An experience both terrifying and utterly glorious
There was a time last year when I thought I would have to leave Top Gear and switch jobs. It wasn’t a situation I wanted to be in, but it was where fate led me. I felt sad. Listening to “Jessica” by the Allman Brothers would almost move me to tears. My time in Top Gear was flashing before my eyes—shoots, events, drives, friends, core memories.
Yet the more things change, the more they remain the same. A brand arrives, a new car is launched, events are attended, trips are arranged. Cover, eat, drive, write, repeat. When a foreign assignment lands in my inbox, I don’t ask for dibs , and we decide as a team who is the best to go for a particular trip. These trips are always good experiences, but I want to share these experiences with the younger members of my team. Because, well, I’ve already done most of them.
A brief history lesson on the N badge. Years ago the Koreans decided they wanted to join the performance game. But they didn’t do it half-heartedly. So they poached someone from another company deep in the motorsport business—another company that went by a single letter. And to show how serious they were, Hyundai called their performance division ’N’, for Namyang and for Nurburgring.
Before we did the actual drive, we did a practice lap. We followed our German instructor in the lead car, and five Hyundai i30Ns trailed him. I was in the fourth car. It was a relatively languid pace as the course was explained to us. My mind was distracted with the beauty of the track. It was a lovely sunny day, and the forest surrounding the track was lush with green. I noticed how smooth the roads were, with no potholes, ruts or broken asphalt.
One challenge of driving on the ’Ring is how so many things look the same to the uninitiated. And you start to see the challenge of making good time here: You have to memorize and study the ’Ring, and anticipate what the next turns will be. You have to think so far ahead, and still drive at the limit.By the time we hit brunnchen we were about 75% through the track.
Hyundai Nurburgring I30n Hyundai Nurburgring Ioniq 5 N
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