Member stories

The winter break is over, I finally want to drive again, and right away Nordschleife, so that the high expectations finally come true. For my 2023 season start, I had again reserved a race-ready BMW 325i (RCN car) from Team Hoffmann. Oh, there was something about the weather.

The past year has been an exciting journey through various Pistenclub events for our family and our cars. In this review, Jürgen (our father), Jonas (my brother) and I, Dominik, want to take you through how these events have affected us personally and as a family.

On 4 August, the time had finally come again. Trackday on the Nordschleife for the first time this year. A late start to the season, but the new car still had to be run in. So many things were new: new car, first trackday on the Nordschleife after a year and also the first time organised by the Pistenclub.

Heinz Heutschi spent seven years building and developing the VW Golf R20 TTC. The following three years, car and driver have mastered various limits. A long-term report with ups and downs on ten years of club membership.

One December evening over sushi and Japanese beer, the decision was made for a trackday in Belgium. GT3 colleagues Marc-André and Manoj put their calendars on top of each other, pondered over the past season and quickly came to an agreement. They have to visit the "men's spa" at Spa-Francorchamps with the Pistenclub.

Some things in life you do for the first time. But in 2023, Peter and Isabell had such an experience several times with the Pistenclub. Isabell had resolved to drive the 911 actively as well. After the winter drift training in Austria, they went on a short holiday to Tuscany in April - including a trackday in Mugello.

The pandemic is still not quite over, the economy is weakening - but hey, on the other hand there are personal and private highlights, crises overcome - and some trackdays. More than ever before for me. And that's mainly thanks to the Pistenclub and the great range of events.

It's June 2022, and an upcoming tyre change took me and my Spyder to the Bilster Berg, to Uwe Düchting from Classic & Speed to be precise. But why drive all the way from Hanover to Bilster Berg to have new tyres fitted?

After numerous trackdays in the Mini Cooper Challenge, Petra Marschner and Stefan Ullrich added a Porsche Cayman to their fleet. They promptly took the new sports machine on the road - to Mugello and the Circuit Tazio Nuvolari.

First there were the red shoes, a birthday present for my sweetheart, then came Corona, then nothing for a long time. Until the beginning of April, on a sunny Sunday, south of Milan. Petra is finally allowed to step on the gas on the Circuito Tazio Nuvolari.

After several more or less fast laps on the Nordschleife, we want more for 2022: For Christmas, we will treat ourselves to membership of the Pistenclub. As a preliminary step to a few trackdays, we want to get to know the physical possibilities and limits of our vehicles at relaxed speeds during winter drift training in Muhr.

For quite some time now, the automotive industry has been very successfully producing vehicles with very effective and assistance systems that ensure safe driving. But there are drivers with such vehicles who turn off precisely these systems to make driving particularly challenging.