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Article II Thoughts

Seven years ago when I moved back to Massachusetts from the D.C. area and switched my PCA membership to the New England Region, I never anticipated what the following seven years would entail. I made it to a few auto-x’s, attended loads of cars and coffees, started doing DE, served on the NER board as Treasurer, then VP Admin and now as the new President. Through all of that fun car stuff though, the best part has been the people I have met. People who have helped answer questions about my different board roles, instructors who answered questions/ offered tips and critiques about my driving and car set up, the few hardy souls who have ridden shotgun in my car at DE events, they have all proven true the mantra “it’s not the cars, it’s the people”.

As we move steadily into 2022 and closer to the “driving months” and as the various lingering elements of the pandemic hopefully retreat into our rearview mirrors, I am eagerly looking forward to where we go as a club.  Both in terms of “recovering” from how we have had to do things for the last two years and also how we can improve or expand the club in general.  PCA is an ever growing and increasingly diverse group of people and cars. One of the big ongoing questions the NER board faces is how do we keep our activities relevant to this evolving environment? We need to constantly be thinking about this along with a host of other items surrounding our existing club needs.  The board is comprised of a great group of people who I know will do an exceptional job, but at the end of the day we are finite and fallible human beings. Every club member should feel 100% welcome at any time to offer suggestions, recommendations, etc regarding the club. It is an open line between you and the board.  The more communication and feedback we receive the better we can do our jobs. 

Here is to having an excellent 2022!

-Robert Jacobsen, NER President

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Squiggly Lines

Summer is here, COVID is in the rear-view mirror, and the Club’s calendar is full up with activities for everyone to participate in. As a constant reminder, please check out our club calendar to see what activities may interest you or your family. There is always plenty to do.

This year I have spent a lot of time at the track as I am participating in PCA Club Racing across the eastern united states. To date, I have participated in six racing events with three left for the year.

For those unfamiliar with Club Racing, the event typically takes place over three days, with day one consisting of two practice sessions along with a qualifying session. Day two consists of two thirty-minute sprint races and day three is a sixty-to-ninety-minute enduro race. Cars are grouped by class, and each excursion on track consists of multiple classes of cars. Sometimes you are the fastest cars on track, and other times you are near the back of the pack.

My most recent event was held at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). This is a lovely track located in Alton, VA, near the North Carolina border. It is an enormous venue located in the plush hills of Virginia with tons of runoff, which is always a good thing. Everything is available at the track, including lodging, so it is possible never to leave the track once you arrive.

At this event I was fortunate enough to connect with a prior NER club member, Jim Graham, a fellow DE participant. He was racing a Boxster and placed second. I imagine this will not be his last race given those results.

The age range of cars you see at the track is vast. Older 911s, 944s to the newest beast, the 911 GT3 R. The older cars are well represented, but the Boxster’s, Cayman’s, and cup cars dominate. The older cars have a certain rawness to them, both in terms of driving and sound. There is nothing like the sound of an unmuffled flat six howling down the front straight. It is both lovely and piercing at the same time. The newer 911s, especially the newer racing cars, tend to be much quieter.

What is missing at this point are the electric cars. At VIR, we had a Porsche Taycan pace car, but every time that I saw it in the paddock it was plugged in. The current limitation is simply one of duration and recharging. The Taycan is quite capable of racing around a track with decent performance, as demonstrated by Leh Keen at Road Atlanta. However, running for thirty minutes or more would be undoable.

The other limitation is that of power delivery. Most tracks do not have the infrastructure necessary to provide anything beyond level two charging capabilities. Recharging could take up to 8 hours, which would make racing multiple times per day unrealistic. I do believe that in the future, these problems will be overcome simply because the desire to race cars is so desirable.

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