car and awesome way to spend our first whole day.
We headed back to the hotel around 3.00pm for some food and to prepare for our laps. I ended up hiring a Clio 200 Cup from RSR. We headed down to the 'Ring around 5pm to soak up the atmosphere and to have a walk around some of the cars which where also going round. The first lap in the Civic was incredible, adrenaline pumping, we passed a couple of Lotus Exige and where passed by quite a few M3's. Now I have played numerous driving games around the 'Ring but nothing can prepare you for the experience. It is simply sensational. I then took the 200 round, I wasn't as impressed with the 200 as I was with my R27 but I didn't let that take away from the experience, I also passed an Exige which was great. However getting passed by seemingly suicidal bikers was quite scary!! We went round again in the Civic and had a clear run at the track, only coming across an old 318 BMW facing the wrong way!
That evening we headed out for food with the rest of the guests from Hotel Burgstube, and in our company was a group of Finnish students who had built an electric car - only later did we find out that they had built, from scratch - except brakes (R8) and wheels, the fastest electric car to go round the 'Ring.
Friday the 16th we headed down very early to the 'Ring and checked out more of the industry testing once more. Again some stunning cars where lapping and it was great to watch these cars being driven to the best of their ability around what has to be the best tarmac in the world. We left Nurburg before lunchtime on our journey south to Stelvio Pass. We hit the Autobahn and decided to see what the Civic had to offer - 145mph was our best. Our journey to Stelvio Pass took us through Austria which is a stunning country in its own right.
Night was closing in and we where determind to drive the 48 hairpins and reach 9,000ft to conquer the Stelvio Pass. By the time we reached the top it was pitch black so we couldn't appreciate the spectacular-ness of what it had to offer until the following day. We found a hotel at the top of the Pass and settled for the night.
We woke on Saturday 17th to the greatest of views over the pass. Simply breathtaking, and just as I type this I still get goosebumps.
It struck me that we had driven another of the greatest roads in the world. Gorgeous part of the world, photos can't do it justice. We started our drive back down the Pass and took the 48 hairpins aswell as a heap of photos as you can imagine.
After descending back down the Pass we rejoined the SS39 towards Maranello. Driving through Lake Garda and the Merano area was once again stunning. It seemed that every mile we drove we where encountering even better scenery. Around 1400 we arrived in Maranello. Wow. If you're a fan of a Ferrari this place is a must visit. Italians are extremely proud of Ferrari, rightly so, but this place was something else. Everything was geared towards Ferraris and enhancing your experience. Within an hour of arriving at Maranello we found ourselves in a brand spanking new Ferrari California! The trip continues to out-do itself. We drove the Ferrari for 15minutes each and I can say that driving a Ferrari around the town it is built, in 30+ degree heat with the roof down will stick with me for a long long time. For me, this was the first time in the trip I had driven on the 'wrong side' of the road and also in the 'wrong side' of the car - no better way to learn than in a Ferrari.
Once we recovered from this epic drive. We headed into the Ferrari museum. This is the most eye popping museum you will ever see. Past cars which had been driven to glory by the likes of Mansell, Prost, Villeneuve. Also previous F1 engines, a replica of Enzo Ferrari's office - all this was on the 1st floor.
Going upstairs you get to see ALL the classics, my 2 favourite Ferraris are the F40 and the Dino.
We also came across a 599XX which is one hell of a vehicle. Lairy as you like, and something to behold in the metal!
Although we didn't do the journey in my R27, we took his FN2 Civic Type R. Below is the story, and quite a few photos.
We left from Belfast to Dublin to catch our first ferry to Holyhead. From there we drove across Wales and England to Dover and caught our second ferry from Dover to Dunkirk. We arrived at the Nurburgring exactly 24hours after leaving Belfast, 1300km journey by road - by this stage it was 10.15pm on Wednesday 14th.
We drove the short 500m to Hotel Burgstube, Nurburg. Some of you who have visited the 'Ring may have stayed here, or know the owner Martin Bird. Fantastic place to stay, really made us feel welcome and gave us some great tips as this was our first trip to the 'Ring.
On Thursday 15th we headed out quite early on to the Industry testing day. I had no idea of the experience this would be. As a huge fan of AMG and Porsche - this was like Christmas for me. There was the testing of new unreleased 911's, unreleased AMG's, the future M3, GTR's, R8's, the new Mercedes CLK Black Edition and perhaps the highlight of the day - Lexus LFA Nurburgring Edition which was there to set some sort of track record. Incredible car and awesome way to spend our first whole day.
We headed back to the hotel around 3.00pm for some food and to prepare for our laps. I ended up hiring a Clio 200 Cup from RSR. We headed down to the 'Ring around 5pm to soak up the atmosphere and to have a walk around some of the cars which where also going round. The first lap in the Civic was incredible, adrenaline pumping, we passed a couple of Lotus Exige and where passed by quite a few M3's. Now I have played numerous driving games around the 'Ring but nothing can prepare you for the experience. It is simply sensational. I then took the 200 round, I wasn't as impressed with the 200 as I was with my R27 but I didn't let that take away from the experience, I also passed an Exige which was great. However getting passed by seemingly suicidal bikers was quite scary!! We went round again in the Civic and had a clear run at the track, only coming across an old 318 BMW facing the wrong way!
That evening we headed out for food with the rest of the guests from Hotel Burgstube, and in our company was a group of Finnish students who had built an electric car - only later did we find out that they had built, from scratch - except brakes (R8) and wheels, the fastest electric car to go round the 'Ring.
Friday the 16th we headed down very early to the 'Ring and checked out more of the industry testing once more. Again some stunning cars where lapping and it was great to watch these cars being driven to the best of their ability around what has to be the best tarmac in the world. We left Nurburg before lunchtime on our journey south to Stelvio Pass. We hit the Autobahn and decided to see what the Civic had to offer - 145mph was our best. Our journey to Stelvio Pass took us through Austria which is a stunning country in its own right.
Night was closing in and we where determind to drive the 48 hairpins and reach 9,000ft to conquer the Stelvio Pass. By the time we reached the top it was pitch black so we couldn't appreciate the spectacular-ness of what it had to offer until the following day. We found a hotel at the top of the Pass and settled for the night.
We woke on Saturday 17th to the greatest of views over the pass. Simply breathtaking, and just as I type this I still get goosebumps.
It struck me that we had driven another of the greatest roads in the world. Gorgeous part of the world, photos can't do it justice. We started our drive back down the Pass and took the 48 hairpins aswell as a heap of photos as you can imagine.
After descending back down the Pass we rejoined the SS39 towards Maranello. Driving through Lake Garda and the Merano area was once again stunning. It seemed that every mile we drove we where encountering even better scenery. Around 1400 we arrived in Maranello. Wow. If you're a fan of a Ferrari this place is a must visit. Italians are extremely proud of Ferrari, rightly so, but this place was something else. Everything was geared towards Ferraris and enhancing your experience. Within an hour of arriving at Maranello we found ourselves in a brand spanking new Ferrari California! The trip continues to out-do itself. We drove the Ferrari for 15minutes each and I can say that driving a Ferrari around the town it is built, in 30+ degree heat with the roof down will stick with me for a long long time. For me, this was the first time in the trip I had driven on the 'wrong side' of the road and also in the 'wrong side' of the car - no better way to learn than in a Ferrari.
Once we recovered from this epic drive. We headed into the Ferrari museum. This is the most eye popping museum you will ever see. Past cars which had been driven to glory by the likes of Mansell, Prost, Villeneuve. Also previous F1 engines, a replica of Enzo Ferrari's office - all this was on the 1st floor.
Going upstairs you get to see ALL the classics, my 2 favourite Ferraris are the F40 and the Dino.
We also came across a 599XX which is one hell of a vehicle. Lairy as you like, and something to behold in the metal!
. I'll say no more and let the photos on the Col do the talking.
