News, laptimes, gossip,videos and photos from the Nürburgring Nordschleife

 You may have noticed a lack of new stories recently. That's largely due to the circuit not being available for the last week thanks to the HUGE festival that is MTV's 'Rock Am Ring'. Three massive stages, over 200,000 sweaty beer-drinkers and some of the biggest acts around. The Nordschleife in this period becomes a campsite. These photos were shot by my friend Bruce from the seat of his old XT250 trail bike and posted on the Northloop forum. If you're one of the many who wondered why it takes a few days for the track to open - wonder no more! There is a serious clean-up operation underway right now with hundreds of workers involved!

The approach to Schwalbenschwanz is clearly marked - just not with your normal pylons.

 
You might not want to use this gravel trap until it's been cleared up a little!

More photos after the jump...

 Earlier this year we reported that Hyundai had shipped a 2litre turbo Genesis Coupe to the Nurburgring and were testing it extensively. Now they've brought a 3.8litre V6 too! Now, I know it's not the best looking car in the world, but it could just well be the cheapest performance RWD we'll see in the next few years. And don't forget it's always a good basis for something like this:

More photos after 'READ MORE'...

Onboard video with the Swiss Gentle Racing/SoFunRacing.com Aston N24... at night! If you ever wanted to know what it's like to drive the world's longest and most dangerous circuit with only your own headlamps to guide the way... check this out! Your driver is Freddy Barth and you'll find the footage after the 'read more' jump...

 This is the new 2010 VW Polo GTi testing on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It's the first time we've seen the undisguised car out in it's 'normal' five-door trim... which begs the question: what's really under the hood? The new GTi is a twin-charged (that's a supercharger AND a turbocharger working together) 1.4 kicking out a mighty 189bhp. News of an 'R' version from the newly formed Volkswagen 'R' division leaves us wondering, is this 'just' a new GTi?

 
2010 Polo GTi exiting the Hocheichen combination.

More photos after the 'read more' link!