Guides
What does Bridge To Gantry mean?
- Details
- Parent Category: Nürburgring Guides by BTG
- Created on Sunday, 20 March 2011 21:30
- Last Updated on Sunday, 28 October 2012 07:35
- Published on Sunday, 20 March 2011 21:30
- Written by Dale
It's not the most obvious name for a Nürburgring Nordschleife orientated website, I'll admit. But here I'm going to explain what Bridge To Gantry or BTG really means...
- The BTG timing method.
Touristenfahrten is the german word for tourist driving, or what you might have heard as 'public driving'. These tourist laps start and stop from the 'Nordschleife zufahrt' on Döttinger Höhe straight, the other side of Nürburg village from the GP track.
B=Bridge, C=Nordschleife Zufahrt (the carpark at the Nordschleife entrance), A=Gantry
View Larger Map
On a tourist lap it's impossible to complete a whole lap without stopping to queue for the gates at 'C'. So the BTG method is to time your laps in a point-to-point style from the bridge to the gantry. On a trackday this is also useful, as you don't have to complete 3 whole laps (63km) to get one lap time. To recap: after exiting the carpark at 'C' on the map above, drive under the Bridge (Antoniusbuche) at 'B'. From here it's 19.1km to the Gantry (currently carrying Audi sponsorship) at point 'A'. Easy!
- The distance between the gantry and the bridge is almost exactly 1 mile, 1660mtrs.
- It takes a top-end sportscar less than 25 seconds to cover this distance. Most normal cars with a 120mph top speed over 30 seconds.
- A BTG lap isn't just 25 or 30 seconds shorter, as the standing start from point 'C' adds another 5-6 seconds back on the time for most cars.
- The straight is very bumpy, and is uphill all the way to the bridge.
- Top speed is attained into the dip AFTER the bridge on a flying lap
- On a BTG lap top speed is attained before Schwedenkreuz or in the Foxhole (for lower power cars)
