Nurburgring helmets?
Discussion
I'm heading over for the first time in May, just wondering if you guys wear helmets? whether it is recommended or even allowed with it technically being a public road. Not sure if I'll switch over to 'racing mode' unintentially because i've got a lid on 
BTW I won't have the roof off (not that it matters really)
BTW I won't have the roof off (not that it matters really)
You'd be a fool not to wear one, particularly if you own one already.
No rules about helmets and to be fair plenty of people don't but I had to drag a young girl out of a rolled Corrado last October who wasn't wearing a helmet - amazingly she seemed ok but certainly makes you think.
Enjoy your trip, the ring is the most entoxicating place but DO pack your lids.
Cheers
Simon
No rules about helmets and to be fair plenty of people don't but I had to drag a young girl out of a rolled Corrado last October who wasn't wearing a helmet - amazingly she seemed ok but certainly makes you think.
Enjoy your trip, the ring is the most entoxicating place but DO pack your lids.
Cheers
Simon
I wondered the same before I went for the first time a couple of weeks ago & took it with me anyway.
Did my first couple of laps without but after chatting to a few of the 'regulars', came to the simple conclusion that only a fool takes their helmet to the 'ring & doesn't wear it just because not many others are.
Definately, definately wear a helmet & treat it just like a track day (long sleeves, nothing loose etc).
Did my first couple of laps without but after chatting to a few of the 'regulars', came to the simple conclusion that only a fool takes their helmet to the 'ring & doesn't wear it just because not many others are.
Definately, definately wear a helmet & treat it just like a track day (long sleeves, nothing loose etc).
Wore mine the first lap of the ring then took it off, and left it off.
Personal choice but I felt that I was too isolated by wearing the lid.
I felt that the risk was higher when wearing it:
- missing someone approaching fast to overtake
- 'feeling' the circuit
I always wear lids on normal trackdays, but the 'ring is no normal track.
Personal choice but I felt that I was too isolated by wearing the lid.
I felt that the risk was higher when wearing it:
- missing someone approaching fast to overtake
- 'feeling' the circuit
I always wear lids on normal trackdays, but the 'ring is no normal track.
chauffeur said:
Wore mine the first lap of the ring then took it off, and left it off.
Personal choice but I felt that I was too isolated by wearing the lid.
I felt that the risk was higher when wearing it:
- missing someone approaching fast to overtake
- 'feeling' the circuit
I always wear lids on normal trackdays, but the 'ring is no normal track.
Personal choice but I felt that I was too isolated by wearing the lid.
I felt that the risk was higher when wearing it:
- missing someone approaching fast to overtake
- 'feeling' the circuit
I always wear lids on normal trackdays, but the 'ring is no normal track.
That's kind of my thinking. I know I should wear one, but I want to treat the 'ring as a fast B-road where I know nothing is coming the other way, not like a 'real' race track.
I think it is more about my frame of mind, and without the lid I will be in fast-road mode, rather than track mode.
Edited to add: Missing someone faster is my biggest concern, as the rear visibility in my car is pretty poor at best, but with a helmet cutting down my peripheral vision will be non-existant.
Edited by ld1racing on Sunday 25th March 19:07
ld1racing said:
chauffeur said:
Wore mine the first lap of the ring then took it off, and left it off.
Personal choice but I felt that I was too isolated by wearing the lid.
I felt that the risk was higher when wearing it:
- missing someone approaching fast to overtake
- 'feeling' the circuit
I always wear lids on normal trackdays, but the 'ring is no normal track.
Personal choice but I felt that I was too isolated by wearing the lid.
I felt that the risk was higher when wearing it:
- missing someone approaching fast to overtake
- 'feeling' the circuit
I always wear lids on normal trackdays, but the 'ring is no normal track.
That's kind of my thinking. I know I should wear one, but I want to treat the 'ring as a fast B-road where I know nothing is coming the other way, not like a 'real' race track.
I think it is more about my frame of mind, and without the lid I will be in fast-road mode, rather than track mode.
Edited to add: Missing someone faster is my biggest concern, as the rear visibility in my car is pretty poor at best, but with a helmet cutting down my peripheral vision will be non-existant.
Edited by ld1racing on Sunday 25th March 19:07
In which case, if there's a realistic chance of you accidentally turning in on someone either with or without, do you think that having no head protection is wise?
Forget your own driving ability on the ring, its the only circuit in the world where through no fault of your own and without any real warning you could become involed in someone elses accident. Not just in one or two corners but on 60% of the track. Therefore to drive without a lid is plain daft, no mater how slow or fast or great you are, a lid is common sense.
Simon Mason said:
Forget your own driving ability on the ring, its the only circuit in the world where through no fault of your own and without any real warning you could become involed in someone elses accident. Not just in one or two corners but on 60% of the track. Therefore to drive without a lid is plain daft, no mater how slow or fast or great you are, a lid is common sense.
The Only Circuit in the World?
I will buy you a pint next time I see you if you can name even one circuit with more than one competitor on track at any one time where every accident involved only the driver who made the mistake...
jimminy cricket said:
well i'm going in september and i will be wearing a lid!!
its a load of tosh if you think it will cause problems for people overtaking, bikers wear them?
and as people said, they where them on track days
its no different if you ask me?
a lot less run off too!!
its a load of tosh if you think it will cause problems for people overtaking, bikers wear them?
and as people said, they where them on track days
its no different if you ask me?
a lot less run off too!!
Have to pick you up on that one, if you don't mind.
If you've ever spent, say, 5 minutes of a lap sat behind a biker whose tunnel vison is so bad that he has no clue that he is holding up a queue of cars behind him, you'll have wondered if his full-face helmet wasn't contributing to his total lack of comprehension of the world around him.
That's not to suggest that bikers shouldn't wear helmets, of course...
flemke said:
jimminy cricket said:
well i'm going in september and i will be wearing a lid!!
its a load of tosh if you think it will cause problems for people overtaking, bikers wear them?
and as people said, they where them on track days
its no different if you ask me?
a lot less run off too!!
its a load of tosh if you think it will cause problems for people overtaking, bikers wear them?
and as people said, they where them on track days
its no different if you ask me?
a lot less run off too!!
Have to pick you up on that one, if you don't mind.
If you've ever spent, say, 5 minutes of a lap sat behind a biker whose tunnel vison is so bad that he has no clue that he is holding up a queue of cars behind him, you'll have wondered if his full-face helmet wasn't contributing to his total lack of comprehension of the world around him.
That's not to suggest that bikers shouldn't wear helmets, of course...
Erm - nah if you don't look back, it's because you don't look back. Tunnel vision, in this instance really is a state of mind, rather than blinkers. if every time you come out of a corner you attention is sent straight on to the next corner, you could be on the wrong side of a two-way mirror, but you'll never see anything but that corner.
Calorus said:
flemke said:
jimminy cricket said:
well i'm going in september and i will be wearing a lid!!
its a load of tosh if you think it will cause problems for people overtaking, bikers wear them?
and as people said, they where them on track days
its no different if you ask me?
a lot less run off too!!
its a load of tosh if you think it will cause problems for people overtaking, bikers wear them?
and as people said, they where them on track days
its no different if you ask me?
a lot less run off too!!
Have to pick you up on that one, if you don't mind.
If you've ever spent, say, 5 minutes of a lap sat behind a biker whose tunnel vison is so bad that he has no clue that he is holding up a queue of cars behind him, you'll have wondered if his full-face helmet wasn't contributing to his total lack of comprehension of the world around him.
That's not to suggest that bikers shouldn't wear helmets, of course...
Erm - nah if you don't look back, it's because you don't look back. Tunnel vision, in this instance really is a state of mind, rather than blinkers. if every time you come out of a corner you attention is sent straight on to the next corner, you could be on the wrong side of a two-way mirror, but you'll never see anything but that corner.
Sure, if you are wearing a helmet and want to keep track of what's happening to the side and behind you, it's physically possible to do so.
The point was just that a full-face helmet reduces one's peripheral vision and ability to pick up ambient noises, so perceiving what's happening to the side and behind is a bit more difficult. Not wearing a helmet isn't an option on a bike, and anyone who's uncomfortable on the 'ring in a car without a helmet should always wear one, but it does have an influence on one's perception.
I will accept that you couldn't shake the forward fixation of many newcomers to the 'ring if you were to set off a small nuclear weapon behind them.
Or even a large one!
You should always wear a helmet on the Ring....there really shouldn't be any question as to why not.
This is similar to the question of should you wear a race suit on a track day??
The problem with being in a car at high speed is things can go wrong, they may or not be your fault, but in the 8 years Ive been going there Ive seen all manor of accidents, and those wearing lids faired much better than those without.
I went out on a last lap of the day as a passenger in the wet on a slow lap, and the guy spun at Berwerk....it was a left hooker we hit the Armco and my head hit the window.....I was nearly knocked out.
I'm amazed no one has put up a post of "should I play Russian Roulette with a gun that has 10 chambers or 6?" Why wear a seatbelt...youve no intentions of crashing after all!
You should always wear a helmet on the Ring....there really shouldn't be any question as to why not.
This is similar to the question of should you wear a race suit on a track day??
The problem with being in a car at high speed is things can go wrong, they may or not be your fault, but in the 8 years Ive been going there Ive seen all manor of accidents, and those wearing lids faired much better than those without.
I went out on a last lap of the day as a passenger in the wet on a slow lap, and the guy spun at Berwerk....it was a left hooker we hit the Armco and my head hit the window.....I was nearly knocked out.
I'm amazed no one has put up a post of "should I play Russian Roulette with a gun that has 10 chambers or 6?" Why wear a seatbelt...youve no intentions of crashing after all!
I can't believe this is even a discussion.
I didn't wear one for my first trip, but at the time I didn't even own a helmet, and I couldn't find a helmet hire place. I now own my own helmet and always wear it around the ring. Have you ever seen how much a head wound bleeds? And also, if you get a moment chat to any of the marshals at the ring. They've pretty much all got horror stories.
I didn't wear one for my first trip, but at the time I didn't even own a helmet, and I couldn't find a helmet hire place. I now own my own helmet and always wear it around the ring. Have you ever seen how much a head wound bleeds? And also, if you get a moment chat to any of the marshals at the ring. They've pretty much all got horror stories.
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