CORTES: Notes from the Road in Europe

Automotive Lifestyle

CORTES: Notes from the Road in Europe

Thoughts, impressions and assorted ramblings generated by a 3,000-mile, 15-day trek around Europe by RACER's Cassio Cortes...

Kevin Krefting | Posted November 21, 2007 Amsterdam, Holland

From a coffee shop in Amsterdam comes this random selection of thoughts, impressions and assorted ramblings generated by a 3,000-mile, 15-day trek around Europe:

- Get off your lazy butt and go drive at the Nurburgring Nordschleife. I mean, immediately. Go. Do. It. Right. Now. You'll never get a better driving experience in your life. (Here, see how mine went).
%s
- When you get there, don't try and be a Gran Turismo hero: fork some dough to do a driving school program. There's no way a novice can learn even the basics of Nordschleife driving without professional help. Plus, if you opt, like I did, for Ron Simons' 75Experience course, you'll most likely get the sole opportunity of your lifetime to drive the only ugly Alfa Romeo ever made.

- Speaking of Alfa, while much is said of the Milan marque's impending return to the USA, a comeback by Renault would also be welcome news for American car fans. Makers of some of the coolest-looking oddball models on the road today, the French company could perhaps make good use of the fact it owns Nissan and sell selected performance models exploring its enhanced profile in the U.S., courtesy of two recent Formula 1 championships. A suggestion: send stateside a couple hundred units of the 230-hp Megane Coupe Renault F1 Team. Please.

- The trek from Paris to Le Mans is definitely worth the detour. Classic Circuit La Sarthe sections like the Mulsanne straight and the Arnage corner are regular public roads for the majority of the year, even providing curbs that can be attacked with gusto in the case of the latter. But if the local nightlife is anything to go by, Sebastien Bourdais' teenage years must have been dreadfully boring.

Page 1 of 3

12 3