Ducati & Porsche Nürburgring Close Call Captured on Film
It happened during an open-to-all Touristenfahrten session and shows just how close to disaster the rider came
The Nürburgring and its mythical Nordschleife is a magnet for riders and drivers, and for good reason — it is spoken about as a true test for any rider or driver and their vehicle.
It can, though, all go very wrong in a heartbeat, as this close call between a Ducati Panigale V4 rider and a Porsche driver shows. It was shot during Touristenfahrten (tourist) sessions, although rather than being relaxed sessions to take in the scenery, some people take them extremely seriously.
Filmed from the cockpit of another Porsche, the video shows a driver, referred to as Erik, driving a Porsche 718 GT4 RS. Both Erik and the driver of the camera car know their way around the track, as they thread their way through the appropriately named ‘Green Hell’, picking off one performance car after another.
Coming into a sweeping and undulating section at the back of the course, they come across a Ducati Panigale being ridden by a rider who is also making their way past slower-moving cars and looking quite smooth on the 1,103cc V4. It’s no match for the pair of high-performance Porsches, though, and as they are able to brake much later and carry more corner speed, they quickly get backed up behind the Italian sports bike. Seeming to get impatient behind the biker, Erik takes a dive around the outside of a fast right-hander, forgetting that once the bike has touched the apex it will naturally move to the outside of the track as the rider winds on the power. What ensues is the closest of close calls, with the rider spotting the bright yellow sports car at the very last minute and Erik (rightfully in our opinion) bails out and takes to the grass on the outside of the track.
The real win here is that nobody was hurt in the clash and aside from the car likely getting peppered with stones and gravel, no serious damage for either the bike or the car. It does go to show how a day at the track can go from a nice day out, to a complete disaster in the blink of an eye!
Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
