The so-called Holy Land of Speed is that even the Ferris wheel rotates faster than others

For fans, the Nürburgring needs no introduction. But in June this year, the track was only the second time to host the WTCR World Touring Car Cup. For TCR cars, this is the first time they have been tested by the green hell.

Since the merger of WTCC and TCR in 2018, the WTCR World Touring Car Cup has become the top Touring Car event under the FIA system. However, from the perspective of competing vehicles, it is also a relatively people-friendly event. Racing cars are generally based on compact cars, and the unit price is about 80-1 million RMB. Lynk & Co Cyan Racing, which started competing this year, ranked second in team points before the German race.

Don’t be too old, it’s all treasure

Lynk & Co’s driver lineup is quite luxurious, with four drivers winning eight championships: three-time WTCC Driver’s Championship British veteran Andy Priot (44), 2017 WTCC Driver’s Championship Swedish driver Ted Bjork (38), four-time WTCC Driver’s Championship French veteran Ivan Muller (49), and Muller’s nephew Jan Ehracher (23). You might think the drivers are too old? In fact, this is one of the characteristics of the Touring Car Race. Gabriele Tarquini (I like to translate his last name as "big girl"), who is now 57 years old for the team, also won the WTCR Driver’s Championship last year, breaking his own record for the oldest world championship under the FIA system.

Its brain-burning qualifying system

How is the starting order of WTCR determined? Of course it is related to qualifying, but it is very different from the qualifying system. WTCR will have two rounds of qualifying and three rounds of qualifying on a weekend. The starting order of the first round of qualifying is determined by the ranking of the first round of qualifying; while the first round of qualifying only lasts 30 minutes, and the top 5 of the first round of qualifying will receive 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 points respectively.

The second round of qualifying will be divided into three sections, and the top 12 in the first section of qualifying will enter the second section. And the tenth place in the second section of qualifying will start from the pole position in the second round of qualifying, and the first place in the second section of qualifying will start from the tenth place in the second round of qualifying. That is, the top 10 of the 12 drivers in this section start with a flashback. Then you may think that the second drivers in the second round of qualifying will not run at all, and everyone is aiming for the 10th position to pinch the speed? No. Because only the top 5 in the second section of the second round can enter the third section of qualifying in the second round, and the top 5 in the third section of qualifying can get 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 points respectively. In the third qualifying session of the second round, each driver ran only one timing lap, and the order of appearance was selected by the driver who ranked first in the previous qualifying session.

Overall, the FIA developed this complex qualifying system in order to avoid generating waste time in qualifying, while also allowing more overtaking in the race and increasing the spectator’s appeal.

What the hell is BoP?

Lynk & Co encountered some difficulties in the German race. Although he won some points, he did not score amazing results. The pace of qualifying was disrupted by some accidents, and there were other accidents in the three rounds of the race. But the important factor that made Lynk & Co’s car difficult to play this weekend was BoP. BoP is short for Balance of Performance, and the purpose is to weaken the strong car to increase the suspense and spectatorship of the race, so as to avoid dominance.

Not afraid of your jokes, I first learned that there is a BoP in the touring car race because of my experience as a keyboard warrior more than ten years ago. When I was still in high school, I came into contact with the racing simulation game WTCC2006 (I liked to use Prio’s car at that time). After using the mouse to control the direction, I finally practiced my skills and finally reached the level of competing with the professional difficulty AI. But running in season mode, there are always a few races where my car can’t run a good lap no matter what. Obviously, I can still take pole position and lead the race at the last stop. I took a closer look at my car marked "+ xxkg" on the score list. When a race doesn’t run well, the "xx" value of the next race will decrease, and the value of the next race that runs well will increase again until an upper limit. In this way, I seem to understand that in the trailer race, weight gain will limit the performance of strong cars to increase the suspense of the race.

So what is the situation of performance balance in WTCR races today? The current way to balance the performance of a car is to increase the weight and limit the output of the engine. The weight gain is divided into two types, one is BoP Weight (performance balance weight or base weight), which is determined by the FIA according to the performance of the vehicle before the start of the season; the other is Compensation Weight (compensation weight), which is a counterweight for the performance of the driver. According to the driver’s performance, each third race will be adjusted on a rolling basis according to the driver’s performance in the previous two races (the counterweight is increased for good results, and the counterweight is reduced for weak ones). Combining these two weights, Lynk & Co’s car is still one of the heaviest cars in Germany, and it also receives a 97.5% power output limit. The drivers of Lynk & Co looked back after the race and said that in fact, the performance of the 03 car in the corners was still very good, but it was very bad on the high-speed long straight at the back of the Nürburgring North Ring.

Real hardcore fans

An old man stood up from the stands, but seemed to have some leg trouble. He struggled to climb the steps, but for a normal person, only three or five steps was like a big mountain to him. At this time, two younger fans next to him stepped forward to help him climb the steps.

As I watched it, I asked myself: When I’m that old, will I ever see a racing car? No. At least I can’t imagine it yet. I love racing, but I’m not hardcore enough yet.

Even the ferris wheel spins faster than others

The Nürburgring has so many things to give you time to play outside of the race. I first went to experience the Ferris wheel, which is not very high but turns quite fast. So it can’t roll up and down like some other Ferris wheels. It can only be used for visitors to get up and down after it has stopped. On the Ferris wheel you can see the entire paddock, but only a small part of the track can be seen because the track is so long.

There are also e-sports activities in the fan trade area. Don’t look at them as just virtual racing cars, the drivers of each team are very professional. Competitors from all over the world come together, some are represented, and some are also represented by some racing-related organizations. If you can see it, you can also experience it on the machine next to you, using the GT series. Opposite the GT is the Raceroom racing simulation area, where there are more emulators, which can be experienced for 5 euros.

In fact, the trade area can also be called the "chopping area", because it is easy to buy and buy. All kinds of racing accessories, souvenirs, racing equipment, models…

In fact, it is highly recommended to visit the track museum. I went there last year. After visiting there, you will definitely have a better understanding of this track. It is also worth visiting because their cars are in quite good condition. And there are basically no special dishes for those who can come here to play, so even a play-as-you-go experience will not be too troubled by slow cars blocking the way. Only this time I didn’t have time to go in and play because of time constraints.

It was a bit of a pity that I didn’t stay to watch the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring after the WTCR race, but I’ll be back, back to a place that has been both heaven and hell for drivers and fans.