Archive for month: August, 2021

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This and That!

This month’s column is about membership communications and more Sim Racing.

With our website and social media being our primary communications vehicles to the membership, you will see much more content than you used to find in the NOR’EASTER appearing on porschenet.com. To ensure that there is a steady and interesting flow of content there we have established a formal submission and publication process. In addition to the regular contributors, we would love to hear more from any members that have something interesting to share, like a trip report, or your experience from your first DE, Autocross or Rally, the new or old Porsche that you just bought, or anything else that you would like to share with the rest of us.

Submissions should preferably be in Microsoft Word format and emailed to [email protected] with any pictures attached. The pictures should be in the highest possible resolution you can provide. Once we receive the email, we run the text through Grammarly to fix any punctuation, spelling, or grammatical errors, but we do make sure that your writing style is preserved. It is also categorized and tagged in order to make it easy to locate in the future. After that is done, it is sent to our web team, who add the content to the website and schedule it for publication. New content is summarized on the front page. Then, on a weekly basis, we send an email to all members summarizing and linking to all new content published after the previous email and a calendar for the current and following month to ensure that you don’t miss anything interesting. Any questions or comments you may have for us should also be emailed to [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.

The summer Sim Racing race series and both the regional and national levels are wrapping up, and the fall race series are about to start. This is a good time to jump in and join the fray. We have loaner equipment that we let members take home to get a taste of Sim Racing with minimal investment. If you are interested, send an email to [email protected].

At the regional level, the next series will be racing Porsches on a weekly basis. Race evening is Tuesdays at 8 PM and lasts about two hours with practice, qualification and races. We have a friendly, welcoming, and fun group and work hard to keep it this way. We also invest a lot of effort in bringing new racers up to speed with advice and practice races. To learn more, join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/810156892838722

At the National level, we will be racing the Porsche GT3 R, a sweet car, in an 8-week series. National also works hard to be accommodating to newcomers and has programs targeted towards bringing them up to speed and into the races. They have divided the races into four classes, Challenge, Sport, Club, and Pro, according to the driver’s abilities, so you will race against drivers with similar skills. The next series, number 7, will be published soon on the National Sim Racing League’s website pcasimracing.com. The website has a wealth of information about what Sim Racing is, how to join, and much more, so head over there and take a look.

At the National level, December, January, and February are dedicated to races between the PCA Zones. They have been organized into five groups that each will run their own races in December and January to select the top 8 drivers in each class for each Zone Group. These 32 drivers will participate in a series of three races in January that will crown the Zone group and individual winners within each class.

While we wait for Series 7 to begin, there will be an exciting two-race series between International Porsche club teams. The races will be broadcasted on YouTube and will take place (virtually) at Road Atlanta on September 11th and Spa Francorchamps (no rain!) on September 18th. It will feature the best Sim Racers in the PCA and is guaranteed to be exciting. When I know the exact times and have the URLs to connect to, I will let you know.

Finally, a few comments about myself and Sim Racing: the series that just completed was organized by the West Coast Zones in PCA and featured the Porsche GT3 R in 8 venues. 7 were road races, and one was an oval race at Indianapolis Speedway. To do well in these races, requirement one was to participate. To increase your chances of placing well, you also had to finish well in at least 7 of the eight races. To do that, you had to avoid incidents (crashing, getting penalized for violating racing rules, spinning or running off the track), and finally, you had to have a decent pace. Good pace with incidents leads to worse results than slower pace and fewer incidents. It also requires a huge amount of self-control. It is easy to increase speed when you are anxious to pass a slower driver or when a faster driver is on your rear bumper, but increased speed also increases the risk of incidents, so the best strategy is not to let the adrenalin surge take control and lead you into trouble. I have worked on this for two years now, and it finally came together in this series, and I placed much higher in the rankings than I expected.

It was a good thing that only 8 out of 7 races counted. My performance on the oval was embarrassing. I was involved in multiple crashes (but didn’t cause any) and was black-flagged multiple times for infracting rules that I didn’t quite understand. It was fun but very much a learning experience. If you are interested in seeing a 10 minute summary of the race, check out https://youtu.be/cU1VilIrWsU  for a 10-minute video or https://youtu.be/lmr3GXoHO08 for a 30 minute video.

Anker

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September Cars & Coffee

It’s still too early in the year for you or your Porsche to hibernate so swing by September’s Cars and Coffee!

Schedule below – Details within links:

9/19 Cars & Coffee – Northborough, MA – 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM
 
9/19 SoBo at Sweet Berry Farm – 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
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South of Boston (SoBo) Porsches and Coffee

                                    15 August 2021 South of Boston (SoBo) Porsches and Coffee

Field 2

Field 2

Field 3

Field 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before I discuss some of the Porsches, I want to mention a couple of items:  one is June’s coffee, where I interviewed Edmund Williams with his yellow 2000 911.  In retrospect, I may have overlooked that it was a GT3.  Hopefully, Edmund will return, and we can further discuss his highly desired Porsche.

The second item is the electrifying of cars in general.  Whether they become a permanent fixture or not, they are here, and today I interviewed owners of a hybrid Cayenne as well as a Taycan Turbo S.

The Exleys 74 911 Targa

The Exleys 74 911 Targa

Three generations posed in front of their 1974 911 Targa.  Charles Exley Sr.  purchased the Targa (a yellow B6) in 1977 from a car collection with about 15k miles.  Currently, the Targa is showing 36k.  The 91-year-old Senior Exley has passed the driving baton to his son and grandson. Charles jr. seems to have taken an interest in maintaining the car for his son Charles 3rd.  The eye-catching Targa appears solid and original but a bit tired.

Lou DiRienzo's Cayenne Turbo S e-Hybrid

Lou DiRienzo’s Cayenne Turbo S e-Hybrid

Lou DeRiennzo was an early arrival with his Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid. A 4-liter Turbocharged V8, this big beast has the GO.  Lou chose a cashmere beige metallic exterior, a club leather interior in truffle and Cohiba brown, with black walnut trim, making it a very appealing look.  The battery is in the trunk floor area and is not easily accessible.  When the battery power expires (around 32 miles), an audio notification is provided.  On just the battery, the max speed is about 83 MPH.  This is Lou’s second hybrid; previously, he had a 2011 Cayenne hybrid.   

 

Dantas's 2020 graphite metalic Taycan Turbo S

Dantas’s 2020 graphite metalic Taycan Turbo S

Gregory Dantas arrived in his graphite metallic 2020 Taycan Turbo S.  The Bordeaux red interior certainly adds much bling to the car.  To me, the car appears shorter than a Panamera but wider.  This is Gregory’s first Porsche, and his wife likes it as well.  On a full charge, the range is 280 miles.  One of the options was a rear bench seat, so as a family car, it can seat all four of his kids.  He says it feels like driving an S-class Mercedes.  There are two charging ports on either side of the front fenders; the right side is for rapid charge, and the left for home charge. I was surprised that a sunroof is not an available option.

Bixby's 87 928 S4

Bixby’s 87 928 S4

Barry Bixby’s pristine 87 928 S4; it is the nicest original 928 I have ever seen at our coffees.  With a dark blue exterior and linen-colored interior, this untouched 928 with a manual transmission shows 68k miles.  Purchased this year in March, it was found by word of mouth.  The car was located in Colorado; he is the third owner.  Barry has been in the Porsche business and certainly has a keen eye when it comes to finding Porsches. Asked if he considered selling, he replied “38k”.

 

The next SoBo is scheduled for 19 September (10-Noon) at Sweet Berry Farm, 915 Mitchell’s Ln, Middletown, RI. The event as always is FREE, and no pre-registration is necessary. The only requirement to park on the grass is your Porsche. A Porsche logo sign should be in place directing you to the parking area.  Sweet Berry Farm is child friendly, encouraging small children to enjoy a working farm, so when entering and exiting, drive carefully. And, as always, for any SoBo related questions, please email me at:  [email protected]

Rog Slocum

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On the Road Again

With the recent coverage about modern cars, it’s time to renew our attachment to those loveable Tubs, which is the basis for these monthly columns. The very best way to do that is to get back on the road. So let’s take a drive to the Catskill Mountains in New York.

 As many know, the 356 Registry has groups all over the world, and many of them have annual events like the TYP356NE, the local New England region. One of the active groups is FOG, or the Florida Owners Group. Every other year they organize what is called the Helen, GA Drive. Helen is a town set up back in the ’60s with a German theme to attract tourists after the lumber industry died. Touches of Bavaria are everywhere, and a local road is Rt 356.

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 A group of us have made the run down to the north Georgia mountains four times now. There are BBQs, swap meets, and lots of drives on mountain roads (like Tail of the Dragon), all in a low-key, run what you have brung atmosphere.  Collecting more Tubs while passing through NJ, PA, and Maryland made for a great caravan. Over the years, we have talked about having the same sort of event up north on alternate years.

Since 2020 was an open year, a few of us started planning back in 2019 and found a great location near Catskill, NY, a German resort from the ’50s that was still operating. It is called Riedlbauers Resort, has over 50 rooms, a banquet hall, and is surrounded by Porsche roads that run all over the Catskills. Brother Bill set about designing drives for the group, and a couple of guys drove over from New Jersey to take an onsite look.  

 It looked like a go, and the wheels started turning, but we all know what happened to the summer of 2020. Everything was put on hold.

This year is the Helen Drive again, but we’re gearing up for 2022, which will be called the Catskill Treffen.  Given the time available, it was decided that we should all gather at the Resort in Round Top, NY, to do a recon weekend. The end of July looked good for everyone and a couple of guests, so the Tubs were gassed up and pointed to the woods. By now, one of our group was voted in as a Registry Trustee, so we even had a VIP in our midst.

I decided that – rain or shine – the Speedster was going. The convertible top is still in the garage loft, but as many know, I’ve been wet before. I’ve had that car for 45 years, and my brother has had his for 55 years. In all those years, they have only been together a few times. My restoration was finished in 1999 and his in 2010. When he had his car at the last few Helen drives, I had the Puddle Jumper. When he drove his Speedster to the NJ holiday, I took a ’65 SC I had at the time. It was time that they got together again. 

The weather forecast looked iffy the first travel day, but the following three days looked perfect, so Jeff Leeds and I took off on the Mass Pike after rush hour. There were only a few sprinkles until we got past the Lee exit, and then the sky opened. Thank goodness for overpasses. The first one available was filled with two large black Suburbans, but just a couple miles further, there was space.

The rain only lasted about 30 minutes and then it was only another hour to the resort. Bill and Bev had come in the day before, so the two Speedsters posed for a photo opportunity in front of the main building.

The resort includes breakfast, but unlike the big chains like Super 8 or Hampton Inn, they serve only sit down, and it starts at 8:30 am. Only. Did I mention it was a family-owned German resort? There are eggs any way you want them, bacon, sausage, and two kinds of cereal. A pitcher of orange juice, coffee, and milk was on each table. They also alternate French toast and pancakes, but they don’t serve both on the same day, so if you want pancakes, it better be the right day. Everyone working there seems to really like what they’re doing, and the place has a really nice family feel to it. The family owners can be seen clearing tables and serving food when needed.  Dinner is similar, and the menu is posted, so you know what to pick. It’s all served family-style with plenty of bread and butter on every table. 

The bar has a great vibe with lots of German beer on tap, and Johnny and Jack are there too, our kind of place. There’s even a Juke Box that plays 45 rpm records, period-correct, of course.

We drove two of the tours that Bill had laid out, with the one on Sat ending at a small airfield with an airshow in the afternoon. The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome has  8-9 operating biplanes that put on a great show. One of the oldest that was flying was a 1911 Curtiss Pusher Model D. 

Short rides are offered in an open cockpit biplane which Bill and I jumped into. It flew at a speed that our Tubs would’ve seen in third gear and went over the Hudson River, doing a couple of sharp turns to get back to the grassy runway.

The show lasted almost 2 hours, and they do it every weekend in the summer, both Sat and Sun. Big crowd, lots of kids, and great fun. They even had a separate parking spot for us near the runway so we could be part of the show.

Another driving tour took us over some great Porsche roads and to the first round barn I’ve ever seen. We took a group shot to be used next year to promote the event, but when word gets out what a great area the Catskills are, I don’t think we’ll have a problem filling all the rooms.

Blackie ran great all weekend, made a lot of noise, and posed for photos when returning home on the Mass Pike. Somewhere around Exit 2 (now Exit 27? What?), one cylinder became part-time and only came to life under full throttle. I, of course, completely overthought the problem and had everything from a clogged main jet to an out-of-time distributor as the cause. I didn’t want to stop because it was running well enough to keep up with traffic, and stopping on the Pike has its own set of problems. It is classified as a restricted road and is not covered by AAA. If you must be towed, the State Police will send a tow truck that will tow you to the nearest exit, where you can then call AAA. The State Police contract says the nearest exit is $256 away. No wonder they show up so fast. Don’t ask me how I know that.

That ride gave me two hours to worry about what the problem could be. When I got home, it was lunchtime, so I let Blackie cool off, had a bite, and then jumped into the engine bay. I pulled the carb main jets first, they were clean, then checked the timing with a static light, and it was fine. I was going to pull the spark plugs to see if one was faulty, and the first one I reached for was number 3. The plug connector was just lying in the hole near the plug but not connected. I certainly don’t know how it came loose because nobody had been in the engine compartment except me, and it ran great all weekend. It also ran strong under full throttle, which doesn’t make sense if one plug wire was off.

I can only assume that Blackie was having such a great time in the Catskill Mountains playing with his friends that he didn’t want to go home.  These old cars are like that, trust me. The more you drive them, the better they run. Until it’s time to go home? – KTF

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NER Special Autocross Event Report

NER Autocross Special Event   August 15th, 2021

NER held a special event geared to give novices a chance to come and try out autocross, meet some of the “regulars,” and see what it’s all about. The event was held instead of our normal “Autocross School,” which we usually do at the beginning of the season. As they have done with the school for years, Conway Motorsports sponsored the event.

We had 50 people sign up, and 27 of them were novices. We had a bunch of parent/child dual drivers, and one family brought four people (father, mother, son, and family friend), all sharing Dad’s Boxster. Now that they are all into autocross, they definitely need to get another Porsche! So, we achieved our goal of attracting the newbies … the trick was to give them a chance to try out autocross and come away with a good taste in their mouths for the sport.

We set up two separate courses and divided them into three run groups so that folks would end up spending most instead of half their time driving and less time out working the course. One course was timed and the other untimed. The untimed course was used as an exercise course allowing drivers to get a good feel for some of the basic autocross elements like slaloms, gates, clamshells through repetitive runs through the course. The timed course allowed everyone to gauge their own improvement throughout the day or against their favorite autocross buddy – regardless of class. The experienced drivers spent most of their time jumping in to instruct the novices, but they managed to get a few runs of their own in as well as give the novices some thrilling rides to give them an idea of what can be done with these cars.

Because we set up two courses in separate areas of the airfield, the courses were up and back arrangements like would be done if autocrossing in a parking lot. The timed course also featured two switchback elements which, in hindsight, may have proved to be a bit too complex for the novices – in fact, it proved to be tough for many of the experienced drivers as well! But it did teach people the importance of learning a complex course – a skill which will undoubtedly come in handy in the future.

The Club sprang for a Pizza lunch as we normally do at our Autocross School, and people had a chance to socialize while taking a break in the middle of the day. After lunch, it was back to the track(s) where people kept driving until after 4:30. Between the two courses, folks got a lot of seat time in, and even though it was all fun, many were ready to call it a day by then.

The timing results from the main course are posted below and will remain up on our live timing site at https://porschenet.com/autocross/results_live.htm until our next event on September 4th. Photos from the event taken by Anker Berg-Sonne have also been posted to the website and our Facebook page. Thanks to all the new people who came out to try AX and to the veterans who spent most, if not all their day instructing and helping the novices have fun.

 

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2021 NER Summer Party Recap

On August 1st, 200+ of your fellow club members, friends, and family came out to Wachusett Mountain for our 4th annual NER PCA summer party. We could not have asked for better weather; it was the perfect summer afternoon to enjoy a ride on the ski lift up to the summit, chill by the band, have a tasty BBQ lunch, check out the robotics demo, and mosey through the car show.

PCANER 2021 Summer Party

 

21 NER Summer Party Robots

 

The lawn was filled with Porsches of all shapes, sizes, and colors, and our sponsor Porsche Norwell came through, as they always do, with a wide-ranging display of models from a gorgeous 1976 930 Turbo, a Taycan, and a paint-to-sample Arrow Blue Cayman GT4. Attendees voted on their favorite cars (or SUVs), and we’re proud to report the following winners in each class:

Class

First Place

Second Place

Third Place

911/912 74-89

Charlie Padula

Pat Mansfield

Ed Grogan

964/993

Tim Coonihan

Steven Howitt

 

996/997

Laurie Holman

Constantine Tsivelekidis

Robert Weisenbloom

991/992

Clement Napolitano

Mazzola, Colin

Tie: Bob Siegel / Varun Sara

Boxter/Cayman

Derek Mulligan

Chris Landry

Ed Moschella

924/944/968/928

Maddox Kay

 

 

Macan/Cayenne/Panamera

Virginia Young

Peter LaPine

 

 

PCA NER Summer Party Winners

Turning our attention to Cornhole Corner, we received a special report from our local correspondent, Bill Seymour:

There was plenty of sports excitement in the ever-unpopular Cornhole Contest. A thin field of only seven two-person teams entered for the Qualifying round. The pre-race favorite team “1920-1983” (ask Luis how he came up with that name as I have no idea) faltered badly, and “1983 Targa” (Brian Leonard and Tony O’Toole) also failed to get out of Quali. Two teams tied with 15 points and were set to have a “play-in” – “LOL – PDK” (Mike Cioffi and Andrew Quinn – both of Porsche Norwell) and High Fructose (Owen and Mitchell Coonahan) when it was determined that two of the qualifiers were not in attendance. 90% of success is showing up. (OK, maybe the event organizers didn’t do a good job of communicating exactly when the finals would take place.) >>>So that’s how he weaseled his way into the finals. I went on a ski lift ride with my girlfriend and came back to a smirking Bill Seymour who ended up “winning the tournament” Am I salty? Yes, a little bit. Will I come back next year with a vengeance? – you better believe it, but next year it’s me against you, Bill – the rivalry remains  (Luis).

In any event, that bid adieu to Tequila Takillya (I hope I’m spelling that right, but the players were Rob Stanley and Nikki Sanders) and “Need A Partner” (Tim Coonahan and Jay Landry – the latter being the Parts Manager at Porsche Norwell). The top qualifier, “Electrons” (Michael Cardinale and Cyril Bernard) did make the start line. Lacking a fourth team to fill out the grid, a new team consisting of Brian Leonard (another Porsche Norwell) and Bill Seymour was formed as “The Replacements.”

In the semi’s “Electrons” squared off against “LOL – PDK” and played a heroic match that took forever because they invoked the rule that you had to hit 21 points exactly (going over puts you back at 11, according to this format). (Let the record show that the NER PCA Cornhole rulebook follows the more standard format as published here. “Electrons” lost and could have filed an appeal but did not do so in time.) In the other semi “High Fructose” jumped to a 16-1 lead, but then the beer kicked in, and “The Replacements” roared back to win. “The Replacements” stayed hot in the Finals and won. A good time was had by some, and the organizers are questioning whether next year this event should be replaced by Beer Pong.

 

NER Summer Party Cornhole Winners

 

Thanks to the tireless efforts of our membership chair and sim racing enthusiast Anker Berg-Sonne, as well as fellow members of the NER PCA facebook community who jumped in to help, guests had the chance to experience a full complement of sim racing technology. Two Sim Rigs were available to try for participants of every age. Both simulators were run at Lime Rock Park and solo practice with the Skip Barber Formula 2000. One was the loaner Sim Racing rig that is available to PCA members in the local region, and the other was generously provided by Erick Aubin and Cyril Bernard. For the adventurous and motion-sick resistant, we also had a VR headset to try out. Testers ranged in age from four to the ’80s. The youngest, a young lady aged four, impressed everyone by staying on track lap after lap. She did need help with accelerator and brake pedals; they were far out of reach for her. Since the Summer Party, the loaner rig has been upgraded and is now a full rig with a racing seat and a solid frame. It is easily disassembled and can be transported in a family car. Interested members can contact our Membership Chair, Anker Berg-Sonne, through email at [email protected] to arrange a loan. You will need to use your own PC that must be able to support iRacing. To test your PC for compatibility, go to http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/Client/iRacing/?apikey=dec37c7f-8819-45d4-94f2-f33cf0956712

 

NER Summer Part SIM Tests

 

At the end of the day, when things were winding down and cars were being packed up with the various supplies used throughout the event, I sat down to have a drink with the amazing volunteers that really made this event possible with their incredibly hard work. I can’t give enough thanks to this crew – you know who you are and you are very much appreciated!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I will leave you with the photos and memories captured throughout the day by party-goers. Their thousand words tell a much better story than I possibly could. 

Enjoy!

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The Story of Two Porsche Neighbors

The Story of Two Porsche Neighbors

 

I grew up in Australia and lived with my parents in an apartment for the first 18 years of my life. My neighbor Albert who lives across the street from me, grew up in Hong Kong, also in an apartment. I tell this part of the story because, being two city boys, we were not accustomed to meeting and socializing with our neighbors. And so it was that it took ten years of living across the road from one another to finally discover that we both loved Porsches.

Our friendship began shortly after I returned one day in March of this year from a Cars and Coffee at South Shore Autoworks, where I had earlier acquired my new to me 2003 996 Turbo in late 2020.

My neighbor came running over to me as I stopped the car and introduced himself – Albert. He began to tell me a tale that was hard to believe. I should mention that before we had met, I had occasionally seen a car in his garage under a car cover that looked suspiciously like a Porsche in the color of guards red but just never thought about asking about it.

After introductions, Albert was excitedly questioning me about my Porsche knowledge and started to tell me the story. He had a 1987 944S that was purchased new and had been lightly driven for 14 years with just 17,000 miles on the clock and then had been sitting in his garage for over 20 years! Albert used to clean his car and do oil changes for the first couple of years of its slumber.

His first question was, did I know anyone who could bring his pride and joy back to life? While I have worked with several indie shops, the one that was foremost in my mind for this car was South Shore Autoworks because of my years of experience with Justin and his support of the club.

Another huge coincidence/benefit of living in our street is that we have a neighborhood towing service at our disposal right in our street. So, Albert arranged to flatbed his 944 to SSA.

Alberts 944 PCA NER

SSA did a full refresh, including battery, engine mounts, filters, cooling system, tires, A/C, and various hoses.

After a visit to be detailed at Driven Perfection, we drove to pick the car up, where I saw an old inspection sticker from 1999! I drove Albert’s car home for him since he had not driven a stick shift for nearly 20 years. Soon after, it was time to give Albert a few lessons in the parking lot, and then he was good to go! Do you know what they say? It’s like riding a bike – only 100 times better.

This car is so perfectly preserved. It still has the original Blaupunkt radio, and now I’m proud to say Albert is a member of PCA NER and has attended several events already.

Detailed 944S

The story will continue after I drove him in my Macan I think he is going to trade his BMW X5 on one; we’ll see. Porsche brought together two people from very different geographies and backgrounds. It’s the cars and the people.

Author: Mark Shane – Cars and Coffee Activity Chair

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The Dogs Of Tamworth

My longtime reader may recall a couple of columns that told the fictitious story of our dog Turbo and cat Gordo (RIP) participating in Autocross events. In point of fact, Turbo would probably be the least likely canine to have done so as he is a terrible car passenger. Rosemary believes this stemmed from an incident in his youth when I took him for a ride in a rental SUV.  Our minivan had been in an accident (not my fault!), and we were provided with a GMC Yukon.  I had no experience with a four-wheel-drive vehicle, so when it snowed one night, I took it out for a trail run and invited Turbo.  In two-wheel-drive, it fishtailed up a hill, but when switched to four-wheel drive, it powered up the hill as if it was dry.  Unfortunately, we then had to go down the other side of the hill, and four-wheel drive doesn’t help braking, and we slid (gently) through a T-intersection into a tree.  Turbo, unbelted in the passenger seat, met the windshield. Mind you that Turbo had often hit a tree with more force while chasing a squirrel, but it apparently got stuck in his dog brain permanently.  So now, when he is in a car, he is very agitated, pants rapidly, and refuses to lie down.  We have tried all kinds of drugs, including Benedryl, valium, and CBD oil which do cause him to lie down but don’t stop the panting and make him goofy when we get where we are going.  So Turbo is not a candidate to go to DE events.  But there were two very nice dogs at the recent NCR Tamworth event, and they appeared to enjoy themselves.  Dogs are allowed at DE –  of course, they must be leashed – and it is nice when whole families participate (Chris DeGrace had his kids there, for example).  Silver (my student’s dog) and Bruce were very well behaved and added to the fun.

                                                         

 

 

 

 

 

NCR put on another nice event, and I managed to get in 3 runs each day between the raindrops (open cockpit and no rain tires and no interest in tempting the fates).  I was slower than previous Tamworth efforts, which I attributed partially to a less sticky track but more to just inconsistent driving.  I struggle more at Tamworth than other tracks. I’m trying to get better with using brake markers, but my speed through turn one at Tamworth can vary by as much as ten mph.  Also, there are two different approaches (or at least I think there are) to the Turn 2A – 3 sequence, and I rarely get that to my satisfaction. Finally, the braver part of me says I should be flat from Turn 7 through 10, but my right foot doesn’t seem to buy into that.  (When I look at data, I’m at 1.5g and over 90mph, so my right foot may have a valid point.)  In any event, the 15-year-old SCCA wunderkind is 4-5 seconds faster than me in a similar car, so clearly, I’m leaving something on the table.

While I love the track at Tamworth, the infrastructure is lacking there and you are required to leave your trailer in an upper gravel parking lot to leave room for all the track cars in the paved lower lot. This makes for a hassle, particularly when it rains on and off. The good news is that the upper lot may be paved in time for the second NCR event later this year.  The other drawback to Tamworth is that the hotel accommodations are pricy and weak. Thanks to Kristin we were booked into a really cool Airbnb – a bit off the beaten path but very spacious – and it made for a nice social weekend.

                                                               

And bad news for the Jamaican Bakin’ Endurance race team.  We are still in the process of fitting the new motor as we wait for the oil cooler to come back from the cleaner (a fancy aircraft supplier outfit that gets all the little bits of metal out so we can reuse it) and wrestle with some electrical connector mismatches between the new wiring harness and old ECU. But the bad news is that the American Endurance Racing series in which we run changed the rules for next year and has outlawed cars with a power to weight ratio (Dave correctly points out that it should be called weight to power ratio) below 9.  Our old motor had 400hp which would have been OK with our 3,600lb car (with driver and fuel) but the new motor is capable of 500hp. That was $20,000 well spent!  [Editor’s note:  I redacted that – Rosemary might read your column, Bill.]  Our hope is that we can find an ECU tune that limits the horsepower, spreads it over a wide band, and produces lots of torque.  Broken Connecting RodWe also did more of an autopsy on the dead motor – the oil pump is fine, so it appears that either it dropped a valve or the connecting rod just failed.  Enjoy the pictures of the debris!

Finally, by the time you read this, we will have had the Summer Party.  I’m sure it was a blast, and I hope I did well in the Cornhole Contest.  Let the record show that I was the Cornhole winner at our own regular summer party, defeating one PCA board member while another PCA board member who talks a lot of trash was a no-show.

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