Not all names on the Nürburgring Nordschleife should be taken too literally. Otherwise, the Brünnchen bend would be the perfect place to have a meal that's too early for lunch but too late for breakfast. Flugplatz indeed. Many people think that this section is called that because very fast cars take off there. And it also feels that way with slower cars.
But you should take this name of the circuit a lot more literally. The circuit runs close to a town called Quiddelbach, which is why the section before Flugplatz is called Quiddelbacher Höhe. Even before the construction of the circuit in the 1920s, there was an airfield for gliders near Quiddelbach – and Flugplatz, which indeed means airfield in German, is named after it.
Normal cars hardly jump at Flugplatz
Average cars have to go very fast at Flugplatz if they really want to leave the ground. You sometimes see videos on social media where the cars are flying, but these are often images from games. Fortunately, with the aerodynamics, weight and speed of a normal car, you don't have to worry about this much.
In 2015 a car really came loose from the ground and unfortunately with disastrous consequences. It was Jann Mardenborough's Nissan GT-R Nismo during a VLN race. When Mardenborough comes over the bump, the nose of the Nissan shoots into the air. The car makes a backflip, as it were. The car then flies over the fence at high speed. One spectator is killed in the crash.
You can fly elsewhere on the Nordschleife
When you see a photo of a jumping car at the Nürburgring, it is usually not at Flugplatz, but at Pflanzgarten. This is a section that is a bit further on, after the so-called YouTube bend. Before this section you drive downhill for a bit where you can gain a lot of speed, allowing you to get off the ground even with less powerful cars. Then you have to fully anchor, because just after the jumping moment there is a bend to the right. Will you read this carefully again before you drive there yourself?
#Flugplatz #Nürburgring #called #cars #loose #real #reason