Were in the car park along with about 30 others ,929 has some serious company here - i count 2 aventadors a 458 ferrari in matt black all stealth bomber looking some high end Amg tuning house mercs along with a cpl of gullwings,Porsches everywhere ,stripped out gts3s and every type of 911s 2 m5 bmw pull in these are 2 driving instructors from the spa francomchamps track - everybody is parked up everybody is nervous some putting crash helmets on some not - the two professional drivers are pulling on fireproof overall ,gloves and full face helmets - they know whats about to happen. i opt to go helmetless as i think il need all of my vision - a klaxon goes the track is declared wet - we laugh but its a scared laugh ,suddenly were in the que and at the barrier - i have a radical in front of me and aston beside me ,the barrier goes up and were off -a short chicane to slow us down a bit and were off properly - its so slippery, a gt3 comes past but little else - i try to tag onto his rear end but all of a sudden 300bhp isnt enough , were swallowed up by some mercs and mix it a bit ,crazy downhill corners with sharp turns and no runoffs understeer is king today - were half way round and havent died - yes! this is great -suddenly a merc 500 loses it in front of me and in a second hes in the barrier taking out his entire back end and a pile of armco we all come of the gas as everybody knows it could easily have been them i make a few scary mistakes but the 4 wheel drive pulls me out of it (just) were on the straight i open here up and were at the end of the lap and into the pits- i mistake a marshalls instructions and get the look of death - she points to her eyes saying look look - i nod sheepishly and pull into the carpark and rejoin the queue - now its daughter emmas turn - we pull down to the queue again and the same marshall seeing emma is now driving(the only girl driver there) gives her a big thumbs up and puts her to the barrier - she has a 500 shelby mustang in the other lane beside her - were of and on it quickly - she got talent this girl - the shelby driver values his life or his car highly and soon is nowhere - 500 plus bhp and rear wheel drive are way to much in the wet ,now were are the banked bit of the circuit deep in and flat out of it on boost like a catapult this is insane - we come to the merc crash the driver is sitting on the armco with his head in his hands his wifes consoling him but its no use hes killed it and he knows it - were in a crazy 2nd gear 3 rd gear section up and down on the throttle of the throttle this is crazy we come come up behind a minibus driven by 2 russians flat out - their wives are in the back filming themselves making a cup of tea - they are clearly insane and we blast past - were on the straight again emma opens up 929 and were doing serious speed - were at the end weve lived and the same scary marshall gives emma a two handed thumbs up - we pull off track and daughter lets a gt40 come in front of her - the driver gives her a big smile and a wave - its that kinda place.




And what of 929? - well 1251 miles across 4 countries some of it at 100mph cruising on the autobahns in the middle lane ( the fast lane is for the real quick stuff) some of it lost in amsterdam getting overtaken by pretty girls on pushbikes - apart from me warping a disc at the ring (how cool is that)she never missed a beat - good car that.

Oh and it turns out the old girl is a bit of a racer

Emma,Iain (and 929) - Nurburgringers.