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Reports - June 30th - July 3rd 2006


	Gallery of this visit can be found HERE
FRIDAY A reasonable hour to start the trip for Gary for a change leaving his brothers house in Gillingham at 5.45am. An interesting start to the day as Gary’s brother’s motorbike wasn’t in the garden where it should have been. A quick look through the gate revealed it 5 yards down the road burnt to a crisp. It’s a nice society we live in these days ! Gary and Simon made their way to Dover and waited for Nick, Jason, Pete, Uncle benz and the others to arrive. On the ferry they also met up with Steve (Hobgoblin) Chris V6 and his mate. The ensuing convoy to the ring was by far the largest Northloop gathering to date. Getting 10 or so cars to the ring without event was interesting.


Arrive, sort out the accommodation and it was time for the guys to start putting a few laps in.


It was hardly surprising the track was so quiet but with Germany playing at home the locals were downing the odd Bitburger or 10. Gary managed around 10 laps many of them on an almost empty track. Nick plagued with problems kept his record going by lunching a piston after 2 ½ laps. Exactly the same as the time before. Should have bought French (note this was written on day 2 ) A few accidents including a biker who Gary helped who fell off at 7.30 while going round Gallgenkopff. Luckily he was ok, with just a bruised ego and bike. After a quick change of clothes the gang headed for the Lindenhoff for a well earned beer and meal. Retired at around 1.30am. Saturday An early start to get to the track for an 8am start. Unfortunately Simon was so excited he got up at 6.50am. Gary was not impressed!!! 8.00am up to the track for some nice early laps. The track stayed clear for the next 2 hours. No accidents, no closures, must be a record? The stag party used their rentals to the best of their ability although there is only so much you can do with a 1.0ltr fiesta and a Touran. Gary took a few pics and received a call from Pete explaining that his 306GTi engine had finally let go halfway up Kesselchen depositing oil on the track. I guess that new engine will be going in sooner rather than later? One of the best pics of the weekend.


Gary’s brakes started making a pads gone kind of noise so this was investigated. It transpired that the pad retaining bracket had gone walkies meaning the rear pads were non existent. Lunch at Briedschiede and another phone call from Simon this time. He had an issue which he will explain shortly. A chat with the mechanic at the Ring haus and Gary’s repair work was agreed. It would be finished by the time the England world cup match was finished. Once again the guys had to endure the full time, extra time, penalty agony by watching England play. Oh well it was a good excuse to drink a beer or 6. karl called to say he had a pass out for the evening and was on his way to drink beer and talk shit, his chosen specialised subjects. Despite Gary’s best efforts Karl managed to find him so it was off the PK for a meal and to try a beer or two. On entering the PK Ed and ThorLeife had already taken up residence at the bar and so the night began. At around 2.30am Simon and Gary staggered back to the Ring Haus despite Ed’s best efforts to get them to help him drink the 2 crates of beer he had in his apartment. Very drunk, very tired and with a couple of incidents the day was a mixed one. Sunday The 8am start was foregone due to the amount of alcohol consumed the night before. Gary arrived at the track for around 9.15 and decided it was best for him to refrain from driving the track for a while. He took a hike to Quidelbach Hohe with a large bottle of water and the camera. The first biker to notice him there with his camera popped the front wheel up. That set the pace for the others and for the next 2 hours a steady streaming of wheelie pics were taken.


Gary tried to acknowledge them all as they past. The most impressive was the guy who pulled a huge wheelie, had to time to look in his mirror and see Gary wave, and then return the wave whilst taking Flugplatz with a knee on the ground. A friendly lunatic for sure. A quiet afternoon on track surprisingly for a full weekend. Gary’s tyres quickly beginning to resemble slicks, a testament to how clear the track was and how often the cars were being used. When the Pugs pads gave up the ghost Gary returned to the room to change them with the intention of giving up for the day. At 6.45pm with new pads and a clear track it would have appeared rude not to go for a lap or two. The first lap the car felt much better so Gary decided a second was in order. Coming out of the cones he fluffed a gear change, the car felt fine but within 20 seconds things changed. The result was catastrophic with a huge cloud of smoke in the rear mirror. The line of oil on the track resulted in the track being closed for the final 15 minutes. The resulting track closure bill was for 30 mins which Gary tried to argue with the management. They were having none of it and a 4 figure bill was handed over. The car was recovered from the track, so another 200 euro bill.


A meal at the Italian in Adenau with karl and family. I don’t think Karl will be having the onion soup again The rest of the evening was spent accruing a 175 euro bar bill in the ring haus bar. When it got to 3.30am it was decided that it was probably time to retire for the night. Monday Possibly the funniest event of the weekend was Cris trying to explain to the guest house owner that his towel had been taken from the room and he wanted it back. When he returned to the room later in the day he noticed all his clothes on the line having been washed and waiting to be ironed. Later that evening they were returned to an embarrassed Crispin immaculately cleaned and pressed. Uncle Benz (Gareth) nipped to Adenau with Gary to try to diagnose the problem with the 205. The mechanical genius that is Gareth soon ascertained that the gearbox had probably chipped a tooth and lunched the box. Oh well shit happens. With time on their hands the guys decided to take Nick’s car to Gebauer. In true Nick fashion it couldn’t be done simply, a plan needed to be devised. ‘’Why don’t we pushed it’’ he suggested, ‘’its only about 7 miles’’ So that was it. A tow rope was attached to the golf incase it was required and Nick was off and running. Dottinger Hohe was a bit of hard work with the car rolling to a hault a couple of hundred yards from the end. Nick managed to push it to the end though with a little help from Simon and cool dude Jason


Then it was down the back road with all the hairpins. Nick was not happy to coast, he managed to get the golf running on 3 wheels on two occasions. Once down to Adenau it was a case of seeing if momentum would get them to Gebauer. The guys were laughing loads at the looks on people’s faces in the restaurants as the first wind powered VW golf passed them by


Amazingly the Car made it without it needing to be pushed again. A top feat.


With that done it was time for the track to open and the one remaining Northloop car to do a few laps in the hands of the blushing bride to be, Jason (Shergar). A quiet afternoon again with some nice laps and a good number of pictures taken. Cris, Shaun and Gary took a wander round the GP circuit and found an Audi TT launch going on. Very interesting with around 100 cars being driven on track by what looked like dealers.


Another evening in the PK the guys were joined by ThorLeif with his kids and also Pete (northern monkey, Pete rallye) with his friends. A great last night which ended around 1.30am for most …. Leavingeasy sloped off at 9.30 Tuesday A good trip home in around 9 hours. Special mention to our new resident Ferry spotter. Another great trip with highs and lows but very special all the time……….