February: The ice-cold drifting in Muhr

The year began, as it did in 2022, with an icy adventure in Muhr, where this year my brother ventured onto the slippery ice instead of my father. Here we met Angela and Guido in person, who were also at the start with their SRT Jeep. Fun conversations over lunch immediately created a warm atmosphere. Unfortunately, we missed the dinner with carriage ride, which is, however, high on our to-do list for 2024.

With the all-wheel drive Porsche 911 in the snow.

June: First trackday at the Hockenheimring

In June, we left Nuremberg for Hockenheim with my former work colleague Kristian and our father. Jonas joined us from Switzerland and, in keeping with old tradition, we stopped off at the Hotel-Restaurant 1735 in Speyer. There we enjoyed first-class Italian food and divine limoncello. The next day we drove together to the Hockenheimring.

Kisskalt family with their sports equipment.

Kristian took over the introductory laps, as he had never been on this track before. After the introductory laps, Nina from Boes Motorsport fitted fresh racing pads to Jonas' Porsche. My Golf with the new suspension from Raeder Motorsport was finally able to show what it was capable of.

Doing laps together as a family at the Hockenheimring and seeing the progress of each individual was an unforgettable experience, which we reviewed while sitting comfortably together with red wine and grandma's limoncello.

August: Open Pitlane Day at the Nordschleife

August finally brought me back to the Nordschleife. I decided at short notice to have Michelin Cup2 tyres changed to 4S tyres at Boes Motorsport in Kempenich the day before, as the weather forecast said it would be "rather mixed". On this day I was alone on the trackday and was looking forward to Martin Dose as instructor. After a few comfortable and damp introductory laps, the coaching began, during which Martin passed on his many years of experience as a driver and instructor. Almost hypnotically, he recited braking points, turn-in points and apex points. The KW-Clubsport V4 suspension and the measurement by Raeder Motorsport made the car much safer. The difference to the bumpy standard suspension can hardly be put into words. Despite initial dampness, it later became sunny and the Cup2 tyres would probably have been the better choice, but that's probably part of the Eifel weather.

On this day I met my friend Ronald again, who had spontaneously signed up for the event and with whom we had already been on several trackdays the previous year.

August: Spa-Francorchamps Trackday

The highlight of the year so far has undoubtedly been the trackday in Spa-Francorchamps. The legendary track had a very special myth for us, not least because of its history and because of the stories told by our friends Ronald, Angela and Guido. We arrived in Malmedy the day before and enjoyed the last rays of sunshine on our roof terrace as we toasted to the next day. Unbelievable, but true: we didn't find a single restaurant with moules frites in Malmedy!

On the day of the event, we shared two pits with Angela, Guido, Markus Peter and Thomas. As usual with new tracks, we completed introductory laps to get to know the ideal line. Already here we knew that we had found our favourite track. Jürgen had Martin as his instructor for the day, and he too was thrilled with the track and Martin's support.

In Spa, I realised how much the drift training in Muhr had helped me to push my Golf to its grip limit. The feeling when the car is about to break away but still drives through the turn in a controlled manner is simply gigantic. We finished the day with Angela, Guido, Thomas and Markus in Malmedy with a cosy dinner.