ALAP OF THE RING WITH QUICK VIC

AP OF THE ‘RING WITH Q„ICK VIC

Vic Elford’s love affair with the Nordschleife started in the ’60s here he talks us round the famed track GREEN HELL IS WHAT the Nordschleife of the Nurburgring is frequently called, but with one painful exception, for me it was

always a little green piece of heaven.

I first saw it in 1966 when on an obscure German rally a lap of the ‘Ring counted as the last special stage. My co-driver John Davenport was deposited in the magnificent old SportHotel to write and finesse our pace notes for the other stages while I set off in our rented VW Beetle for a day of learning in what was typical for the Eifel Mountains pouring rain.

One thing I’d learned from my rally experience and which would prove even more useful at the Nurburgring was that I have an almost photographic memory for roads.

My 25 wet laps in the Beetle left me in love with the track and in awe of such names as Caracciola, Rosemeyer and Fangio and what they’d done there. I had the feeling the Nurburgring and I were going to get on very well together. Later that year, I found out just how well (see page 59).