A day at the races

Set off for the Nürburgring for the annual Historic Grand Prix weekend last Friday. As the DHC is the car off choice for next month's 10CR it was obvious that I would use her for the trip. This choice was helped by the fact that we didn't take a caravan with us this year and that the water pump on 't Kreng is leaking.

When we arrived at the Ring it turned out to be rather foggy. This sadly resulted in all racing and practicing scheduled for the Friday, including a three hour race over the Nordschleife, to be cancelled. This left us with only one thing to do, return to the campsite, get the fire burning and have a nice little BBQ with a few beers;

And admire the view of some wedges in a dark and gloomy German forest;

Most of us were woken next morning by the guys of the "Autofreunde Sauerland" who were on the camping space next to ours. They thought it a good idea to start the day with a bang, igniting some fireworks ... They even got some response from a rather angry chap in a campervan shouting (in German) "I know you are ass holes but you don't have to constantly remind us of that" The response to that response, of course, was obvious! Otherwise day two started pretty much like day one had ended, rather damp and foggy;

After cleaning up the ravages from the night before;

And a hearty breakfast from our private chef Herbert;

We went off to the circuit to see if there was going to be some more action, which there was. Even the weather decided to make a change for the better;

Although not everyone was enjoying himself;

There were rather old cars;

And more recent machines;

After having watched some races it was time to walk over to the pit lane and the paddock to have a closer look at some of the cars;

The good thing is that there is always a rather relaxed air around this event;

Sadly I couldn't stay for the whole of the weekend due to other obligations, so I returned home late Saturday’s afternoon. As there wasn't much traffic around, I could try out the car a bit more. It must be said that she behaved really well, cruising happily and easily along the Autobahn at a speed of 90 mph @ 3500 rpm. Also the car is stable at higher speeds, comfortable and rather quiet at that speed.

I also found out that the (AC) heater unit in this car works much better than the standard ones, not only for demisting but also as a heater and for ventilation. I am glad I didn't exchange that unit when I ditched the rest of the AC stuff. I intended to, but found out that the one I wanted to replace it with had a leak so I just put the original one back in ! Also the coolant temperature seems to be slightly lower since I fitted the front spoiler last week.

So only things left to do on the car before the 10CR are;

• fit a map reading light for the navigator;
• put new coolant hoses on just to be sure;
• modify the rear silencer box so it doesn't touch the (rear of the) body anymore (although it's become much less than it used to be);
• fit new tyres (as mentioned);
• put some nice lambskin seat covers on the seats for some extra comfort :‑)
• try and find some Castrol SMX S transmission oil for the gearbox.