Mastering Nürburgring
By Keith Procter
If I had to choose one track for all my Project Gotham Racing® 2 action, it would have to be the 13-mile, 73-turn Nordschleife (Northern Loop) at the Nürburgring race course. The course’s long flowing straights demand that you drive all-out, yet the tricky turns punish drivers who let their velocity get the best of them. It's a combination that can be murder on the inexperienced driver. I can’t imagine that anyone who has played PGR™ 2has struggled with the Nürburgring more than I have, but I absolutely love this course. It is a thrilling track that brings out my best and worst efforts.
The key to succeeding on the most demanding course is knowing when and where to slow down. That’s right. To post a fast time, you will have to take your finger off the throttle a time or two. I had to learn the hard way that, when you’re hurtling along at top speed, every little mistake is amplified and severely punished.
Well, lesson learned. I’ve been able to significantly improve my performance at Nurburgring recently because I’ve taken a more patient and cautious approach. I recently improved my best lap time on the course by more than 10 seconds, from a best of 7:12.718 seconds to 6:58.221. My ranking in the event went from #3,247 to 2,315. My improvement came when I finally got the Porsche 911 GT1, which handles the curves better than my Enzo Ferrari, but it wasn’t just the car. My first lap at Nürburgring in the GT1 was only a fraction of a second better than my record run. The biggest improvement for me came when I paid careful attention to car control entering and exiting corners instead of driving recklessly into the turns and having to wrestle for control of the car.
If you’re like me, your most costly mistakes at the Nurburgring come in the turns. Here’s my list of the toughest corners at the Nurburgring, with brief descriptions for getting through them quickly.
Track Section: Schikane to Hatzenbach
You can’t win a race in the first turn, but you can lose it there, and that’s why it's important to maintain control through Nurburgring’s first serious combo of corners. After flying down the straightaway at top speed, you'll need to get on the brakes aggressively (but smoothly) to slow the car down going into the first tight corner. I’d suggest taking it down to 45 mph. That will give you a chance to set up for another hard right that will lead to the sharp left turn at Hatzenbach. When you're racing in a pack, this also might help you avoid collisions with your rivals.
Track Section: Flugplatz
This turn comes on a very fast part of the track, where you should run your car wide open. Still, you need to be a bit careful. There is small bump before the turn that, when taken with a bit of care, can earn you Kudos for air time. But, it can also cause you to lose control of the car if you're driving too near the edges of the roadway. You should be going over 100 mph through Flugplatz.
Track Section: Adenauer-Forst
This is a section of the course that always gives me trouble; I have a hard time slowing down enough to keep the car on the roadway. The trouble begins at the top of a hill with a sharp left turn, which is quickly followed by another even sharper left turn. You’ll need to slow down to 30 mph to handle all the challenges. This is certainly one of the most difficult sections of the course to master. Many a promising lap has come to an end here, less than halfway around the course.
Track Section: Karussel
Here’s where the Nurburgring gives you a bit of NASCAR flavor, with a sharply-banked turn that will require you to slow down to about 50 mph. There are three paths through this corner, which explains why I’ve never navigated this section the same way twice. You can drive a high flat line (the slowest way around), use the banked middle part of the road surface (the recommended route), go all the way to bottom (where it's easy to get Kudos for Two Wheels), or you can do like I do and use a bit of all three paths (which is the best way to screw things up).
Track Section: Baby Karussel
This is a shorter, easier-to-navigate, banked hairpin turn and the last of the difficult corners before the finish line. I suggest using the center concrete-paved route through the turn and slowing down to 60 mph.
I’m more patient now when driving at Nurburgring, especially when I’m in traffic. But I've found that slowing down to take the turns has allowed me to take more chances on the rest of the course. I’m able to leave the throttle wide open for longer periods of time on more and more sections of the course because I'm under control in those sections where an open throttle means disaster. Pick your battles, and learn to drive the course strategically, rather than merely aggressively. Soon you'll bring the Nordschleife to its knees.
