A few weeks back, my lovely wife surprised me with tickets to the 2020 Nürburgring 24 hour race. To say I was excited is an understatement, especially when the physical tickets arrived in the mail last week. That was the moment when it really became real for me. I could see the holographic Nürburgring logo up in the corner of the ticket. And the GranTurismo logo was printed on there along with other various sponsor logos. Holy crap, this was really happening!
But then, in the next few days, things got a little worrying. Events were being canceled left and right. It didn’t really seem like the right time to post on social media about the tickets. The public seemed to go into a bit of a panic that week. People were stocking up on water, toilet paper, canned food, and gasoline. And with good reason, as the leadership’s response here in the states has been slow and unpredictable.
Now, we’re stuck in a strange place where the Nürburgring hasn’t called the race off yet, but there’s now a travel ban on anyone from Europe. The ban does not include U.S. citizens or permanent residents but it’s not exactly reassuring either. Update: Since posting, Nürburgring rescheduled the 24 for September, but we’re probably still not going to be able to leave the country safely yet.
We have planned to fly into London for a layover long enough to see the city, then fly on to Düsseldorf where I could make a visit to the Classic Remise, an old locomotive roundhouse that houses classic cars. From there, we’d drive to the ‘Ring and make a trip to Womelsdorf, where my family name is from. Now, we’re not sure if it’s all getting canceled or partially canceled or what. That’s not even taking into account what the health risks might be if the race goes ahead and the plane tickets are honored, depending on how the virus has spread by late May. We’re just kind of in a holding pattern for now.
Next week is Super Sebring. That’s currently still on and I have tickets to attend and photograph there. We’ll be camping out of our new Subaru Crosstrek. I have a little review to post of the Crosstrek soon. Other than that, things are a little up in the air at the moment.
Update (3/12/2020): As of this afternoon, the 12 Hours of Sebring has been postponed. The WEC 1000 Miles of Sebring has also been completely canceled from what I’m seeing.
I haven’t popped the cylinder head out of the Miata yet or had a leakdown test performed yet. Last month I was getting ready to attend the local monthly Miata meet when I noticed steam coming from under the hood. The radiator cap had failed! With that failure along with the heater hose failure, I’ve decided to not drive the car until it’s tested. The cap could have been what originally caused the overheat and the hose to burst, but a hose failing and then the cap could also mean that compression is leaking into the cooling system even though I have not found any evidence of that yet with several block tests. I haven’t had a day off during the week yet when a shop is open that can do the leakdown test, so for now, it sits with the hood open.
So, while I’m feeling great this year, better than I have in a long time, we’ll have to see how the rest of this year shakes out event-wise. In the grand scheme of things, I am grateful that my wife and I are healthy and still employed. The odds are good that we can avoid this illness. This seemed like a good time for an update, so here it is. Until next time, please stay safe.