The legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife echoed to the sound of contemporary Formula 1 machinery for the first time in 31 years on Saturday, when Nick Heidfeld took his BMW Sauber for a demonstration run in front of a crowd of 45,000.
The tortuous 13-mile circuit in the Eifel mountains was renowned as the most daunting of F1 tracks and was dropped from the calendar for safety reasons following Niki LaudaÂ’s fiery accident in the 1976 German Grand Prix.
Heidfeld, who had never driven a racing car on the Nordschleife before, completed three laps in BMWÂ’s 2006 car and raved about the experience.
“This drive was simply incredible,” he said.
“I thought it would be great to drive on the Nordschleife before I started out.
“But it was even better than I had expected.
“This racing track is the best in the world.”
Heidfeld was instructed not to take any risks and to slow for photo calls on each of his three laps, so his best lap of 8m34s – more than two minutes shy of the outright track record – was not indicative of what a modern F1 car might be capable of.
The ride height of the F1.06 was raised for maximum ground clearance on the uneven surface and the car was fitted with unusually hard ‘demonstration’ tyres.
Despite short gear ratios Heidfeld clocked 170mph the long Döttinger Höhe straight – but admitted he was itching to take the car closer to the limit.
“I’d really like to have emptied the [fuel] tank,” he said.
“It was a very special moment when I left the grand prix circuit in the direction of the Nordschleife.
“I was really shaken up at the Bergwerk section and on the Döttinger Höhe.
“I’ll never forget today as long as I live.
“Another particularly special experience has now joined the many fantastic childhood memories and racing successes.”
Team boss Mario Theissen emphasised that the purpose of the event was to pay homage to an epic circuit rather than to break any records.
“We wanted to give fans a special treat,” he said.
“We had implored Nick to be careful.
“The day was a homage to the fans and to this unique circuit in the world of racing.
“For once, the lap times were a secondary consideration.”
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