AZPCA AUTOCROSS

Season EVENT #4

February is the month of LOVE

February is the month of LOVE and being sweet to the person you love the most has been an American past-time tradition. The German valentine traditions are essentially the same as in the AZPCA Regionland. The Germans provide red roses to the women they love along with the cards and the sweet treats, just as the AZPCA Regionlanders do.

However, the big difference between the Germans and the AZPCA Regionlanders is the German men give their women “BIG” ginger cookies made in a shape of a heart decorated with a frosting, and usually with words expressing the feelings of their heart, that is very sweet (no pun intended).

The AZPCA Region autocross men have very little time from now to get their significant others the “BIG” gingerbread cookie, the sweet treats, and the roses so they can get a free pass to attend the upcoming Saturday, February 4, 2023, autocross event at the Arizona Motorsports Park (AMP) in Litchfield Park. This could be a double jeopardy situation for the autocross men because there are two events this month (February).

The second event is scheduled for Saturday the 25th. Maybe this would be a great time to invite your soulmate to come along to participate (watch or co-drive your Porsche or drive their own Porsche) and have just as much fun anyone could have at an AZPCA Region event.

As of this writing there are several grid positions left to fill up but, I would not procrastinate and wait until the last minute. It appears that all the AZPCA Region events, not just the autocross events, have been very popular and fill up fast. All you need to do is peek at the various AZPCA Region events listed on Motorsportreg.com (MSR) and see all the “yellow” waitlist flags next to the numerous names of the members waiting for cancellations to happen so they can join in on all the fun. Don’t be one of those members with a “yellow” waitlist flag next to your name.

Event #4 was held on January 14, 2023, at AMP in Litchfield Park. The weather for the past event was a bit chilly all day with rain in the forecast for later in the day. The days are getting longer thus the warmer temperatures are just a few weeks away. Although, it is still a tad early to unpack your complimentary AZPCA Region Cooling Towel.

Forty-five drivers took to the course, that was designed by the AZPCA Renown Course Design Team, in a counter-clockwise direction with a loop. After traversing through a three-cone gate and two-cone slalom elements, you enter a right-hand loop, and continue across the course to a couple of sweepers.

STORY BY Kenneth Mitchell PHOTOS BY Jennifer Reinhardt

The first sweeper was a left-hand sweeper then you enter a right-hand sweeper and a couple left-hand turns, and you cross the start/finish. The drivers drove three timed laps each in the morning and afternoon sessions.

The Porsche contingent consisted of twenty Porsches, elevenCaymans (with the usual variants), one-GT4, three-Carreras, one-968, one-Boxster, and three-GT3 RS’s. One of the GT3 RS’s is a newly acquired 2016 GT3 RS by Brian M., who formally competed in a Cayman S.

There were four AZPCA Region members attending their first autocross event. Rita P. brought out her 2019 Porsche GT3 RS to carve some corners at her first autocross event. Rita was also showing her mother, Ginger W., how much fun could be had at an autocross event with a Porsche car. Rita’s best lap time was 55.317 seconds from her second afternoon lap run.

Ginger wasn’t just standing around watching her daughter negotiate the autocross course. Ginger was patiently waiting with her helmet in hand for her turn to take the course in her 2016 Cayman. Ginger had a ton of fun and was a quick study. Her best lap time was 84.142 seconds on her last lap run in the afternoon session.

Ginger has been attending several AZPCA Region activities. In her member profile, she stated that “she is 74 and having fun with her Porsche car”. Ginger was true to her word and in addition to the fun had the greatest improvement during the day with almost a 30 % reduction (34 Seconds) in her times between the morning and afternoon sessions.

Rita and Ginger are another multi-generation AZPCA Region family partaking in family fun-packed AZPCA Region activities. The autocross event is one of many AZPCA Region events for a family to have fun with their Porsche cars and the Rook Y’s. Driving Tours, and Dan B’s Driving Events (DEs), are the other AZPCA Region activities to have fun with your Porsche cars.

Jonathan B., the new member Jonathan, not the Jonathan B., that has been an AZPCA Region member for several years, a.k.a. “Riky Bobby”, drove a 2022 Porsche Cayman 718 GTS and his best lap time was 61.172 seconds which he accomplished in his last lap run in the afternoon session.

David S., is also a PCA member and he joins us autocrossing for the first time driving his 2020 Porsche 718 Cayman and his best time was 62.632 seconds that he obtained from his first lap run in the afternoon session. His last lap run was in the afternoon session was only two-thousandths of a second slower than his first afternoon lap run.

John D., aka the AZPCA Region Driving Instructor for the Region’s D.E. program decided to come out and join in the fun of autocrossing. John has been involved with both the DE and Autocross programs for many years. John drove his 2012 Porsche Carrera “S” and his best lap time was 60.592 seconds which he drove on his last lap run in the morning session. John was not used to seeing a sea of cones in from of him on a track/ course, but he did manage not to run over them.

Rick A, Autocross Co-Chair, kept very busy at this event providing valuable driving instruction to the four first-time autocrossers in addition to managing the event operations. Rick was hopping in and out of four cars all day long and he definitely deserved a rest because he was plumb-tuckered-tired.

In Group “P” the 991/997 contenders were Kim K. in his 2016 Porsche GT3 RS with the best Group “P” time of day of 50.131 seconds that he drove on his third lap run in the morning session. Kim did not take any afternoon session runs. Eric S., in his 997 Outlaw, best lap run was 50.889 seconds that he achieved from his second lap run in the afternoon session. Don’t forget to view Eric’s video he posted on the Region’s Facebook page.

The Cayman contingent consisted of Martin and his wife Jennifer R., in the family 2007 Cayman “S”, Kenny M, in his 2015 Cayman GTS, and Kathi V., in her 2021 Porsche GT4, all vying for being the top Cayman driver in Group “P”. Martin led the way all day long with his best lap time of 50.973 seconds. Kenny M’s best lap time was 51.735 seconds with Jennifer just behind Kenny with her best lap time of 52.086 seconds. Kathi V. was wheeling her GT4 with a couple of competitive times and her best was 52.414 seconds.

Kathi actually had a better lap time run but unfortunately, she snagged three cones along the way on just one run. She also had a cone on another run and she laid claim to the title of being the top “Lady Cone Killer” for this event.

The Group “X” drivers were among the fastest drivers for this event. AZPCA Region member Jonathan B (Riky Bobby) laid down two killer runs (50.037 and 50.199 seconds) in the afternoon session that put the icing on the cake, so-to-speak but, those two killer runs were not clean, they were dirty with one cone on each run. Johnathan’s best clean lap time was 50.582 seconds which he drove on his last lap run from the morning session, however, he still earns the honors of being the fastest Group “X” driver for the event.

Ealing J. was second with his best lap run of 51.084 seconds from his last lap run from the morning session. Ealing was actually forty-four thousandths of a second quicker on one lap from the afternoon session unfortunately, he was dirty with one cone. Mathias A. was flying and trying to keep up in his non-Porsche Grocery Getter and his best lap time was 52.196 seconds from his second lap run in the afternoon session.

Scott K. is a high school student and he was sharing the driving with his dad in his dad’s, 2009 Cayman “S”, and he was on a mission to beat his dad, Eric K. At the end of the morning session, Scott was a half second ahead of his dad. Eric was the first driver to go out in the afternoon session and his best lap time was 54.410 seconds from his first lap run which places him fourteen-thousandths of a second behind his son. Scott finally achieves his goal in besting his dad’s time for the first time.

When Scott took to the course in the afternoon session it was already a done deal and he drove the course like he stole the car or he was driving his dad’s car for the first time after he got his driver’s license, wait, he was driving his dad’s car and he was doing like every kid does when they drive their dad’s car. Scott shaved off some more time with a best lap run of 54.093 seconds. Scott’s wild run also collected a couple cones along the way that added to his overall cone kill of six for the day which he earns the title of being the top “Cone Killer” for the event along with the “Lady Cone Killer” (Kathi V.) right behind him with four kills.

This event was murderous on the little plastic cylindrical objects for this event. This event had a total of twenty-nine cone kills. That is seven more cone kills than any other event since records have been kept going way back to year 2021.

This event also had another wayward driving Porsche driver candidate that was added to the count of wayward driving drivers. That brings a total of three wayward driving Porsche drivers vying for that distinguished “Wayward Porsche Driving” title of the year.

There are only two events left after this month, March 18, 2023, and April 8, 2023, remaining for the 2022-2023 AZPCA Region Autocross Season. The autocross program will be on hiatus from May through September and will commence with the first event of the 2023-2024 AZPCA Region Autocross Season on Saturday, October 7, 2023.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Autocross Co-Chairs, Rick A. and Kim K., at autocross @ az.pca.org.

Don’t forget about Valentine’s Day, it’ll be here in no-time.