>>> It's a great track, very thoughtfully laid out
>>> and finished.
>> Yea, if you have the energy and strength of purpose to memorize all
>> the damn turns.
(Weird. My news server didn't pickup your post. I saw it in Uwe's
response...)
I crossed that bridge long ago, back when GPL's Nurburgring was new and
fresh. It *was* difficult. The track map names defied memorization until the
nice folks here helped translate them to something I could relate to in
English. A bit of the folklore also helps you memorize the names, and then
you can label your memories of their shapes.
I tried to reproduce that here, but deleted it before sending. I group the
corners into sections slightly different than the track map does, and
introducing it here, now, is more likely to confuse than help. Maybe someone
else can help with the literal translations.
I don't know how to help with the "strength of purpose" part. For me, the
question was never "Why?", but "How?"
==========
Here's a second try, without any attempt at continuity, with a bit of the
folklore...
Hatzenabach: slow chicanes leading up to...
Quiddlebacher: bridge over the road to the town of Quiddelbach.
Flugplatz: "airport", right after the large jump. GPL cars got airborne
several feet here, but the Porsche just doesn't have the speed. It leads to
the pair of very fast right handers leading onto...
Schwendenkreuz: "Swedish Cross". Very fast slightly downhill straight
leading to a left hand sweeper. I think the name is for the turn itself; it
was said that it honors the Swedish soldiers who died here in one war or
another. Or maybe simply a Swede racer who died... I don't recall clearly
the story that was told. (For years, I thought the Swedish Cross referred to
what I now know is Metgezfeld. In GPL, there was a huge red flag with a
white cross draped on the hillside at the 2nd left hander there.)
Aremberg Bridge: underpass below the bridge carrying the road to the town of
Aremberg. Medium slow right hand sweeper leading onto...
Fuchsrohe: "Fox Row", supposedly for the fox families that lived here during
construction. Very fast downhill slalom from Aremberg Bridge, and then back
uphill to Adenaur Forst. Treacherously bumpy at the natural braking points
near the top, tending to upset the car.
Adenaur Forst. "Adenaur forest." The town of Adenaur is close by.
Increasingly slower series of 90 deg chicanes. Leads onto...
Metgezfeld: farm fields belonging to somebody named Metgez, presumably. Fast
section with gentle kinks leading to two increasingly slower left handlers.
(In GPL, there was a huge red flag draped on the hillside to the right of
the second left hander. For years, I mistakenly thought of this section as
Schwendenkreuz, for the red cross.)
Kallenhardt, downhill esses. In GPL, this was distinct for the row of hedges
that is now depicted as armco guarding the cliff dropoff on the left.
Weirseifen: first of two bridges. 2nd gear left right chicane leading onto a
fast downhill straight to...
Breidscheidt: second of two bridges. 3rd gear left right chicane leading
to...
Ex Muhle: steep uphill right hander, supposedly steeper than Laguna's
corkscrew.
Lauda Eck: fast left hand kink; almost but can't quite be taken flat out in
5th (PCC2007). Niki Lauda crashed here and was severely burned in the last
F1GP run here. (I might have this wrong. The name might actually apply to
the right hander that follows, which I think of as...)
Bergwerk: long sweeping right hander opening onto a series of very fast
leftward kinks, more or less taken as one huge left hand sweeper.
Kesselchen: very fast very gentle series of right hand kinks. The Porsche
almost reaches terminal speed before the narrow, high speed chicane leading
onto...
Angst Korner: aptly named. Two high speed lefts leading to a blind 4th gear
right.
... I forget the names now; a 4th gear straight, 3rd gear long sweeper, and
then the series of kinks leading to...
Karrusel: (carousel) a hairpin with a concrete banking. Aim for the pine
tree coming out the sweeper.
Hohe Acht: (high point, "attention height") flat out slight uphill run
through the gears to increasingly tighter left hand kinks. Marks the
beginning of the back half of the course. It's downhill from here.
Wipperman: a couple of 4th gear straights and high speed left-right
chicanes, slightly downhill.
Eschbach: big sweeping 3rd gear downhill long left hander. Right hander at
the bottom leading to...
Bruunchen: slight downhill run, 4th gear straights, 3rd gear sweeping 90 deg
bends.
Eis Kurve: "ice curve", 3rd gear 120 deg. left hand, right kink, leading to
a blind downhill left-right kinks, from which it gets its name. There's very
little traction here after cresting before the kinks.
Pflantzgarten 1: ("plant garden", possibly named for the castle gardens that
bordered here) after a short straight with a small steep drop, two 4th gear
right handers, uphill to a left, and then another left, and then a sharp
downhill drop to...
Pflantzgarten 2: mostly blind series of long gentle esses. Two right-left
series. Gas on point is apex of the second right hander once the last left
hander comes into view. One last good run up through fifth leading onto...
Schwalbenschwanz: "swallowtail", possibly named after it's plan view shape.
Right hander leading uphill to reverse camber left. Uphill a bit more to the
little carousel, another concrete banking set into the left hander. Uphill
some more to a right with a blind exit. Crest for a very short straight
leading onto the fast sweeping right hander which opens onto...
Dottinger Hohe: flat out run to under Antoine's Bridge, Tiergarten (tea
garden), and slowing back to 2nd gear for the hochensrainchicane.