“People come to the Nürburgring every day and drive slower than him”: Tom Pidcock swaps his bike for his Porsche 911 GT3 RS and turns heads at the Nürburgring

Tom Pidcock is on vacation and took a few days to enjoy another of his passions. The double Olympic champion in XCO took his Porsche 911 GT3 RS to the legendary Nürburgring circuit, where he spent a day with former professional driver Jörg Bergmeister and left the specialists from the German brand amazed.

Pidcock shows he is also fast behind the wheel of his Porsche

Tom Pidcock's passion for sports cars goes far beyond enjoying them on the road. The Brit is the owner of a Porsche 911 GT3 RS from the 992.1 generation, equipped with the Manthey Kit package, a preparation that improves aerodynamics, brakes, and suspension to achieve greater performance on the track.

Pidcock had already demonstrated his driving skills by completing the approximately 19.1 kilometers of the Nordschleife track at Nürburgring in 6 minutes and 52.37 seconds, using the bridge-to-gantry timing system, common among enthusiasts who drive on the German circuit. This is a very fast time for a non-professional driver, especially in a Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

Now, Porsche has published a day in which the 27-year-old cyclist was able to share the track and knowledge with Jörg Bergmeister, a former professional driver and currently a development driver and brand ambassador.

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The visit began with challenging weather conditions, with heavy rain over the German circuit. Before heading out on track, both toured the Manthey facilities, where Pidcock found many similarities with the operation of professional cycling teams.

"The organization of the competition team and the arrangement of all the parts are very similar to how we have organized the technical warehouse in our cycling team. The storage of components, the material lists... It's a pretty similar world", explained Pidcock.

But the comparison that caught his attention the most was the importance of sensations when developing a competition vehicle.

"What I learned from Manthey is that when you develop a car at Nürburgring, the data doesn't tell you everything. You have to use your feelings. And, personally, I think feelings are even more valuable than data when I try to develop a bike", he assured.

"There are people who come every day to Nürburgring and go slower than him"

When the weather conditions improved, Pidcock and Bergmeister went out to drive with Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 tires, specific for wet conditions.

The former German driver was surprised from the first laps by how easily the British cyclist could keep up with his pace.

"I know some professional and former professional cyclists, and the line and fluidity needed to complete a fast and clean lap seem to come naturally to them. Tom gets in the car and knows exactly what he is doing, he has fantastic sensitivity with the vehicle and, moreover, he is not afraid!", explained Bergmeister.

With the track getting drier, both switched to dry condition tires and made small adjustments to the Porsche's suspension.

It was then that Bergmeister acknowledged how surprising the cyclist's level was.

"For someone who doesn't come here regularly, Tom's pace is quite incredible. There are people who are here every day at Nürburgring and drive slower than him", he stated.

The German driver also found an explanation directly related to the British cyclist's sports career: "I guess there's a reason why he's so good at descents in cycling races."