This is what you pay if you crash at the Nürburgring
Nürburgring Nordschleife
With 73 curves, over 300 meters of elevation change and a distance of 20.8 kilometers, the Nürburgring Nordschleife may call itself the longest circuit in the world. Not only experienced drivers are allowed to push a car to the limit here, you are also welcome here without any track experience. With your own car even. In fact, you may also enter the circuit with a motorcycle, camper or bus during the so-called Touristenfahrten. Indeed, the Nürburgring Nordschleife is officially a public road. For 25 to 30 euros you can buy a ticket and get access to the circuit. But if you go off the track at high speed, you’ll have to pay a lot more. Topgear.nl found out what you’ll have to pay if you crash at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 2022.
What about liability?
The Nordschleife is often called “The Green Hell” because it is a challenging stretch of asphalt. As a result, things go wrong there on a regular basis. Because the Nürburgring is considered a toll road with no speed limit, insurers often do not pay out if things go wrong. They understand that you don’t come there for a quiet tour ride. So you’re basically driving around uninsured. So if it goes wrong, you have a big (financial) problem. Not only if you make a mistake yourself, but also if you are hit by someone, you are often at a considerable financial loss. Even if someone else gets into trouble because they get off the road due to an oil spill produced by you, you often have to patch up. So popping around ‘the ring’ with an old, cheap barrel can still lead to a hefty bill.
Crashing at the Nürburgring, what does it cost?
Where a ticket for a lap at the Nürburgring costs only a few tens, a crash is different. Some of the costs involved in a crash at the Nürburgring include personnel to repair things and a safteycar to enter the track. The cost of having the repair staff come onto the track – without having done anything yet – is already 300 euros. You also pay a certain amount for each meter of guardrail that you destroy. If a piece of guardrail needs to be completely replaced, you can easily spend 90 euros per meter. In the case of a serious crash, sometimes even the entire track has to be closed and you get a hefty bill for that too.
If you can’t drive off with your car anymore, due to a crash or because your car just broke down, you may transfer 550 euros for a tow truck. Which, by the way, doesn’t drag you home, but to the entrance of the track. From there, you may even arrange for you and your car to get home. So a crash on the Nordschleife is quickly going to cost you several thousand euros, depending on the damage to the track. Something to think about before you crawl out from behind the racing simulator and set course for the Eifel.
The costs at a glance:
| Cost | Price in Euros |
| Setting up roadworks | 225 |
| Removal of damaged guardrail (per meter) | 26 |
| New guardrail+ placement (per meter) | 65 |
| Safety car (per half hour) | 63 |
| Cost of car towing | 285 |
| Hourly wage staff | 110 |