The drive of my life - Joana Fidalgo

The day I took on the Nürburgring and the Stelvio Pass

When I was a child, road trips were a staple of our family holidays. Every August, I would get in the car with my mum and dad and set off somewhere in Europe. Even back then, I loved that feeling of exploration and adventure. We frequently got lost, and the long hours spent on the motorway listening to my mum’s one and only CD of French music often challenged my sanity, but I still cherish the memories of travelling around with my parents.

Over the years, the car was eventually replaced by flights to sunnier destinations further afield, and we were all too happy to swap the thin camping mattresses for king-size hotel beds. However, the craving for a proper road trip had always been quietly brewing at the back of my mind. So, in September 2019, my partner and I decided to set the wheels in motion.

The plan was simple: head to mainland Europe, stopover in Bruges, and then head over into Germany to spend another couple of days doing laps of the legendary Nürburgring. From there, the remaining five days were to be enjoyed booking accommodation on the fly and eventually making our way back home via the scenic route. But what car to drive? Well, it could be none other than the Porsche 996 GT3 Clubsport. Given its tenuous “Gran Tourer” denomination, we thought we’d test whether it could handle the twisty Italian passes as well as it does the track.

On day one, we set off from our home in the West Midlands and drove the 300 miles to Bruges, stopping briefly to stock up on as many macarons as we could get hold of. By the time we arrived, it was already dark and we headed straight to our hotel. After exploring Bruges the next morning, and admittedly slightly relieved to leave behind the old town’s cobbled roads (there’s a reason why Belgian paving is used as a stress test by automotive manufacturers), we hit the road again and made our way to Adenau, the town that just clips the Nürburgring, ahead of our track days.

I’m almost ashamed to confess that this was my first time at the Nürburgring. Luckily, my partner is much more seasoned, with 1,400 laps under his belt. With him as my guide, we ticked off all the iconic hangout spots to make sure I had a proper rite of passage. He also did a brilliant job of gliding the GT3 around the 12.9 miles of corners, carousels and straights that make up the Nordschleife. Hearing the Mezger engine howling as we went airborne at Quiddelbacher-H, he can only be described as a petrolhead’s nirvana.

Two days and 20 laps later, the faithful GT3 had not missed a beat and we were now ready to put it through its paces around some Alpine passes. Still buzzing from our time on the track, we decided to drive to Zurich to stay the night and to track down some cheese fondue. The following day, we pushed on to St Moritz for a quick lunch stop before crossing yet another border into northern Italy.

As we gained altitude, the scenery quickly started changing. The green valleys suddenly gave way to snowy landscapes (absolutely ideal on track-worn tyres!), and the roads became narrower, leaving little margin for error. Eventually we made it to the top of the famous Stelvio Pass. The view was certainly worth the trek. We stopped for a bit with a hot chocolate warming our hands and watched how tiny the cars, motorbikes and even buses looked as they made their way around the tight hairpins.

That night, we stayed at the bottom of the pass in Trafoi. The goal was to wake up early and experience it without the throng of tourists. As we prepared to ascend the mountain, we took a second to take it all in. In the morning light, the Stelvio Pass looked like a long asphalt snake tearing through the tall mountains. The sun was just starting to peek through to melt the ice from the night before, and I drove through the pass carefully, my knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel so firmly, but with a huge smile on my face. That moment was one of my favourite memories from the trip, and it’s certainly something I’ll remember forever.

Sadly, it was time to move on, and we left the icy mountains for Lake Como. The town itself was a lot quieter than we expected, but we found a tiny place for food where an Italian nonna came to greet us at our table. Not a word of a mutual language was uttered, but the food was authentic and delicious and fuelled us for the rest of the day.

From Italy, we crossed Switzerland again and chased the sunset through France as we started to make our way back home. As night fell, we found some last-minute cheap B&B accommodation and somehow ended up in a beautiful family-owned château in the small village of Villersexel. By this point, we had been on the road for eight days and sadly the time was coming to get back home, but we couldn’t return without hitting up one last automotive-related destination.

The next morning, we set off to visit the remnants of the Reims-Gueux Formula 1 circuit. We stopped for an obligatory photo, parking the GT3 next to the former pit boxes on the side of what is now a busy main road. Sitting on one of the pit walls, I couldn’t help thinking about all the races that had taken place there and how those same buildings which had seen so much history were now just a quirk at the side of a motorway.

As we hopped back in the car, I felt so grateful for our time on the road and all the memories we had made on the way. In the end, we covered more than 2,000 miles over the course of nine days in a very special car – and now I’m just looking forward to doing it all again.

Joana Fidalgo is a chassis engineer and a writer for The Intercooler digital car magazine

If you’ve had a journey that changed your life or made a lasting impression, email james.scoltock@thinkpublishing.co.uk to feature in our next edition

This is an edited extract from IMI's new MotorPro magazine, received free as part of IMI membership