Performance BMW — September 2017

SEPTEMBER 2017 49

T

he Nürburgring has a lot

to answer for. It is single-

handedly responsible for

causing countless motoring

enthusiasts to become a little

bit obsessed with its beguiling curves and

end up building cars that are completely

focussed on going around the Nordschleife

as fast as possible, limited only by budget

and skill. We don’t blame them and we

certainly don’t disapprove; the ’Ring really

is the stuff of legend and once you get a

taste, it’s impossible to resist. No point

even attempting to fi ght it, really, just

admit defeat and get on with building the

enthusiasts to become a little

bit obsessed with its beguiling curves and

focussed on going around the Nordschleife

as fast as possible, limited only by budget

certainly don’t disapprove; the ’Ring really

admit defeat and get on with building the

best track machine you possible can.

Enter Darren Drinkwater and his E36,

aka Project Nordschleife. Now, we’ve

featured a lot of pretty extreme track

builds over the years but we’re going to go

out on a limb here and say that Darren’s

is defi nitely one of the most focussed

machines we’ve ever come across, and

that’s saying something. He’s put so much

work into this car and there really is an

incredible sense of single-mindedness

about it, a completely uncompromised

build with just one aim: going around

the Nürburgring as fast as humanly, and

machinely, possible.

builds over the years but we’re going to go

that’s saying something. He’s put so much

Darren is no amateur when it comes

to the art of making cars go very quickly

indeed, and has spent his entire life

dedicated to the cause. “I grew up in a

mechanic’s house as my dad owned a

garage and I got the bug from him,” he

explains. “At 13 I rebuilt the engine and

gearbox in my sister’s Ford and I’ve just

been involved with cars my whole life. In

2002 I met Topcats Racing and then went

on to do an apprenticeship with TVR; that

same year I did the whole TVR Tuscan

Challenge season with Topcats and since

then I’ve worked part-time for them as a

race engineer, alongside my day job as a

PBMW217.e36_track_car.ed2.indd 49 07/08/2017 08:25