A ride around the legendary Nürburgring race circuit in Germany is the ultimate ambition for many bikers, akin to a lap of the Isle of Man’s Mountain Course, but not anymore. The 12.9-mile circuit, a mix of race track and public roads, has been open to all traffic (for a fee) on ‘Touristenfahrten’ (‘tourist days’), which would see bikes and cars circulating with no speed limits. Inevitably, there have been crashes, some of them fatal.

The organisers have now banned bikes from these open days on safety grounds, citing the mixing of cars, bikes and even buses, with some local experts in fast cars coming up behind tourists on a sightseeing meander. In a statement, the circuit said: “The differing driving dynamics of two-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles can lead to misunderstandings, particularly for motorcyclists. To enhance safety for all road users, we will implement strict separation between cars and motorcycles in the future.” A few organised race schools and bike track days will be allowed in the future, but not the free for all Touristenfahrten.

Jim Freeman, chair of the BMF said, “This is one of those things which one wonders that it didn’t happen decades ago. I’ve talked to track day car enthusiasts who can’t quite get their heads around the way that bikes use the track space differently, that bikes take different lines around corners and accelerate and decelerate at different places. I’d hope that they could devise some way of having differing session times for each group, either on different days or within days. Anything else smacks of deliberate discrimination. The history of the ‘ring is not solely a 4 wheeled tale.”

Read the full press release here

Written by Peter Henshaw

Top image courtesy of Dante Juhasz – Pexels