European motorsports vacation advice

[spindoc]

I'm an American planning a European motorsports vacation this summer, starting with a driving school at the Nurburgring (organized by BMWCCA) Aug. 13-15 and ending with the Belgian Grand Prix Sept. 1. I'm looking for any suggestions for motorsport-related activities to do in between these two activities, like track days, great driving roads, kart tracks, museums, bookstores, etc. Any ideas would be appreciated.

[Racer]

Quote:

Originally posted by spindoc
I'm an American planning a European motorsports vacation this summer, starting with a driving school at the Nurburgring (organized by BMWCCA) Aug. 13-15 and ending with the Belgian Grand Prix Sept. 1. I'm looking for any suggestions for motorsport-related activities to do in between these two activities, like track days, great driving roads, kart tracks, museums, bookstores, etc. Any ideas would be appreciated.

The John Cooper Challenge will be at Bovingdon on 18th Aug -
UK Track days - there are numerous sites but a good starting point is Bookatrack
I'll work on Museums and Bookstores a bit!

[spindoc]

Thanks for your response. I appreciate the heads-up on the John Cooper Challenge 8/18 (is that in Wareham, a little west of Southampton?). That'd be a blast to attend. Bookatrack has an event the day before at Hethel (is this the Lotus test track?). The same weekend, Autotrack has a two-day event at Le Mans. Decisions, decisions!

The only other track days I've found so far are with Easytrack at Oulton Park on Wed. 8/21, and with Bookatrack at Anglesley on Fri. 8/30. I've sent an inquiry to Octagon Motorsports re: events at Silverstone, Brands Hatch, etc.

I've been compiling websites with great drives in the UK and on the continent, likewise for museums, and would also like to visit Monaco and Ferrari country, maybe even drive a little bit of the Mille Miglia route.

Any other info, tips or suggestions you could provide would be great. I haven't looked into car rental yet; I wonder if there are Minis available for hire (seems to me there was a topic on Mini2 about that some time back). Thanks again.

[Racer]

Quote:

Originally posted by spindoc
Thanks for your response. I appreciate the heads-up on the John Cooper Challenge 8/18 (is that in Wareham, a little west of Southampton?). That'd be a blast to attend.

No it's Bovingdon which is Buckinghamshire North West of London

Quote:

Bookatrack has an event the day before at Hethel (is this the Lotus test track?).

Yep has been known - why not try to visit Snetterton with one of the other track day companies whilst your there try circuit driver or easy track

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and would also like to visit Monaco and Ferrari country, maybe even drive a little bit of the Mille Miglia route.

Monaco is fabulous but for full effect you need to be there at GP weekend - 24 Hour partying and sooo many Ferraris that the become boring (unimaginable but true)

[ADO15]

first thing I would suggest is that you prolong your vacation with 1 week so you can make the Revival Meeting at Goodwood. The Revival Meeting is such a special historic event. If there is one single event I had to suggest - Goodwood would be it. You wont expecrience an atmosphere like that anywhere in the world today - unless you happen to have a time machine that can take you back to the fities or sixties. See http://www.goodwood.co.uk for more information.

As for other things to do:
Visit the museum at the Nurburgring and drive the track.
If you can make it, I would also suggest the museum at Le Mans or the Donington collection.

Also if you're a true racefan, get over to the UK and visit as many club-circuits and events as you can. Brands Hatch, Oulton Park and Donington would top my list. Again - if you're a real enthusiast, what is racing really dont matter much as those brits will race anything - hard.
A few things I would look for would be the Mini Miglia seires, the F3-championship, the BOSS-series (does that still exsist btw?), special saloon, the TVR Tuscans as well as more or less any kind of historic racing...

BTW, I just remembered - if you get a chance go watch the "Thoroughbred Grand Prix Championship" - F1's from the 70's and 80's... The "TGP" race at the Nurburgring on the 11th of Aug.

Hope this helps.

[ADO15]

Just found this.... it's should be helpful for you...



2002 International Sporting Calendar

[Racer]

Quote:

Originally posted by ADO15
A few things I would look for would be the Mini Miglia seires, the F3-championship, the BOSS-series (does that still exsist btw?), special saloon, the TVR Tuscans as well as more or less any kind of historic racing...

Miglia and Tuscans normally race in same event so you should be lucky - I did some support work for Mini7 (Miglias little brother) and the Miglias really are great fun to watch at somewhere like Brands

[spindoc]

Thanks a lot, guys. Our itinerary is filling up in a hurry!