My third trip, but the first for M3 DUP.
Previous trip history involves a maiden voyage in my old M3 in September 2004 which managed only 6 laps due to my nervous disposition and a clunking noise from the rear suspension, and 18 laps in a Vectra SRi in April 2005 which suffered from a gearbox failure on the return trip and was taken home from Bonn on a flat-bed transporter.
Having acquired another M3 shortly after that last trip, and successfully completed a trip to La Rochelle without failure in August 2005, I decided it was time to see if it has what it takes to manage a trip to the Nordschleife. Cost was a major factor, but I had a ticket with two laps on it, found accommodation for €20 per person and managed a Euro Tunnel (ET) crossing for £24, so the decision was made.
This weekend (the 17th and 18th of September 2005) was the last weekend with a decent amount of open time at the 'ring until November, by which point I suspected the weather might make things a little miserable. I would of course not be the only person to realise this, so accepting that it was likely to be busy, I booked the ET and the hotel, and asked a few people if they'd like to join me. I was keen to get as many drivers and as few passengers as possible, as past experience has shown that this is optimal.
The squad then. My friend Alex agreed to be the photographer, Paul Cooper brought his Audi A6 2.4 V6 Quattro, and Ian Haynes his E30 325. With a 3.2 M3 engine! Enough scene setting, let's get on with some pictures.
While we left Woking at 5am, it was dark and we were still all asleep(!) until we reached Folkstone, so there are no pictures there. Having checked in, we parked up and waited to be called to board the train:
On the train we indulged in the pointless act of looking at maps, despite the fact that we knew that without the Tom Tom navigator we'd end up lost in Brussels forever...
Driving through Belgium is the worst aspect of these trips, so we only took one photograph of the experience...
We'd left Calais at around 09:15 CET, and arrived at our hotel in Leimbach at 13:30 after a very brief pit-stop for fuel and food.
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