[Erhan]

I am planning a euro trip and part of this is to rent a car to do couple laps at Nurburgring.

* Google says you can't really use the cars you rent from Budget or Hertz. Not that I was planning on. There are companies that rent race/track cars. Any suggestion on which company to choose?

* How early should I make reservations for the track car rental?

* I'm inclined to rent a MINI Cooper, since I have one and I'm very familiar with it. Also it is not a fast car (good on a track I've never been to before), and it is relatively inexpensive to rent.

* Is there any chance that there will be too much traffic on the day I'm planning to be at Nurburgring, such that they don't allow any more cars? What if there is an accident?

* My current plans to be there around 9/12-9/13, and the tourist rides are only 1 hour for those dates. Such a small window, considering 1 lap takes ~10minutes.

* Do I need to wear a helmet? Main purpose of my trip will be hiking, and I don't want to carry a helmet in the Alps.

* Would my WA license be enough?

* Aside from track car rental, to move around in Germany, where can I rent a BMW 1 series? Google says I can use Sixt, and it costs about $100/day. But they don't guarantee a 1er. How can I make sure? I'm planning on driving around Alps a bit (Stelvio pass etc).

thanks!