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Written by:
Autocar staff
http://www.autocar.co.uk
05/01/2008 - 06:33 PM
Nurburgring, Germany
Where better to wring out Nissan's new rocket than the old Nurburgring - with the track's pre-eminent expert at the wheel. (Autocar photo) » More Photos
Dirk Schoysman says he’s done 13,000 laps of the Nurburgring. That’s the equivalent of six times around the world, so it’s not surprising that he knows every inch of the track’s surface.
I bumped into Schoysman on Nissan’s stand at the Geneva motor show. I’d gone there to scrounge a free beer and a croissant, which is what freelance journalists do at motor shows when they’ve worn themselves out collecting eBayable press packs. Anyway, Dirk was standing next to the new Skyline, although if you’re angling for a free Heineken off Nissan you mustn’t call it a Skyline because that’s not what it’s called. GT-R only, please. Saying “Skyline” has the same effect as saying the word “Datsun” had 25 years ago.
Anyway, after a few minutes chatting to Dirk about the ’Ring, I started to get an urge to go there and have a thrash around in the 480hp Nissan.
Trouble is, the launch of the car is still a long way off and some younger and quicker member of the Autocar team will be sent along anyway. So I asked Schoysman to let me know if there were any art exhibitions or concerts being staged in Adenau or surrounding parts in the near future that I would likely be interested in attending.
Fortunately Schoysman, as well as being very rapid
The road sign that sets any enthusiast's heart beating faster. (Autocar photo) » More Photos
So here we are at the Nurburgring with Dirk. It’s cold and it has been snowing on the way to Nurburg from Frankfurt airport. The chances of the track being open look slight, but at least we can have a thrash around the local roads and then a nice lunch in the Pistonklauser in Nurburg village or the Wild Pig in Adenau.
For the last nine years Schoysman has been a freelance test driver; he works not just for Nissan but for companies such as Jaguar and Aston Martin, both of whom have development and test centers based only a mile or so from the ’Ring. He also does tire testing, but what has made the name Schoysman legendary among my generation of scribblers is his close relationship with the Skyline when he was employed full-time by Nissan.
But more than being a walking pilot’s operating handbook for the GT-R, Schoysman is a total Nurburgring fanatic; he has even built himself a large house in a village only a few miles from the circuit. It is, of course, practical for him to live near the circuit, but I suspect that he’d have a place here even if most of his work took place in Hobart, Tasmania.
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