Detour #19: Nardo Ring, Italy
The are few places in the world where you can legally and safely exceed 200mph. Nardo is one of them.
Now owned by Porsche, its high-speed track is exactly four kilometres in diameter and forms a prefect circle. That equates to 12.566km or 7.8 miles a lap.
Unlike oval raceways the Nardo ring is only gently banked and driving on it is more like a never-ending straight than a long corner. The ‘hands-off’ speed (at which you can release your hand from the steering wheel) is a daunting-sounding 240kmh or 152mph.
Those who are prepared to venture beyond this point of natural balance will discover they can travel seriously swiftly. The fastest speed ever recorded by a car at Nardo is 251mph by Mercedes C1.
Many years ago I got the chance to attend a Lamborghini ‘safety demonstration’ at the legendary track. You can probably guess what that involved…
As I contorted myself through the scissor door of the 6.0, 550bhp Diablo, Giuseppe Greco, the chief executive of Lamborghini, had a quiet word.
“It’s very windy,” he warned. “We have already been out this morning and we would like you to stay below 240km/h. Please.”
I nodded solemnly before slotting the heavy, gated gear lever into first and making a relatively quiet exit from the pit lane. I accelerated gingerly, but even so I was doing 160km/h before I knew it. Because of the sheer size of the track it’s very difficult to gauge speed. By the time I notched up fifth gear I’d already exceeded Greco’s limit. I backed off for a brief moment, but with only three laps on offer I knew I may never get a chance like this again.
I floored the accelerator and the Diablo surged forward notching off personal bests all the way. The speedo zipped past 300km/h. At 320km/h I had to concentrate harder as the wind jostled the car around. At the 340km/h the steering went momentarily light over a bump and the car stepped a foot or two to the right. Then at the 8km mark the wind shifted to behind me and the car stabilised. Foot firmly to the floor the speedo needle continued to creep round. It ran out of places to go at 360km/h – that’s a shade over 220mph in real money. The rev counter was just a few rpm short of the red line. The car would not go any faster, and I’ve never travelled quicker since.
Today Nardo is occasionally open for events so maybe one day I’ll get to go back and beat my PB. In the meantime Detour would love to hear your high speed stories.
Roadbook
Class: Test track
Name: Nardo Ring
Route: Nardo
Country: Italy
Distance: 7.8 miles