The Data

Wien - Bremen - Flensburg - Kopenhagen - Malmö - Stockholm - Sundsvall - Lulea - Kautokeino - Atla - Nordkapp - Alta - Narvik - Mo I Rana - Oslo - Göteborg - Kopenhagen - Flensburg - Hamburg - Nürburgring - Köln - Nürnberg - Wels - Graz - Feldbach

11 days

9.363 kilometres

98,5 hours net driving time

95 Km/h average speed

971 litres SuperPlus (10,4 lt/100 km or 27,16 mpg average)

One set of P Zero Corsa rear tires

zero oil consumption

zero trouble

Day 11 Köln - Feldbach (Austria): 960 km

So heading home today. In the morning I happily realize that my uncle, who had to get up early, has - thanks to a post-it on the inside of his door saying 'Door!' - not locked me in and I start at 7:30 am. The typical traffic work and jams on Germany's Autobahn means that even though there are stretches where the GT3 can show its speed the average is not very high.

Passing Frankfurt, Nürnberg and Passau I head back home into Austria that greets me with an incredible rainstorm I have rarely seen before. The P Zero Corsas have their best behind so I really need to watch out but after a total of 960 kilometres I am back home.

Day 10 Flensburg - Nordschleife - Köln: 781 km

I am in good spirit as I start today's stage towards another highlight: the Green Hell.

After 680 kilometres, passing Hamburg and Bremen, I arrive some 20 minutes before today's session start at the Nordschleife parking lot. Even before entering the track myself this is a very interesting place, full of quick and interesting cars of various makes. Some Evos, Imprezas, Lotuses, TVRs, Beemers and Ferraris wait for their turn to go and of course a number of GT3s and Rses are present as well - none of them as dirty as mine though.

Whenever you are near the Nurburgring I strongly recommend paying a visit, it is different from all racetracks or trackdays I have attended so far. Be cautious though when going out on the track as there are some special factors at play: During the 'Touristenfahrten' it is legally not a racetrack but a one-way toll road with no general speed limit (there are two spots with limits however) but where the STVO, Germany's road law, is in full effect.

I am remotely familiar with the Nordschleife from my forays into Playstation gaming but I can assure you that the real thing is something totally different. I decide to start carefully as you do not want to have an off here: The crash barriers are always very close and the road is full of imperfections, ups and downs, blind spots, very quick straights and a huge number of other cars. Compared to more modern tracks it appears completely crazy, which makes it all the more appealing of course. In any case, if you don't know your way well around here, you are simply slow, no matter what car.

So I first decide to follow a Focus ST with the famous Nordschleifen-sticker on the boot as I expect the guy to know his way and want to learn his line. He does however not seem to be any more familiar with the track than I and soon I overtake. Two laps later at the toll bar I position the GT3 behind an E36 3-series Beemer with welded full-cage and various other track goodies just to find out 5 bends later that the person at the wheel knows his business well and surely gave me 10 seconds already, shortly afterwards the car disappears on the horizon...

5 laps in total and I am glad to leave the track with car and driver intact. Driving in the Green Hell is an absorbing experience and I will definitely be back but next time I will come better prepared.

So, lap time? Well, officially it is forbidden to take times (actually even filming onboard) but of course I have the Sport Chrono thingie running and from the end of the cones after the toll bar to the speed limit at the end of the lap I record around 9 minutes 45 seconds. I am ok with that as I also stuck to the speed limit at Breitscheid but it is absolutely clear that the car has much much more potential on this track.

Totally enthusiastic about the experience I start today's last leg towards Köln to meet my uncle for dinner.

Nordschleife: http://www.nuerburgring.de

Day 9 Oslo - Flensburg (Germany): 930 km

After a good night's sleep, yet another great breakfast buffet (they really know how to do that up here!) and some quick shopping for presents in an outlet center it runs quickly and smoothly towards Malmö, Copenhagen and onto Flensburg in Germany.

It is quite obvious that the further south I get the more sportscars I see, in this particular case I encounter a 996 GT3 with whom I join the route for a couple of kilometres. Always nice to meet colleagues, even if the car turns out to be a 'regular' Carrera in GT3 disguise.

Today's leg ends at Flensburg, infamous for hosting Germany's traffic law violators database but it turns out to be a remarkably nice little town. However it is basically fully booked due to the summer holiday season, thanks to a very helpful hotel concierge I am able to find a nice little room (probably the last in town) and parking space for the car.

Day 8 Somewhere on the E6 - Oslo: 765 km

So on I go direction south, passing by Trondheim and further towards Oslo. No more fjords here but the more central part of the country offers rivers heavily populated by salmon and picturesque scenery. In terms of driving there are no real thrills on offer and my speed average is very low. Including breaks it takes me 11 hours to sail the 765 kilometres. At this occasion the GT3 shows its remarkable fuel economy when driven gently: Average consumption after 731 kilometres stands at 8,6 lt/100 km (32,85 british mpg) with an average speed of 82 km/h (51 miles/hour). Although I am impressed by the figures I guess I don't have to mention that driving pleasure suffers somewhat with this driving style.

Eventually I stop for the night at an Oslo airport hotel as I don't have much time left if I really want to make it to the Nordschleife on time.

Day 7 Narvik - Somewhere on the E6: 580 km

After another breakfast with no less then four different sorts of smoked salmon I head on towards Storforshei, close to Mo-I-Rana and home of the Arctic Circle Raceway (ACR) that I had become aware of in Evo's KTM story a few months back. In fact, Evo's article more or less gave me the idea for the whole trip. I figured that if they could do the trip to and on the ACR in a X-Bow, I should definitely be able to do it in a GT3 with heating, windshield and roof so I had to top it off by including the Northcape in my route...

I had tried to call ACR in advance to make sure there was a chance for some laps on the track but was not really able to find someone willing to talk to me in English and my personal knowledge of Norwegian unfortunately does not go beyond the word Nordkapp. I had found out that supposedly ther was a bike club from Oslo running it's private practising day so no cars allowed but I decided to go there anyway and hope someone would be crazy enough to let me have a go. Before getting there however I needed to do some 400km that includes a first for me and the GT3: going on a ferry. Actually the E6 I am taking includes a few kilometres where the official route runs via the ferry; avoiding it would mean a very very long deroute via Sweden so I decide to go for it and hope the GT3's rather low ride height ends up being compatible with the ferry's potentially very steep driveway. The ferryman is a nice guy and greets me with the words 'This is a very low car'. I can confirm that but am relieved to hear that I shouldn't encounter any problems as it's low tide right now and I can enter the ship almost level.

Some twenty minutes later our float is over and we get back onto better known surface. Rain is back but the scenery continues to be highly impressive.

About 100 kilometres before the ACR I cross the arctic circle to the south; in contrast to the Finnish version this one here seems to host hoards of tourists and a veritable visitor's centre. After the obligatory pics I am ready to go, some kilometres before the Storforshei appears some major roadwork that once again is quite a challenge for the car's ground clearance and costs a lot of time. Eventually all works fine though and at around 5 pm I arrive at one of my personal highlights on this trip: Arctic Circle Raceway.

As far as my research goes it is the northernmost permanent racetrack known to mankind, it was built in 1995 for big money to promote development of this rather remote area of Mo I Rana and these days it's only very rarely used if at all, mostly for bike practising events. A pity, as the track has quite some thrill on offer: The 3,75 kilometre lap is from 11 to 15 metres wide and features a height differential of 31 metres; it is being driven counter-clockwise. As Evo pointed out back in their X-Bow story, you could drive a 24 hours race here under natural light as the midnight sun never totally sets during summer.

Unfortunately I don't have that much time but I am lucky as the guys running their bike training today are having a rain-induced break and let me have the track for 5 laps. It is soaking wet, about 12 degrees centigrade and the grip level is rather low. That would be perfect for showing off a bit but my new-found friend Roger, the co-organizer of the event and joining me in the car is not totally confident in my drifting abilities and I don't want to put our young relationship to a serious test so go rather gently but grin all over as I realize I finally made it to and onto this what I think pretty exotic racetrack. Roger, if you read this: MANY THANKS again, you made my day!

It is actually quite surreal: Few days ago I had started this trip from Austria with basically no preparation other than making sure I knew which way to go north and here I am now, on the ACR, Northcape some thousand kilometres back already...

It really is a pity I don't have more time to spend here but my time budget is tight and so I say goodbye to me biker friends and head further south direction Oslo. After some 250 more kilometres I stop at a rather tweedy place I don't even know the name of. I am sure this is the first GT3 to stop here and very likely it will be the last. It reminds me of an American road house and apart from the room that has already seen better days and the breakfast buffet that includes mildew on the bread I am happy as it is the only place that has rooms left at 9 pm.

Arctic Circle Raceway: http://www.acr.no

Day 6 Alta - Narvik: 550 km

After an only modestly recreative night and a much more refreshing breakfast in a room with a view to Alta's 'city centre' that features a Sami walking around somewhat erratically in his traditional costume I start today's trip. The weather is unimpressive, it rains. Passing by Alta Museum that includes a world heritage site of Stone Age petrographics (for which, of course, I don't have any time) I continue towards Narvik. The road is of varying quality with sometimes remarkable grooves and holes and the weather is extremely unsettled. After a short period of foehn and plus 20 centigrade the next pass greets me with 10 degrees and Flood-like rain; average speed is not really impressive.

The landscape however is just terriffic and includes all stereotypes I might have had of Scandinavia: deep fjords, elevated passes, glaciers, snow fields, waterfalls - it's all there and leaves me speechless (not that there would be anyone around to talk to anyway).

At around 8 pm I hit Narvik, a strange city characterized by its role as a major shipping harbor for iron ore that became infamous during WWII. I am exhausted, after dinner I go to bed immediately.

Day 5 Alta – Northcape – Alta: 480 km

So today brings the core part of the whole tour but my departure in the morning is late as I discover that the battery pack of my camera is empty and I was stupid enough not to bring a charger and charging via USB does not work. Going to the cape and not taking any pictures does not seem an option to me so I pay a visit to what could well be the world's northernmost electronics retailer; to my surprise I find a good cam that does not seem to carry a totally ridiculous price tag - deal done then and off to the cape. It's close to noon already but the weather is absolutely terriffic with 20 degrees centigrade, much better than the day before and the days to come.

The scenery is pretty impressive and I am positively surprised how thrilling a drive this ultimate piece of my journey north is. Plenty of reindeer though so I need to remain alert; at the gas station I buy some reindeer jerky and dried stockfish, both of which are not really snacks I would recommend though.

The Northcape is actually located on the island of Mageroya, which is connected to mainland Norway via a tunnel that digs down 212 metres below sea level; at latitude
71° 10’ 21’’ it is Europe's northernmost point to reach by car. Ever since having been discovered in the 16th century by a British expedition during their quest for the north-east passage towards China it was said to be the northernmost tip of Europe, which in fact it isn't and discussions are still going on which point actually can claim that title. In any case, it is an extreme point: the arctic circle lies 520 kilometres south, the north pole is some 2.100 kilometres furhter north. The cape itself is not any more spectacular than many other fjords I have seen on my journey so far but it is nevertheless a very special feeling to stand on the tip of it any enjoy the view, wondering about the slightly surreal fact that within four and a half days the GT3 has brought me here from Austria, over 4.150 kilometres without the slightest problem...

Originally I had planned to travel back south further than to Alta, today's starting point, but with the late departure and some two hours spent on the cape I decide to stay in Alta for another night. My hotel this night however is right in the 'centre' of the city that is crowded with people this Saturday evening. It's pretty obviously party time with all sorts of people enjoying a pint (or two or three). Again, that is a surreal thing as the sun doesn't go down, at midnight it feels like 5pm and the prices for all sorts of alcohol is pretty incredible. I go to sleep half past midnight - or try to as some sunrays still enter my room.

Day 4 Lövanger - Alta (Norway): 780 km

After a typical Scandinavian wonderful breakfast I hit the road further north. Again I have quite some kilometres to go, I hope to reach Alta today, the last bigger city some 240 kilometres south of the Cape. It gets colder and cloudy, soon the rain follows. After around 350 kilometres I cross the arctic circle and stop to take the obligatory foto. Not far from Rovaniemi, said to be Santa's home, I cross the border to Finnland, a few hundred kilometres on I enter Norway. This is the country of the indigenous Sami people, they are specialists in Reindeer breeding; it pays to be careful as the grey/brownish animals are well camouflaged on the grey/brownish roads and they tend to like just standing there gazing at you, not moving even when you use the horn.

The landscape reminds me of some deserted parts of the USA; long stretches of straight roads, hardly any civilisation. It rains more or less permanently, the temperature remains pretty cold at around 10 degree centigrade. After quite a few thousand kilometres of no real challenge in driving the road enters a small canyon that gives a pretty good impression of things to come along the Norwegian fjords. Lots of bends, up and down, terriffic surroundings, little traffic - this must be GT3 territory... Well not fully as noone up here drives fast, Scandinavian traffic fines are said to be pretty draconian so I remain somewhat defensive.

I arrive at around 21:00 pm in Alta, the world's northernmost city with more than 10.000 inhabitants. After enjoying a nice dinner (fish, what else?) I go to sleep. It doesn't really seem like night though, it's not really any darker than during the day.

Day 3 Gränna - Lövanger: 1.030 km

Passing Stockholm and Uppsala I head further up north along the Bothnian sea. North of Stockholm the roads are getting a little narrower, my average speed falls somewhat. The weather continues to be as good as it gets, the countryside is terriffic. Deep forests, blue lakes and 22 degress centigrade. This is elk-country, as the permanent warning signs never fail to remind you. I have not seen one in the flesh yet, I would love to but maybe it's for the better as I am not sure a GT3 and an elk would have a friendly encounter on the road. The 3.000 km mark falls, with less than 1.000 km remaining till the North Cape.

Not starting to look for a hotel early enough turns out quite a mistake but shortly before 10 pm I finde a nice little hut at the 'Kyrkstad Lövanger'. As I am very close to the arctic circle it does not really get dark at night and the mosquitoes are quite active here; of course I forgot to bring no-bite ;-), which somewhat compromises the quality of my sleep.

Day 2 Bremen – Gränna (Sweden): 960km

Start at 8:30h, weather a dream as yesterday, all is fine. From Bremen I continue to Hamburg, Flensburg and on via the Sorebaelt bridge (with a total length of 2.694 metres and a main span of 1.624 metres the longest hanging bridge in Europe and the third longest worldwide) to Kopenhagen, taking the Öresund bridge (Europe's longest combined railway/road bridge) to Malmö and on to Gränna at lake Vättern.

I wanted to avoid using any ferries as far as possible since I am not too confident the GT3's ride height is happy boarding a big ship and those two bridges are really worth seeing, plus I don't have to book a ticket in advance.

Arrival in Gränna at 20:30pm, quite tired after another 960km stint but happy. After a wonderful ‚Pepparstek’ I enjoy a good night's sleep in a nice little hotel.

Day 1 Vienna – Bremen (Germany): 1.140km

Eventually the decision was taken quite spontaneously: Taking a little trip in the GT3 up north until all roads end, that would be the North Cape then. Originally I had wanted to do it on a motorbike but for various reasons I ended up with only eleven days to go, which seemed impossible on the bike - especially accounting for the expected weather. Whereas the naive calculation for the GT3 goes like this: Vienna - Northcape - Styria, that should make some 9.000 kilometres that should be easily doable in the car. About 1.200km a day in Germany, some 800-900 in southern Scandinavia and around 650 in the far north.

So on Tuesday, July 13 at 11am I leave with brilliant weather, 30 degress centigrade, sun and all. First stop at my preferred independent Porsche specialist to have the anti-roll-bar settings checked as they are still in Winter mode and thus fully open. Then on via Passau, Nuremberg, Hannover up to Bremen to meet a good friend. The weather remains great, not too much traffic, everything perfectly fine.

Topspeed on the German Autobahn: 279kph. Of course the car has more on offer but there is not enough space on the road plus I want to be easy on the Pirelli P Zero Corsas as they will need to remain alive for some 9.000km more, which is quite a bit for their soft compound. They are my preferred tires for road use on the GT3 as they are on the one hand not as extreme in the wet as the Michelin Cups but offer quite a bit more grip than regular ultra high performance tires and although they lose in sheer speed compared to the Cups on a track, they are huge fun going sideways and doing supid things.

Arriving in Bremen at 21.15pm, everything perfectly fine.