Archive for month: October, 2022

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NER AX Report #5

NER AUTOCROSS SERIES EVENT #5

SPONSORED BY 



NER held its fifth and final 2022 Autocross event on Saturday October 15th. The event was sponsored by Herb Chambers Porsche and of course we thank them once again for their continued support.

We were fortunate to have an exceptionally nice October day with cloudless skies and temperatures around 70 – a bit cooler than mid-summer for warming up tires – but welcome nonetheless. We had 58 drivers participating event after a few last-minute no-shows, including 17 registered Novices (although that included several of the no-shows). Regardless, we seem to be continuing to  generate interest in autocross for the future and we surely hope these folks will all come back for more.

The course was a bit longer that last event, with no one generating a clean runtime below 70 seconds for the day, although there were a few “dirty” 69 second runs. It featured several “aggressive” element changes requiring lots of steering input, perhaps contributing to these times and at least a few more sore arms.

In a surprising and entertaining upset, FTD was taken by Gareth Peters in his 2016 GT4 by posting a 70.080 on his 10th and final run. Not only did he have to beat Rob MacAlpine (who often posts FTD), but also Rachel Baker and Pat Salerno, two of our fastest drivers. Well done, Gareth!

Class 3 saw old friend Nick Durham return after a long absence driving Bob Canter’s 1984 Targa. Although he steadily got his feel back during the day, he only managed to get within 1.3 seconds of Adam Small, also driving a 1984 Carrera, who posted a 76.693 to take the class and season.

Class 4’s winner was Georges Rouhart, posting a 76.164. However, once again, Max Mayo made him work for it with a 76.371 – only .207 seconds off the mark. Georges took the season in Class 2, but look for Max to be a contender in the future. 

Elsewhere, Dan Gramm took Class 5 for the day and the Season posting a 79.962. Class 6 was dominated once again by Mark Skala posting a 71.369 in his 2014 Cayman S and securing the season as well. Tim Dailey ran unopposed in Class 7, posting a 78.557 for the day. Ed Moschella won Class 8 with 73.153, but featured a close horserace for the season points in the class between Erick Aubin and Jeff Johnson, who had been battling back and forth all summer. On Saturday, Erick managed to prevail by .772 seconds, taking the season by one point over Jeff. Class 9 was Gareth Peters’ who as previously mentioned, wowed us all with his win over Rachel and Pat, and is also the season winner for Class 9. Jeremy Mazzariello took Class 10 for the day with a nice run of 70.813 seconds, but Ollie Lucier, who was not at Saturday’s event, takes the season in that class this year. Class 11 featured a win by Rob MacAlpine with a 70.154 earning him the season championship for the class as well.

For the Novice class, Hartman Wagner posted a 77.973 to take the Class but also get himself booted into Class 7 for next year.

Full results can be seen on our Live Timing/Archive site by going to https://porschenet.com/ax, scrolling down to the date of Autocross #5 (Oct 15, 2022), then selecting the “Summary”, “Results”, or “Raw Times” reports. Season Points are posted below.

We’d like to thank Herb Chambers Porsche once again for sponsoring this event, and Thank everyone who participated for a great NER Autocross Season. See you next year!

-Chris Ryan

 

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Fifth Annual Charlie and Martha Dow Fall Rally

 

OK, sharpeyes, you are right – it was a Tour at first but it is a rally now and, once again, it was a great time.  We started at Sweet Berry Farm in Middletown RI, sharing the parking lot with the usual Sunday SoBo event.  A total of 41 rallyers were dispatched at 90 second intervals to follow a lovely course that wound back and forth between Rhode Island and Massachusetts, finally ending at Rachel’s Lakeside in Dartmouth MA. Along the route participants were required to spot the answers to 22 questions (some were “trick questions”) based on sights that they encountered.  Teams turned in their answer sheet with the total mileage driven (as per their car’s odometer) acting as the tie breaker.

This year’s rallyers were darned observant and four cars answered 20 of the 22 questions correctly (or at least correctly as per the judges – there was some controversy):  Tom Tate/Jeff Leeds, the Haynes, the Walkers and the Laws.  And the first three of these had the correct distance.  Clearly the organizers had not anticipated this as there was no “second tiebreaker” and the winner was chosen by drawing names from a hat by Spiderman (young Mr. Beaver).  Based on this Tom (darn it) and Jeff were declared the winner and took home a $250 gift certificate donated by Craft Detailing.

There was a second contest as well. Participants were asked to tell their best car joke to the judges (well, OK, one judge – me) as they awaited departure. It was very evident that the internet had been heavily interrogated in the search of jokes so there was considerable duplication. The most original was, unfortunately, a little too risque to be a winner. The winner was the previously mentioned Law team with runner up trophies to the Hebners and the Mattsons. (Here’s the internet version of the joke:  Three men were waiting in line to enter Heaven. The angel at the gate asks the first man “how many times did you cheat on your wife?” “10 times” the man answers. The angel gives him the keys to a 2010 Toyota Camry “this is what you will drive around heaven”. The second man says he cheated on his wife 5 times, the angel gives him a 2018 Lexus and lets him in. The third man says he never cheated on his wife, he gets a 2022 Porsche GT3RS. A few days later the 3 men meet and the man in the Porsche is very sad, the men ask him what’s wrong, he replies “I just saw my wife riding around on a scooter.”)

And, after the fact, we’ll declare a third contest.  The winner of the best “Fun Team Name” is the Kricks for “RhodeShow.”

Thanks to our sponsors Craft Detailing and Griot’s Garage, our host Sweet Berry Farm and our hard working team of Roger Slocum, Paul Soares, Anker Berg-Sonne, Lisa Burke, Larry Levin and Rosemary Driscoll.  And special thanks to the Dow family for their lifetime commitment to PCA and for sending 6 representatives (and bringing Charlie’s yellow 911) to this year’s event!

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9 October, 2022 SoBo Porsches and Coffee

photo: Larry Levin

Rosemary and I left our house shortly after 8:30 AM for our short drive to Sweet Berry Farm, arriving shortly before 9AM. Organizers for the Charlie and Martha Dow Memorial Drive were already separating the Porsches that were participating in the drive from those attending the coffee. The temperature was a bit brisk, but sunny and clear.

We had 40 Porsches for the drive and at least 30 additional cars for the coffee. Because my wife and I signed on for the drive, we were parked in the third of about six rows. For those going on the drive, egress from the lot was staggered by roughly 30 seconds. Launch time was 10 AM.

photo:Larry Levin

Because (weeks prior) we initially verified the first half of the of the route; we were confidant with the drive beginning on Aquidneck Island. However, we became dependent on following someone when we crossed over the bridge and entered Little Compton.

Little Compton, for the most part, has minimal street signs, and we lost our GPS signal for much of the area during our initial map verification. Therefore, we successfully followed a silver 911 that must have loaded the drive app because they never got lost.

photo: Larry Levin

Rachel’s Lakeside banquet room was bright, sunny and roomy. A buffet of mixed vegetables, stuffed chicken, fish, pasta, mashed potatoes, and rolls were offered. Certainly, no complaints about the food.

Because we went on the drive I had a brief opportunity to interview Porsche people. In the first row behind the wheel of his son’s 2015 Turbo S. was Tom Tate, “getting into the 21st century”. Driving his son’s Porsche, Tom has recently been doing auto cross and participating in track nights. Tom says that the car did great.

Tom Tate and “his son’s” turbo S

Also in line were Fred and Judy Michel with their red 914. As a youth Fred raced go carts and later, his seemingly fondness for 914s and Porsches. He has owned seven; his first was a 71 914. He was attracted by the Porsche’s mechanicals, style and performance. He has had this 914 for three years. Found on-line in Maryland, the car doesn’t seem to have any major issue. Initially Fred had to do some restoration to the passenger side of the pan because of corrosion, saying that the inside of the fenders are solid. It appears to be a great driver and that’s what it is all about.

Fred and Judy Michel

The next car was the flying yellow 2012 Carrera previously driven by Charlie Dow. Pictured is Charlie and Martha’s son Eric and children (Daryn and Hannah) and daughter Kristen (Allen) with Eric and Drew. The Dow’s first Porsche was a 98 Boxster purchased in 2003.

The Dow Family

Across the field was a glimmering white 928 that caught my eye. Matthew Boday is the owner of this 1981, with manual transmission, showing just 81k miles, and it is his first Porsche. Looking for a Porsche for a long time, he drove by a dealer in Massachusetts and ended up purchasing the 928 this past June. Commenting that the dealer didn’t know what he had, Matthew implied that it was selling at a good price. Other than performing service components (seals and gaskets), no major parts needed to be repaired or replacd. Although not up to show standards, the resprayed 928 shows no dents or blemishes and the interior appears very good. I am looking forward to seeing this car again next Spring.

Matthew Boday

Once again Larry Levin was one of the first to arrive but this time in his new red Cayman GTS, and unfortunately I was not aware of his new purchase until we left. PCA Northeast Region is so lucky to have such an enthusiastic volunteer photographer who seems to be at every event. Larry will be the first one selected to be interviewed in April.

Rosemary and I are looking forward to seeing you all in April 2023.

photo: Larry Levin

Rog Slocum
127 Center Ave.
Middletown, RI 02842
e-mail: [email protected]

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Four Speeds and Drum Brakes

 Catskill Mountain Tour

 Perfect weekend weather, a German resort in the New York Catskill mountains, a group of friends and a Porsche 356, what could be better? The event was set up to run every other year in the same manner as the Helen GA event down south. It was ready to go in 2020 but put on hold as Covid 19 blanked out our schedule. We finally got the all clear this year and 68 people with 38 Porsches (including a 968, 914, Cayenne) arrived on a Thurs afternoon. We had many of our southern Tub owners attend, one from Sebring FL in a Speedster (1400 miles) and 6 others from FL and GA.

Riedlbauer’s Resort has been in the town of Round Top, NY since the 1930’s, with the current family running the program since 1978. The rooms are basic (there is a TV but no Fridge) and the buildings are well kept (think Dirty Dancing ), and there is a terrific bar with a huge German Mug collection.



Meals are part of the package so you don’t have to chase food every day. With all the driving and exploring we did we missed a few meals but breakfast was waiting every morning and one of the dinners we had was a terrific of German dish called Jagerschnitzel). The last night had a BBQ outside under cover with fire pits all around.

 The first group tour was to one of the original round barns left in NY. Tour books made sure that we saw as much of the countryside as possible and that was lovely. Some of these roads look like they came from the north GA mountains.

We had lunch as a group at a local Grange Hall (remember those?) put together by Paul and Sybil Margaritis. Terrific food under a tent by a small stream. A great time.

On Sat after breakfast, we drove over to Unobtainium Inc in Ravena NY  a company owned by Adam and Matt  Wright who supply used parts to our little band of drivers that we can’t get anywhere else. Hence, the company name. They supplied the standard coffee and donuts/bagels that were definitely not German.

 

Then on to Reinbeck for lunch and a quick drive over to the Aerodrome for an airshow featuring some planes that were over 100 years old. With a skit that involved throwing a dummy out of an open cockpit and chased by old time Cops (no guns).

 

Dinner the last night was on the property at Nussy’s Bier Garten which was all you could eat with free beer & wine. Well, at least until dark, they didn’t want to have any of the old people get lost in the woods. Fire pits were taking the chill out of the air  and added to long tales of previous Porsche gatherings. We all parked in the field together as the Bier Garten was open to the community and they were there too.

All in all a terrific Porsche weekend.  

The story above was written for publication in the National 356 Registry magazine but the real story (back story?) is below.

I actually had two of these Tubs at the event, the Speedster that I drove out and the Puddle Jumper that I loaned to a friend from Seattle who wanted to attend but didn’t want to drive 3000 miles to get there.

I had spent a couple of weeks going over the sunroof coupe and in the process had replaced the oil cooler and adjusted the clutch cable twice. I drove the car to Logan Airport and tossed Tom the keys. He seemed pleased with his ride for the week and met a group on the Mass Pike the next day for the trip to the Catskills. I followed the day after, meeting another Speedster owner at the same westbound rest area. It was a perfect day for a Speedster ride until mile number 146 when the car began to lose power and the temperature gauge headed to the red area. I was only a mile from the Lee rest area so I just let it roll in and got out to take a look. The movement on the generator pulley told me that something serious had broken inside the engine and that drive was over.

The Mass Pike has some strange rules about towing a car on the roadway so instead of calling AAA I phoned a friend who was just a ½ hour off the end of the Pike. Adam Wright is in Ravena NY and with his brother, Matt, owns a company called Unobtainium, who we were going to visit on Sat. See above. He dropped everything, jumped in his truck, brought a flatbed trailer and loaded up Blackie for the trip to his shop. He said that he thought he could sell the car pretty quick even with a bad engine. Ha Ha. Adam wouldn’t take any money for the help, said he just wanted the help credited to his Karma account. Another member had his 356 fail on the Pike the day before and it cost him almost $800 to get it back to West Newbury, MA. Ouch !  

                       I called friends who had already checked into the Resort and they came and picked me up and I gave Tom the bad news that I was going to need that coupe back. We had other backup choices so that worked out just fine as he was happy to trade the coupe for a little more luxury in a Porsche Cayenne.  

                          That arrangement was looking just fine for a couple of days until the clutch began to adjust itself on Saturday and not in the right way. As I pulled into the Reinbeck municipal parking lot on the way to lunch the clutch cable snapped and I was looking for another tow. Boy, these cars are fun.  

                          AAA was there in less than ½ hour for a trip back to the Resort. My friend Jeff had a spare clutch cable (he carries everything and never needs anything) and the job began as soon I could get it jacked up. I was pretty deep into the job when the troops returned from the air show and then I had lots of help. Only one member, Chris, actually got his hands dirty but I couldn’t have done it without him as it is a two man job. Everyone else stood around holding their beer and giving advice that wasn’t needed but all in good fun. Everything got buttoned up before the BBQ started and when the Puddle Jumper drove up to the parking area it got a big round of applause.

 The only other glitch was a short one on the ride home. I didn’t seem to have enough power to keep up with the 4 car caravan on ride back to Boston on Sunday and though I might have another engine going away. 45 minutes was enough time to over think the problem and I concluded that I had not put the bolt under the gas pedal in far enough and I was only getting ½ throttle. A quick turn with a 10mm wrench and it was back to full power and easy to keep up.

As any reader can see there is always more to the story with these old cars, we just remember the good part.

KTF

 

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Summer Snapshot: Calabogie 2022

NER’s Third DE of the Year – Calabogie in July

 

Hello folks. This installment of the DE Crier’s corner brings us over the border to a small town west of Ottawa Canada. That would be the township of Calabogie, which is in the heart of Greater Madawaska, Ontario, Canada. It is truly a beautiful place with wonderful lakes, rolling hills, and a few really good bistro type dining establishments. But most importantly, they have what we crave. What is that? An amazing, world-class race track.

 

This was our return to Canada in the post covid world. And to be honest, the border crossing thing wasn’t that big of a deal. In the last two years we had to cancel all of our events in Canada due to the covid border closings. As many know, we cancelled our Tremblant event earlier this summer due to low attendance. So we were very pleased to be able to proceed with his event. 

The event at Calabogie has always been a low turn out event and because of that, the event has a little more focus on individual development and TONS of driving. This year we each had a minimum of 3.5 hours of on-track time PER DAY, and well over 10 hours of track time for the total event was possible. Yes, you read that right. A typical DE event give you close to 4 hours of on track time for a 3 day event. I urge you to register and come to this event next year. Its well worth it, and its pretty special. 

Other than getting a ton of track time, we also try to have a pro-coach who can work with us. This year we were able to retain our best yet, Francis Marquis. Francis is a senior coach with Calabogie Motorsports Park, with responsibilities in HPDE program delivery and instructor training. He also works with TWOth Autosport as a driver coach and race engineer supporting the Spec Miata, Radical and TCR programs. And if that wasn’t enough, Francis is the chief instructor for the BMW Car Club of Ottawa, with responsibilities in organizing and delivering the Advanced Driving School and Tire Rack Street Survival programs as well as instructor development. He ran a wonderful program for us. He gave us several classroom sessions, in-car instruction and probably the best track-walk that I have ever been part of. His attention to detail was impeccable. And he was also really fun and just an all-around great personality.  

 

We had a beer and wine social, where everyone was able to embellish the facts of the day. For some reason everyone seems faster in the evening than they really were. The track also has a lunch counter. Each day lunch was included as part of the package, that made it easier for everyone, to be able to just get lunch at the track. 

We are looking at how to make this event even better for next year. This year has proven that we can run this as a stand alone event. We absolutely plan to go back next year. Whatever your reason for not wanting to go this year, or in previous years, I urge you to reconsider. The border wasn’t a big deal. Yes, the drive to get there is a little long, but we had no traffic and it was a pretty easy drive. 

Calabogie is absolutely one of my favorite tracks in the world. The experience is absolutely worth the effort. 

– Adam Schwartz



 

 

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DE Crier Report: Palmer #2

NER’s Last DE of the Season

Palmer 2022 Sept 23-25

Your DE Crier was unable to participate in this event (hence this is Kind Of Bill’s Report – LR) but thankfully there are better writers.  The following reflects the work of Mike Woodward, Joe Cracco and Dale LeBossiere…

In between the heavy rain on Thursday and the showers late Sunday, we were treated to 3 great days of driving at a spectacular and challenging track with Patrick Long and the Cayman Islands sponsored Cayman GT4 Club Sport.  Admittedly, Friday started out a little cooler than the Cayman islands folks are used to (cold temps and wind chill almost in the 30’s), but it was sunny and dry! 

If you haven’t seen the Cayman Islands Cayman, you should.  It’s a beautiful car.  It’s fully wrapped with the front being that almost indescribably gorgeous Caribbean blue water and the back being the sandy beach with crashing waves in between.  Pity that no one could see the car for long.  Why?  Because…well because of Long. Patrick Long.  He (thanks to the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Authority) drove 24 lucky raffle winners around Palmer in that car.   Let’s say that Patrick’s pace was such that you never saw him coming and once you gave him the point by, he was out of sight in a matter of seconds.  Turns out that Porsche factory drivers are pretty quick. 

Patrick Long is one of the great Porsche team racers of all time, and he has been the only American on the Porsche team.  He has won endurance races at Le Mans (twice), Sebring, and many others during his illustrious career.

The NER Track Committee was thrilled to hear Patrick would join us at our local track in Palmer, MA on September 23 for demonstration rides supporting his favorite charity.  The Cayman Islands sponsored this event with impressive goodies for all participants and, of course, the car driven by Patrick.

We raised $3,000 for charity by selling raffle tickets for the 24 rides available with Patrick.

All of the raffle winners were thoroughly impressed with the laps riding shotgun with Patrick.  Many of us have spent years driving Porsches as a hobby, and we were all humbled by the skills and speed demonstrated by Patrick.

For those of you track rats, a few technical observations:

  • The Cayman Islands Club Sport itself was no more powerful than many of our cars, but its suspension and brakes were extremely ‘dialed-in’.  Porsche does a fantastic job tuning its cars, and Cayman Islands team further tunes these cars based on feedback from its racers.  Many of us longed for a chance to drive that car!
  • Patrick was very relaxed driving at impressive speeds.  Endurance racers can’t afford to waste energy, and Patrick appeared to be driving conservatively relative to his race pace.
  • Perhaps because of the fresh Michelin slicks and the relatively low power of Patrick’s car, he apexed a bit earlier than most of us.
  • Braking was most impressive.  Patrick braked later than we do, and he balanced braking and turning (trail braking) almost to each apex where he smoothly transitioned to the gas pedal.
  • Patrick balanced oversteer and understeer naturally and without drama.  His hands were very fast and precise when the car oversteered.
  • Many of us were surprised by Patrick’s technique of shifting the PDK transmission to a higher gear to reduce torque and oversteer.
  • Patrick did not use the full track width on some of the turns.  His natural line was guided by his vision.
  • Many commented on the smoothness of the ride with Patrick especially when transitioning from braking to throttle in each turn.

Many of us improved our lap times after riding with Patrick, and the enthusiasm of all participants was exciting to see.

Dale LaBossiere reported that while he was awaiting his ride, Al Sandy was watching and timing Patrick… “that’s a 1:41”!  That lap time is about 4 seconds faster than the fastest times of our instructors, and Patrick drove that pace in his very first session of the day on an unfamiliar track! 

When Friday’s track went cold, the pre-dinner social had a festive tropical vibe with colored lights and inflatable palm trees in kiddie pools full of ice and beer provided by sponsor South Shore Auto works. Then the Cayman Islands folks put on the grand finale.  A one-two punch of Cayman Islands swag bags (including Patrick Long signed hats, yeti mug, key fob, etc…) and a belly-busting Caribbean food-fest dinner. (Thanks to Pam Mascetta and Judy Mansing for organizing the dinner!)

After an awesome day on Friday, we enjoyed the rest of the weekend without the company of Patrick and the Cayman Islands team. Saturday dawned just as cold as Friday (but didn’t feel like it b/c the wind was lighter).  With new run groupings, drivers were treated to 26-minute run sessions (20% more than normal) and boy was it a treat.  That extra 5 minutes was just enough time for each of us to master Palmer (or am I the only one?). LOL. What with running CW one year and then CCW the next, for most of us, it had been 2 years since running the track in this direction (CCW this time). Remember how to drive this direction 2 years later? Some of us can’t remember what we had for breakfast. 

Funny thing, though….it took only a session for the track layout to come back to Joe Cracco (inconceivable b/c, no kidding, he still can’t remember what he had for breakfast).   Talking to others in the paddock, everyone seemed to be working on improving their driving on different parts of the track.  Isn’t that just like Palmer?  After all, there are 14 corners and lots of elevation change.  (Who is Joe Cracco you ask? He’s the only man in New England who might do this: Winter Beaters Season 1 Vol.1 – LR)

Some folks were promoted, some hit personal bests, all had a great experience. To quote one new student (back from a few years away from PCA), “Every single person was friendly and helpful. I have participated in many DE events, but this one was by far the most welcoming”.   For that we have to give thanks to the volunteers who continue to produce events like this which are a joy to attend. ‘till next year, Palmer!

OK, so now your DE Crier is taking back the microphone from Mike and Joe and Dale. And the main thing that I can add is that I have actually been to the Cayman Islands and can report that it is all you would hope for in an island vacation (stay at the Ritz Carlton and try the water squirty thingie powered by a jetski if you dare). See Water Squirty Jetski powered thingie below-

 

 

Here are the promotions from this event…

Placement to Blue (new to our club but has prior experience):

  • Penko Ivanov

Green to Yellow:

  • Corina Cisneros
  • Stephen McMillan
  • Chris Gorski

Yellow to Blue:

  • James Burgarella
  • Benjamin Zendejas
  • Jay Wynn
  • Matt Robison
  • Joe Davin
  • Stephen Hall

Blue to White:

  • Sam Axelrod

White to Black:

  • Michael Canfield (son of the instructor Michael Canfield)
  • Torsten Becker
  • Zachary Veugen

And finally, special thanks to Glenn Champagne and Betty Mae Mosley for finding and coordinating the Cayman Islands Dept. of Tourism event at Palmer and the following day at Lars Anderson!

 

 

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