The Nürburgring: Legends and Facts Behind the Green Hell of Motorsport

Motor sport lore is all about legends. But the painted truth is, the closer you get to the facts, the more those legends tend to evaporate. Except in the case of the Nürburgring where it’s all too difficult not to be overcome by an attack of the clichés describing a circuit that is a hundred times removed from today’s ‘me too’ Tilkedromes. The facts generally trump even the legends. Ever since that first meeting was held in 1927, this has been the playground of heroes, a track whose ghosts thunder through your imagination. Sir Jackie Stewart famously described it as ‘The Green Hell’ and the Eifel track does take on a decidedly Valkyrian aspect each time you conjure images of teetering pre-war titans or BMW CSL ‘Batmobiles’ flying the friendly skies. Even now this track, regardless of configuration, sorts the men from the boys and the boys from the rest of us.

Familiarity and predictability often breed the seeds of indifference but to drive the Nordschleife, even in a road car, requires a leap of faith – or a leap of madness. The sense of elation that accompanies each successful tour being of the never forgotten kind. Though not immune to changes over its 84-year history, the ’Ring hasn’t been eroded, silted and reconfigured to anything approaching the same degree as so many other classic tracks. Which is why we love it still.

While the 24 hours still takes place each year, there hasn’t been top-flight motor sport at the venue since 1983. What started as a general office discussion about the ’Ring, its legacy, and those who tamed it inevitably turned into a heated ‘best of’ debate; cue a mental stampede as 100 candidates sprang to mind. What follows is a rundown of some of the greatest drives of the Nürburgring.