A former colleague of mine, a professional driver, and BMW M3 CSL aficionado just commented on my latest #ringtool video, and I had to share his words here.
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(The video in question is my review of Philippe’s fantastic VW Polo WRC, a homologation-special from the factory. Philippe hasn’t just unleashed the mighty-but-restricted Golf 6R powerplant, he’s added top-end suspension and a trick Drexler diff. It’s a lovely build, and you can check it out here, or at the bottom of this page.)
As for that comment? Well, it’s such an intrinsic part of the Nordschleife experience, and a part that I love so much, I just had to laugh. David’s CSL, by the way, is the manually converted beast you might have seen on Harry’s Garage in March.
Bearing in mind that Chappers gets paid to drive at various racetracks around the world, and still got dusted by a “kid” in a Polo, I thought I’d share my own examples and thoughts on this.
As a ring-taxi driver with more than a few race wins under my belt, a lot of my customers were quite surprised to see me indicating to the right and letting another car through. But I honestly believe that it’s part of the Mythos of the Nordschleife, and I wouldn’t have it any other way! In this example it’s the 413 Motorsport Golf 7R that I’m letting through. He’s been slowly catching all the way from Hohe Acht, and faced with the prospect of destroying my already-overheated Pirelli Pzero street tyres, or gracefully allowing him through, I took the latter option.
For the customers, I think it’s awesome to be in a ringtaxi with a pro-driver, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that taxi allowing faster traffic through. I mean, if it’s in the mirror now, and it wasn’t before… just move right?
Sometimes the car I chose to follow wasn’t quite the same speed as my taxi, but it still made for great viewing. This is a great example, from 4m10s. The car is Dennis’s turbo’d Golf Mk2, and while I could have overtaken, I deemed it unnecessary.
So what are YOUR experiences from the ‘Ring? Any memorable “sleepers” that overtook you? Share them below!
(As promised, Philipp’s #ringtool review is also below)
