Nordschleife Track Guide For Assetto Corsa Evo

The Green Hell is one of the quintessential racing experiences out there. The world’s fastest toll road invites challenges from gentleman drivers and racing royalty alike, with the cars that make their name around the fearsome Nordschleife almost being as varied and storied as the people that drive them

General Tips

One of the first things to remember about the Nürburgring is that you can and will underestimate it at your own peril. This circuit is nearly 25.4km long, 15.8 miles in old money, meaning that conditions in the surrounding Eifel forest can change two or three times over the course of a lap. 

Another key thing to remember is not to switch into a sort of autopilot mode that you might with other tracks. That is how mistakes start to creep in, from running wide at one corner to launching yourself off a kerb at another. Whilst some parts of the track will be forgiving, other parts will happily end your day and your car if you don’t take them seriously.

Nords in AC Evo

AC Evo’s 0.6 build gave the sim racing world the most up-to-date and accurate scan and layout of the Nordschleife, and it’s the only sim to do so. Every bump, undulation, curb, tarmac change, tree and graffiti mark makes it the most realistic build ever. 

And you get to race the Nordschleife every single day with acevo.gg’s daily racing platform, thanks to their dedicated series for the circuit, which gives you a new car to race around the 25km track each week.

Now, let’s get into this track guide!

The Grand Prix Strecke

The modern Grand Prix circuit is perhaps the most straightforward part of the circuit, with barriers often a sensible distance from the track so that you can easily recover from mistakes.

Braking for the first corner, the key thing to remember is that the 24h layout does not include the low-speed Mercedes-Benz Arena first added in 2002. Instead the track opens with a double-hairpin, with the first right-hander featuring a steep drop and the second left-hander a noticeable kerb that can unsettle an imbalanced machine. 

From there, the circuit flows through a blend of medium-speed left-right sweepers broken up by the Dunlop Hairpin at the Southernmost part of track. There are two fast S-sections, the first being the Schumacher S after you exit the Hairpin and the second being the chicane that ends the loop. Both invite you in to the apex kerb, but often the best line requires you to gently glide around the kerbs before an uphill left-hand hairpin invites you onto the Northern Loop.

Key hints:

• Remember that the Mercedes-Benz Arena is skipped
• Maximise your apex speed through the sweeping corners
• Avoid unsettling your car on the apex kerbs

From Schmitz to Hocheichen

The Nordschleife kicks off with a nod to one of its most famous residents. The late Sabine Schmitz, the Queen of the Nordschleife who grew up within the confines of the track, was well-known for her racing exploits and her status as a “ring taxi” driver also helped her reach new heights thanks to appearances such as on Top Gear. After her passing in 2021, the opening left-hander on the Nordschleife was renamed in her honour. 

After exiting Schmitzkurve, the next few turns come at you thick and fast. Hatzenbach is named after a nearby village and the corners dart from right to left to right to left so quickly you barely have a chance to breathe. Whilst some cars are able to handle the apex kerbs at this part of the track, it is most certainly not a good idea to test this out on a flying lap. Doing so earns you a one-way ticket into the barrier, often with a neat little spinning motion in the process.

Hocheichen closes this complex with a flick through a cambered left-hander and a run over a bridge that makes you feel almost like you’re somewhere like Watkins Glen. Be careful though, as any distractions will cost you dearly in the next section.

Key hints:

• The camber is your friend
• The kerbs might not be your friend
• Focus on carrying your speed through the corner

Flugplatz to Foxhole

Your car quickly starts flying, in some cases both figuratively and literally, in the next parts of the Nordschleife. Flugplatz is famous for being a spot where the front end of your car will go light, something that is not ideal if you aren’t prepared for it. Until you’ve learnt how the car will behave when it gets unstable, it is probably best to lift over the crest so that you can make the sudden right-hander after the wheels touch back down.

This kicks off a string of corners that is flat-out in many cars. Kottenborn feeds into Schwedenkreuz, which features a mid-apex crest that reminds you to brake hard for the Aremberg descent. Most cars can use the change in the tarmac’s complexion as a marker, but it is worth starting off at that point and pushing a little bit later as you get more and more up to speed with the car.

Leaving Aremberg takes you down the hill into the deep of the forest. At the bottom is Fuchsröhre, the Foxhole, a flat-out left-hand kink that apexes at the compression. Make sure to use all of the tarmac to open up the corner, as the kerbing can unsettle even the most stable of machines, and set yourself up for the ascent back up to the top of the hill.

Key hints:

• Lift for Flugplatz if you don’t know how your car will react
• Brake at the surface change for Aremberg
• Avoid the kerbs in the Foxhole

Adenauer to Bergwerk

At the top of the hill is Adenauer, a right-left complex that slows you right down and allows you to catch your breath. The following section is much of the same, one you cover a quick blast past the infamous “rebel tree” towards Metzgesfeld.

The profile of the following corners is often low-speed, heavily-cambered, with barriers just beyond the kerbing. This includes Dreifach-Rechts, also known as Miss-Hit-Miss because of how you want to approach the triple-apex corner, before the incredibly-slow Wehrseifen invites you to pick up speed once more.

Descend back down to the bridge of Breidscheid, a sweeping corner that allows you to lean gently on the exit kerb, before a cambered right-hander in Ex-Mühle takes you on a quick blast, through the Lauda Links that nearly killed the F1 legend, towards the heavy braking zone of Bergwerk. 

Key hints:

• Brake uphill for Adenauer
• Camber is your friend
• Miss-Hit-Miss at the triple-apex right-hander

Uphill to Klostertal

This next run is not for the faint of heart. And nor is it a blessing for your car, which will most likely find itself running out of steam on the flat-out ascent to Klostertal. At the peak of the climb is Mutkurve, often known as “Bravery” as it tests the mettle of the driver and – if you get it wrong – the metals that once made up your lovely machine.

Make sure to keep in a lower gear for slightly longer on these runs, as you may find your car slowing down if you haven’t picked up a slipstream on this run. And start off by lifting for Mutkurve and the following right-hander at Klostertal, as these are corners where the aerodynamic grip may have failed to wake up from a brief nap.

Key hints:

• Keep revs high, not gears
• Do lift, don’t be too “brave” at first
• Avoid the kerbs

Steilstrecke, Caracciola-Karussell, and Hohe Acht

This double-hairpin blast is arguably the most iconic for this circuit, nay motorsport entirely. Steilstrecke is an open hairpin, with a short run connecting it to the first of two carousel corners.

The first carousel, the Caracciola-Karussell, is named after the pre-WW2 Grand Prix ace that drove Silver Arrows to glory in the inter-war golden age of Grand Prix racing. Most cars will be able to take the inside line along the concrete slabs with little issue, but if you’re behind the wheel of a modern-day open-wheel racer you may wish to take the outside line to stop yourself from spinning out.

After a smooth slalom on exit, you then approach another peak at the Hohe Acht. This corner cambers towards the entry, with the descent down the hill starting off a deceptively fast section of track.

Key hints:

• Brake early for Steilstrecke
• Avoid the inside of the carousel in open-wheelers
• Glide around the kerbs on the climb up to Hohe Acht

The Run to Brünnchen

The next complex is a mostly-blind left-right-left downhill blast. With the next corner often hidden by some combination of barriers and verges and trees, the first thing you need to do is look away from the scenery before you end up becoming part of it.

Much like with Hatzenbach earlier, the kerbs can be your friend in the right car. However, as is still the case here, it is definitely worth testing whether your car likes the kerbs before attempting to saunter over to them. To borrow from Dua Lipa, one kiss is all it takes before you’re picking up the pieces of your broken dreams.

This quick blast ends with the Brünnchen complex. This features one of the kerbs that you can actually take, a nice outside kerb that doesn’t have a massive bump or drop at a fast right-hander. This then flows into a 90-right that is known by many as “YouTube Corner”, where two lines of bricks on the outside are separated by a raised kerb. It’s best not to hit the kerb, as otherwise you end up one of the many famous clips of someone stacking it into the barrier on exit.

Key hints:

• Eyes on the road at all times
• You can use some of the kerb before Brünnchen
• Don’t use the exit kerb at Brünnchen

Eiskurve, Bellof, and the Kleines Karussel

Following Brünnchen is another fast downhill blast, one that also invites some airtime. Eiskurve builds up the momentum, with a similar kerb profile to the previous corner that allows some leaning but punishes those that want to take an unexpected bite.

This then opens up a rapid blast, punctuated by the Pflanzgarten complex that allows the car to get a little bounce for the first time since Flugplatz. The pinnacle of this blast is the Stefan-Bellof-S, named after the sportscar legend whose record-setting lap time along the track has stood the test of time for his sheer driving ability. Weave between the kerbs for the fastest line, before you slow down for Schwalbenschwanz and the second carousel corner.

Schwalbenschwanz has a similar profile to Brünnchen, but instead is a left-hander. Make sure to slow appropriately so that you don’t unsettle the car on exit, otherwise you won’t be ready for the Kleines Karussel. Whilst not as extreme as Caracciola, it can unsettle the car if your line isn’t right. Thankfully there is a bit of tarmac on the inside, making this corner far more forgiving as you prepare for the fastest blast on the track.

Key hints:

• Lift before Pflanzgarten at first
• Avoid the kerbs through the Stefan-Bellof-S
• Aim for the inside tarmac at the second carousel

The Döttinger Höhe

Galgenkopf follows the second carousel corner, a multi-apex right-hander that can be flat-out in a car with more aerodynamic grip. However, the main attraction for this section is arguably the Döttinger Höhe. 

If you’re a time attack expert, or a Nürburgring Tourist, your lap will often end at the gantry that starts off this 2km flat-out blast alongside a main road. However, this layout has us running flat-out to the bridge that starts the time attack runs at the top of a small hill. 

Whilst it might be tempting to place yourself in the middle of the track, consider that there is a slight camber to the straight which means that a low-slung car can potentially bottom out if you stick the car down the middle. Sparks flying may look cool, but it does cost you time and speed. The best thing to do is keep left, keep flat, and glide to the outside of the corner at the top of the crest to set yourself up for the last blast home.

Key hints:

• Remember that Galgenkopf has multiple apexes
• Keep left on the Döttinger Höhe
• Move to the outside over the crest

Tiergarten & the Run Home

After cresting at Antoniusbuche, you will see the heavy braking zone of Tiergarten. Whilst it is tempting to go full-send through this corner and stand on the brakes into Hohenrain, if you are unfamiliar with the car you are driving it is a sure-fire way to quite literally fall at the final hurdle. 

Start off braking around the Tiergarten apex, moving closer to Hohenrain as you get more familiar with your machine, and slowly glide around the kerbs that line the track. Some cars may like these kerbs but, much like with others dotted around this legendary venue, others may decide that this is an extra opportunity to get some air and launch you into one of the multiple track-side barriers.

Key hints:

• Use Tiergarten as an initial braking point
• Avoid the kerbs at Hohenrain
• Floor it when you see the finish line!

Before you know it, you’ll be braking for the Yokohama-S and starting all over again. And again. And again. And before long you’ll be in love with the Green Hell, joining a millions-strong club of sim racing and motorsports fans the world over.