The Nurburgring

[Boorish Grobian]

I think the banking was actually paved with bricks, which made it slick as snot when wet.  By all accounts Behra was just trying too hard on the damp surface, went over the banking and hit a flag post.  They eventually tore it down for one reason or another.  I don't think it was ever remembered with much fondness.
Fax

[hgb]

AVUS means "Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße" which is a very long term for "test track". The building with the round tower in Steve's picture is still there. It hosts a hotel today. The bend was destroyed in the late sixties (I think) after some fatal accidents in the fifties. I was there some years ago while visiting my brother in Berlin. It's a quite disappointing site nowadays. If I remember it correctly the last mayor races (DTM) were held on the AVUS in 1980s. They stopped racing there after some hefty accidents, e.g. Dieter Quester crossing the finish line on the roof and one accident at the start of a race which finished off the whole field.

[Nordic]

Have a look at this

http://sudschleife.8200rpm.com/index.html

I thought it was very interesting story about the forgotten part of the Nürburgring.

[Steve Pyro]

For anyone interested in 'lost' circuits, I would highly recommend "Autodrome, The Lost Race Circuits of Europe".

Circuits include the Sudschleife and AVUS, plus the banked circuits of Brooklands, Montlhery and Monza.

Review extract "Nine of Europe's greatest lost racetracks; AVUS, Masaykring, Nurburgring Sudschleife, Brooklands, Crystal Palace, Keimola, Montlhery, Monza and Reims are both remembered in their prime, and revisited today as crumbling temples of speed.
Featuring glorious period images and the breathtaking contemporary photography of Gavin D. Ireland, this is one of the most atmospheric books I have ever read"

Put it on your Christmas list - an excellent book.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Autodrome-Lost-Race-Circuits-Europe/dp/1904788319/sr=11-1/qid=1163584350/ref=sr_11_1/202-6491423-6903030

[dks240]

Going back to the first post... If you haven't been to the 'ring then it is certainly well worth the trip.

I've been a few times and the feeling of driving around it is amazing. The place can be quite terrifying though.... but that is probably what draws so many people in!

It really is as simple as finding out when the public days are, drive there, buy a ticket and you are on circuit.

The place has its obvious dangers, but a trip can be done without any problems, if you keep things sensible.

I'm hopeing to get back there next year..

One of the best sites I've found, which tells you everything you need to know is;

http://nurburgring.org.uk

[mgmark]

Have a look at this

http://sudschleife.8200rpm.com/index.html

I thought it was very interesting story about the forgotten part of the Nürburgring.

Very interesting - I didn't even know there was a sudschliefe!   

I can remember the AVUS in the late 70's/early 80s from visits there and although then quite a shadow of its former self, with straights part of normal roads, it was still fairly impressive. 

Another "ring" track I remember (and drove v. quickly quite a few times as did many red-blooded Servicemen in British Forces Germany at the time) was the Wegberg Ring near Monchengladbach which was used for local racing post-war and forms the normal road around Wegberg.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenzlandring

MG Mark