For many people the Nurburgring doesn’t mean anything. For us it means the heart of motorsport and especially Formula 1.
Our trip to the legendary track built in 1927 was based on an invitation to SSG by Factory BMW Team Schubert Motorsport to cover the digital and photography work at the 24 hours. The team is one of the of the leading GT racings outfits in the world has previously won numerous times on the ring and on other 24 hour events. Earlier on we published the following Photoblog for BMW Team Schubert check it out on this link >> http://bit.ly/13NlDFX.
The most significant thing about the Nurburgring is the Nordschleife, which is what the ring was, prior to the fatal accident of Niki Lauda in the mid 70s. The track runs into the Nurburg forest for around 22 Km and then goes back into the GP track that is used currently in formula 1. The place is magical and the fans are the best I have seen in my life. I have never seen so many fans for any sporting activity ever. Over 210000 spectators watched the racing weekend and these fans come all the possible backgrounds you can imaging. They start camping around the track 1 week ahead of the race and festivities never stop! A lot of beer drinking, singing and chanting makes the atmosphere magical, and the race simple becomes a culture or a way of life. The people are so passionate about their track since it reflects on their life. Recent setbacks on the status of the track and fact that government decided to sell it to a private investor has upset the locals and raised some speculation about selling it. Early on I thought the selling was possible…after stepping there I can say the track will remain regardless of the owner.
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The following images state the story of the event… or maybe just half the story. Captions under the pictures give you the clue to continue.
1- On the road to the ring.
2- Campers start to come 1 week ahead of the race.
3- The forest road to the Nordschleife
4- The tunnel to ring.
5- Teams start to prepare and the paddock is jammed with people
6- Friday’s night qualification is on!!!
7- Reaching the campers tents…
8- Gathering and festivities around the track…
9- More Gathering and festivities…
10- Meanwhile on the Track…
11- Qualifications continue…
12- the poring has stopped and saturday’s qualifications will take place on the dry.
13- Heading to the Famous carousal curve by all means of transportation.
14- Fellow Saudi Photographer Abdullah Al Rodhan Aiming for the best shots as usual.
15- Trouble hits some cars early on.
16- Intense qualifying session and the top cars are trying to pave their way around with minimum time loss.
17- Cars disappear into the green hell
18- Intense looks for the Z4 out of the Carousel
19- The monstrous curve give us goosebumps
20- Last year’s winner panned on the ancient curve
21- Is this the first telephone and still working?
22- Celebrations continues…
23- … even in all ages
24- Overwhelming litres of beer were consumed… maybe by this guy only …
25- The paradise of bachelors … I wonder what is inside.