Nick’s patience for the Nordschleife lap time war is running out

When we began negotiations with McLaren about joining the P1 test team at the Ring, it was expected that the ultimate lap time would be achieved and revealed in time for this issue. At the last minute, I got a text from McLaren that read: ‘I have a conclusion on the Ring question. And not sure if you’re going to like it.’ A few minutes later, I was on the phone to Woking.

During the conversation that followed, it was explained that (spoiler alert!) the P1’s lap time would never be revealed and that the official line was that McLaren ‘had achieved its objective of a sub-seven minute lap of the Nordschleife’. My first feeling was disappointment because I’m sure many of you will be expecting the time, and we can’t give it, but my second feeling was relief. Here’s why…

I couldn’t give a monkey’s about the cult of the Nordschleife lap time. Never have. The chase for a notable lap time has become a form of motorsport in itself, but a motorsport without a governing body, without appropriate safety measures, without independent adjudicators, and a motorsport that is governed by the ‘competitors’ themselves. The result is a pissing contest, a trivialising of the Ring’s history and a chase for lap times that puts lives at risk.

And for what? A marketing message? Well, this week you’re able to find out what two prominent supercar customers think of the ‘allure’ of the Nürburgring lap time and the (lack of) effect it has when signing a cheque for the best part of £1million.

Dickie Meaden has gone into this in more detail in his excellent column – a man who I trust more than any other to deliver an opinion on the Green Hell. It is the most honest, sensible, measured piece about the Nordschleife I’ve ever read.

McLaren may be pilloried for not announcing a lap time and you may think that it has dodged the bullet because it couldn’t beat Porsche. Either way, I’m glad we can put this to bed: had McLaren announced a quicker time there’s no doubt that everyone and his brother would attempt to beat it. But how many of those would exercise the same duty of care as McLaren or Porsche? After Sean Edwards’ death, and evo columnist Dario Franchitti’s terrifying accident last month, the world of performance motoring – and the Nordschleife – does not need any more tragedy or any more controversy.

The Green Hell’s role in improving driving dynamics and driving pleasure cannot be jeopardised by the chase for even faster lap times. When you feel its true effect on driving, you can really feel it. I had the privilege of experiencing it this month on eCoty. On a particularly tricky left/right/left-over-crest that turned a few other cars inside out, the sublime Aston Martin V12 Vantage S – a car partly developed at the Ring – carved through imperiously, leaving an experience of near-perfect chassis behaviour indelibly inked in my memory. That’s the Ring right there. Not three numbers separated by a colon.