A fun track day at the Nurbiugring Nordschleife circuit turned into a nightmare for eight drivers last Sunday, after they entered a 50 kph construction zone. Yes, that got my attention too -- a 30 mph zone on the world's fastest-and-most-famous "anybody can run" racetrack? I'm trying to imagine just HOW big a flashing warning sign might be to urge you to reduce speed by 100 mph, or so.
The vehicles involved in the crash included a BMW E30 3-Series, a BMW E36 3-Series, a BMW E92 M3, a Chevrolet Corvette Z06, a pair of Vauxhall VX220 / Opel Speedster roadsters, a Porsche 911 (964 series) and the official BMW M3 'Ring Taxi. The fact that the 'Ring taxi was involved is fascinating. You'd think somebody would have told a regular attendee about the repair work. And on a Sunday too.
According to a police report, the drivers came from several European countries, while the accident apparently took place in two phases.
The first crash happened at a construction zone on the Bergwerk stretch, where the speed limit was set at 50km/h (31mph). One of the drivers failed to reduce speed and slammed into a vehicle in front of him then slid into the grass and came back onto the track where he crashed with two more vehicles. Moments after three more cars entered the scene and slowed down, but not before they were hit from behind by the BMW M3 sedan 'Ring Taxi.
The Adenau police said that as a result of the accident, one driver was seriously hurt while two more suffered minor injuries. Aside from one vehicle, the police said that the rest of the cars were "severely damaged and no longer roadworthy". —Paul Duchene
