Any laywers? - need advice (ASAP)

[freerider]

I'm planning on going to the Ring tomorrow (thanks to Ben I'm addicted now) and I was struggeling with what car to go with. Initially I'm planning on renting a car, but I'm not sure if I'm insured or not. A copy of the terms can be found here.

Please look at paragraph 4. I think it's very ambigious.

Edit: keep in mind that the Ring legally is a one way toll-road.

Tia Johan

[Benman]

Originally posted by freerider
I'm planning on going to the Ring tomorrow (thanks to Ben I'm addicted now)
Please look at paragraph 4. I think it's very ambigious.

Edit: keep in mind that the Ring legally is a one way toll-road.

Tia Johan

Johan, sorry to make you an addict, but you understand it wasn't my fault, right?

Not a lawyer, but like you mention, the Ring IS a toll road. It is not a race track when open to the public. In fact, when you arrive there (and I should have shown you this when we were waiting for it to open... ) look at the "rules" sign. It clearly says to "obey all the rules of the roads" because it IS a road. NO ONE uses it like that (as you saw) but it IS still a road.

I wish Anders from Schwedenkreuz frequented this board, because he is the only person that I know of that HAS had experience with a crash at the Ring and then the process of dealing with insurance.

Maybe Erik can get you in touch with him.

Ben

[Nordschleife]

Originally posted by freerider
I'm planning on going to the Ring tomorrow (thanks to Ben I'm addicted now) and I was struggeling with what car to go with. Initially I'm planning on renting a car, but I'm not sure if I'm insured or not. A copy of the terms can be found here.

Please look at paragraph 4. I think it's very ambigious.

Edit: keep in mind that the Ring legally is a one way toll-road.

Tia Johan

If you live in Belguim you can drive there. Take your own car. Do not treat it as a race circuit.
Your answer might be prejudicial to your defence in the event of a disputed claim.

R+C

[Benman]

Originally posted by Nordschleife
If you live in Belguim you can drive there. Take your own car. Do not treat it as a race circuit.


R+C

Nord,

Johan was planning on driving there, but was hoping for a more exciting car to drive on the Ring itself, hence the rental.

Ben

[freerider]

I finally did it and it was GREAT!!!!!
I'll post a full report tomorrow, because I'm really tired right now.
My pics can be found here.
I warn you though, there are 151 pics on 1 page (I'm a very lazy boy), but it's quite fast with DSL or cable. The resolution of the pictures is brought down to 640x480. If you would like full size pictures , you can always contact me.

Greetz Johan

[7:53 RS6]

Originally posted by freerider
I finally did it and it was GREAT!!!!!
I'll post a full report tomorrow, because I'm really tired right now.
My pics can be found here.
I warn you though, there are 151 pics on 1 page (I'm a very lazy boy), but it's quite fast with DSL or cable. The resolution of the pictures is brought down to 640x480. If you would like full size pictures , you can always contact me.

Greetz Johan

Nice pics, nice to hear you finally did it, it was not that hard was it. Lycky you to live that close

Cheers

[freerider]

As most of you know, I met up with Benman at the Ring. Didn't drive myself there, bc I was with my moms car (I don't have one myself, since I'm "just" a student). I regretted that a lot, so I planned another trip to finally drive it myself. I struggled a lot with what car to drive, but finally went with my friends car (Golf Mk.3 1.8 petrol), who went along. The car is a bid old and not in super good health thanx to the previous owner, but did his job very well.
I first bought a 1-run ticket, just to see how it was. After that I got a 5-run ticket from my friend (who's car I also drove) for my birthday. Everything went fine until run #3, when an accident happend and I saw the motorcyclist lying on the tarmac. This really changed my emotions. So, track closed and we waited and I tried to forget it. Which I did just fine. The track openend again and we where one of the first to drive again. We just started our 4th lap and just about 1km after the start (at the "pit"happenend another accident with a biker. Men this really did it. I don't want to see those guys lying there. Really don't (sensitive spot for me). The car was also starting to struggle with the beating, so after a that lap (track was closed again, but very long this time) I decided not to drive anymore. Now I really regret not using those 2 laps I had left, buth hey, I had so much fun and got home safe.
All by all, I had the best day of my life, and really want to do this again.

@Gote: It is really intens, but not that bad as everybody says. The bumps in the road do make it a bit more difficult and suprised me a couple of times, especially with the very soft suspension of the car. I have to admit a learned a lot about the car AND MYSELF. I look at driving totally different now.

@Nordschleife: I have the upmost respect for the Ring and don't treat it as a race-circuit. And the reason I wanted to rent a car, is because I don't own a car myself, and I couldn't drive my mothers' (which I understand).

I would like to thank Pierrot, who bought me the 5-run ticket, let me drive his car and took all the pictures. I couldn't have done it without him.

Edit: just to make sure, we weren't involved in any of the accidents (in any accident for that matter; knocks on wood)

Edit2: some of you might have noticed a lot of classics on the pictures. This was bc there was a historic grand prix meeting (which we didn't knew of) on the Südschleife.

Greetz Johan

[Benman]

Johan

Glad to hear you had such a great time. Enjoyed your write up and pics. It's amazing how after only a few days there, you start to take forgranted how many high end performance cars are there. It really is like no other place on Earth.

And unfortunately, you got to see first hand what I was talking about as far as all the accidents. And most of the time, it IS bikers! I have the utmost respect for the guys CRAZY enough to ride that thing on sportbikes. In a car, it's a blast as it is, but on a crouch rocket, it's just insane. I don't think I'd ever be tempted to try it. There is simply too much that can happen and ZERO protection other than the gear you wear. At least one of the rules of the Ring is that ALL bikers MUST wear FULL gear.

It does show you that although it is the BEST possible track experience you can have, it still commands MAD respect.

At least while you were there, no one DIED! The last trip (2 years ago) there with my uncle, the track was closed just as we arrived due to a fatal Ferrari crash. Despite the fatallity, the track was opened on schedule the very next day. Death is a common but sad occurance there and as you say, better to quit while ahead and get home safe instead of trying to push too hard.

Ben

[freerider]

Went again, but this time no driving for me . Kind of frustrating, certainly when the person who's driving, doesn't do it very good.
Weather was bad (visibility sometimes less then 100 metres/0.06 miles),but dry, so not that many cars to be seen. It was also a weekday (monday) so that keeps the number of Ringers down too.
Saw a couple of scoops though (nothing special, things like new Ford galaxy and stuff - no pics). BUT, I saw a Ford GT. Damn, that's one impressive car. And HUGE tyres (335).
Anyway, pics can be found here.

Greetz Johan

[Benman]

Yeah, better when the driver knows what he's doing.

Usually, always a nice assortment of Ferraris and especially Porsches (like the GT3 RS you have a pic of! ). Those sound great as they blast past!

What was up with the Z4 painted like a nasty version of an old Corvette?

Seems you'll be starting to accumulate frequent driver miles to the Ring.


Ben