Page 101 - Cool Britannia

This deep dive into the fascinating history of ‘The Ring’ is brought to you by renowned director Hannes M. Schalle, he of ‘Lauda – The Untold Story’ fame. Built in 1925, the 15.5 mile Nürburg Ring remains the benchmark of performance for racers and manufacturers even today. The lap record for a licensed car, currently held by Porsche’s 918 Spyder at 6min 57sec, is the target and temptation, for every new supercar and for every driver, both professional and amateur. Twisting like a serpent through the dense forest of Eifel, the ‘Ring is a deadly beast... BBC’s Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson reported that “over the years this track has claimed more than 200 lives”. It was closed to Formula 1 in 1976 due to Niki Lauda’s near fatal crash and is still demanding in 2015. The Nürburg Ring, worshipped by motor racers cares nothing for its pilgrims, whether they are speed demons or legends of the sport. For the ‘Ring has dealt death or terrible injuries indiscriminately to those who have the audacity to try and conquer it. Mythical and deadly, the Nürburg Ring was best described with awe and respect by one racing legend who took on the challenge and lived to tell the tale, Sir Jackie Stewart... he called it The Green Hell. Connected to racing champions like Juan Manuel Fangio, Alberto Ascari, Rudolf Caracciola, Tazio Novulari, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, and todays racers like Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton as well as the legendary automobile companies like Mercedes and their Silver Arrows, Audi, Porsche, Aston Martin, and others.The Green Hell reveals and explores this unique relationship between Man, Machine and Nature with brand new material flmed in stunning 4k. The flm showcases exclusive interviews and revealing portraits of motor racing legends from both past and present; it follows the story of three great motor sport journalists, who happened to grow up around the Ring; follow private adventurers; the fastest hyper-cars of today and... it will reveal priceless unseen footage from motor sport’s golden age from the 1920’s on. And if Green Hell has wet your appetite ahead of the F1 season then currently in production are Monaco GP and Mille Miglia offerings, later this year Silverstone and Le Mans, and Indy 500 in 2018/19. Here at Paddock Life we share the passion for Motorsport that Hannes and the team at Wentworth/Moonlake have poured into these flms by the bucket load and look forward to the next in the series.101