Filed under: Etc.
Motorhome laps the 'Ring in 11 minutes while dinner's being cooked
This has to be the most unorthodox vehicle to ever attempt lapping the 'Ring at speed. Sure there are tour buses that will shuttle people around the track for a fee, and many people run their own vehicles on the North loop to see what it feels like to be Hans Stuck, if only for 15-20 minutes. But how many of them can take a motorhome round the course in 11 minutes? Heck, that's a pretty decent time for a sports sedan. And how many people lapping in the 11-minute range can do it while two cooks are fixing a meal on the inside range? Only one that we can think of, Sabine Schmitz.
As part of Germany's Top Gear-ish DMotor, Sabine sped around the track in 11 minutes at the wheel of the Colorado, forcing the show to change the gameplan. It would be way too easy for Ms. Schmitz to win this one. Sabine's self-imposed challenge was to lap the 'Ring quicker than the two star chefs inside could finish cooking a meal. The big Karmann-Mobil VW Colorado R-S had its TDI pumped up to 298 hp to push its 2.6 tons. Top speed was a respectable 191 km/h (119 mph). The 11 minutes was far too little time and the g-forces they'd endure too much of a challenge for the chefs, so Sabine was relegated to a 30-year-old Bedford camper with but 55 hp. While the cooks worked on their meal at trackside, Sabine tried to return from her lap before dinner was served. Our German isn't as good as we would like and Google can only translate so well, so we have no idea who won. If you have additional info, please add in the comments below.[Source: MotorVision]
Thanks for the tip, Mirko!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Joe 8:21PM (12/18/2006)
It never says who wins, it leaves that up in the air...
"Werden die Köche ihr Dreigängemenü fertig gekocht haben, bevor Sabine die Nordschleifenrunde beendet hat? Oder wird alles im Chaos versinken?"
Will the Cooks cook their three course meal before Sabine rounds the Nordsschleifenrunde? Or will everything sink into Chaos?
CLOSURE WE NEED CLOSURE!!!
Reply
Michael Karesh 8:46PM (12/18/2006)
Back in November, 1998, Britain's Car magazine set a caravan (small trailer) towing record by hitching one to a Dodge Viper provided by Chrysler. Took a number of runs to get it to 127.8 mph. Very humorous article.
Reply
Eric L. 9:46PM (12/18/2006)
I didn't see any reference to the 298hp VW Camper lapping in 11 minutes. I thought that was what Clarkson was trying to do in a diesel S-type on Top Gear. Schmitz later lapped the same track in a little over 11 minutes in a Ford Transit.
It sounded like the 55hp van in this article took twice as long as the track record of ~7 minutes, or around 14 minutes, to lap the ring.
Reply
chewy 1:48AM (12/19/2006)
Video please. The orange beast looks nice.
Reply
Michael Cicconi 2:30AM (12/19/2006)
Top Gear featured Sabine when they brought some car to the 'Ring (I can't remember which car specifically.) Clarkson got around in a little over 10 minutes, and Sabine told him she "could do that in a van". She promptly did.
Check www.finalgear.com for the ep.
Reply
Mirko 6:53AM (12/19/2006)
Sabine did it in a Ford Transit before in 10:08, compared to Clarkson's 9:59 in the Jaguar. So she didn't quite make it.
That was old news though. This is more impressive. Look at the pictures of the motorhome lifting both inner wheels in all the fast corners...
Reply
Arjan Brons 2:37PM (12/19/2006)
Sabine did it in a normal diesel Ford Transit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE6Afb1qSC4&mode=related&search=
Reply