The perfect Father's day present - A couple of laps at the green hell

[jai-uno-t]

What's a one year old girl to get for her dad? In return, how does a dad pique his daughters intrest in the motorsport he enjoys so much? The answer came to me a couple of weeks ago, while we were on a beach in western wales, I'm free the following weekend, the Nurburgring is open both saturday and sunday, put it all together, and a few days later, we (me, wifey and baby Misha in the back), are burning across northern Europe, on a mission, 48 hours North Loop raid!

Saturday was looking a bit grim, the weather in the Eiffel region was cold, wet and blowy. Not the place to take a six seater daddy wagon onto a track, regardless we hit the tarmac:



entry to the mini karrussell, i had tip toed round, somewhere in the twenty minute region. Misha remained unimpressed, and slept through the whole thing. Cheers honey.

A quiet night in, the usual ring antics of imbibing vast quantitie of fantastic weiss bier were off the menu. So to Sunday, and amazingly, the sun came out, the air cleared, and during the course of breakfast it only got better. So we wandered up to the main entrance, misha and mum got to try the new F10 M5 on for size


we looked at the track rules

misha obviously thought they did not apply to her

after a mass of cars heading out, we picked a quiet moment, and ventured out

again, she slept through the whole lap, worry was looming large

for the next lap, mum stepped up to the crease


after a bit of nervousness


she started to hit a few lines, carve a few corners

and have a little fun, sure was a lot harder than she initially thought, but i think the bug may have bitten a touch

unfortunately there were no photos of my final lap, but rest assured, looking in the second "baby" mirror, she was definately awake all the way through, leaning forward intently looking at everything i was doing, something she now does everytime i have driven her anywhere

and so we came to the end of our short stay,

we watched a few runners and riders blat out on the start straight, the noise, smell, atmosphere seemed to fascinate her, constantly looking about, waving and smiling at everyone.


perfect end to a perfect fathers day, cheers munchkin! do it again next year?!

[DicKy]

@jai-uno-t. Almost forgot about your little Fiat MPV or should i say mini-MPV.
Should say that was a good Father's day, maybe when your daughter gets bigger and older , she may surprise you by a track day in a Ferrari some Father's day down the line.
Hope you and your wifey had a fun day.
p.s- wouldn't it have been more fun if you brought along the Uno?

[jai-uno-t]

The Uno is currently away having a major service, overhaul and various bit of work done on her for the annual MOT. Besides, not really a suitable car for the 1000 mile roundtrip, it's a fun little car, but it's too small to carry all three of us, and the bits you need for a little one, has almost no safety features (airbags, crumple zones, abs, esp, side impact, etc), and is rather like being stuck in a washing machine, on a heavy spin cycle.

As for the future, my friends are already planning for her fifth birthday, and a junior kart build, wifey wants a doctor, I point to the Dr Jonathon Palmer experience, she remains unconvinced.

[revintup]

Now that MPV is the ugliest thing that i have ever set my eyes on.

Having said that I might have bought it if it was on sale in India. Just look at the huge windows and the sense of space of the cabin. Definitely the thing for my claustrophobic Mom and sis.

Coming to the occasion, what a great way to spend a day. Would have loved to have a go in my ol' swift and my current city. Just have a feeling that i would have enjoyed the swift more even with the Honda packing the vtec.

[jai-uno-t]

Originally Posted by revintup

Now that MPV is the ugliest thing that i have ever set my eyes on.

you've never seen a chevy cruze? or a rexton? a tata safari....there's far worse out there with absolutely no redeeming features....

besides for £1200, unbeatable.

the mrs, who i a little shorter than me, likes the high driver seat, like you would get in a suv, those huge windows, make a surpisingly small car easy to place and park. yes, the suspension is soft, but makes it very compliant, and on an early trip to the ring with a friend, where we really pushed on hard, the fiat soaked up a lot of movement before deciding not to play ball.

yes the tipo or uno would have been the default cvhoice, had it just been me and wifey, but with misha, the space and comfort was def needed, and anyway, when you roll into a carpark full of the same old porsches, audis, bmws and mercs, the fiat definately turned heads and drew comment, more positive trhan not

[Off Roadie]

Wow that's a first.
Lovely way to spend fathers day, hats off.
The Multipla has love it or hate it looks, somehow I love it and it's bloody intelligently designed on the inside.