May Velocity Magazine - Issue 20-05 by Porsche Owners Club

Velocity

May 2020 / Issue 20-5

A PUBLICATION OF THE PORSCHE OWNERS CLUB

Redefining Social Distancing 1

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Velocity

A PUBLICATION OF THE PORSCHE OWNERS CLUB

May 2020 / Issue 20-5

VELOCITY Staff Editor /Art Director Don Matz

Note from the Editor:

Production Manager

As the world continued to deal with COVID-19 and all of the anxiety that came with it, nearly 100 drivers showed up to our May event at Willow Springs. Social distancing was practiced by many and a few wore masks, but the focus was on Porsche and what we in the POC love to do...Racing. CaliPhotography, as always, captured the interaction in the pits and the action on the track. We hope this issue finds you well and we hope you enjoy it’s content.

Matt Hollander

Cheers DM

CaliPhotography Don Matz Martin Schacht

In This Issue:

Contributing Writers Don Matz Eben Benabe Martin Schacht Chris Lewis Matt Hollander

Contributing Photographers

POC Board of Directors

Almost Had It................................................ 4 Porsche Metamorphosis............................... 26 Getting into SIM........................................... 30 Winning the Tribute...................................... 33 Averting Disaster.......................................... 37 The Targa Concept / Déjà Vu......................... 4 1

Ron Palmer Scott Craig Nathan Johnson Joe Wiederholt Dwain Dement Matt Hollander Don Matz

President Treasurer Secretary VP Motorsports Chief Driving Instructor Social Media Director PDS Director

The Targa concept reinterprets the Porsche driving experience ( Story on page 41)

Cover Photo: Anders Hainer holds the lead at the beginning of an Orange Cup Race at WSIR.

www.PorscheClub.com 3

Almost had it by Eben Benabe

With all of the Covid-19 pandemic issues going on, it was fantastic being able to get back on the track. No one knew what the atmosphere would be like. Masks, no masks, hand shakes or fist pumps? None of this mattered to anyone as we all just wanted to get back on track and get after it. Not having a drivers meeting wasn’t bad though!! Sorry Joe, I know you love speaking at those!! With a new Holinger transmission, paddle shifters, and Vision Motorsports splitter/rear wing installed, I was eager to see what the car could do. Finally some serious downforce to compete with the other GT1 cars. Saturday’s race was fantastic. P4 in qualifying was good, but I had to get around Mike Monsalve and Charlie Persico. Kevin Roush was P1, so catching him was not going to happen, unless he had another last lap incident!! I knew I had a good chance to get by Mike on the straight away, if I kept up with him in the corners. Mike is not easy to pass, ever!! Good, clean racing allowed this to happen. Then I was after Charlie. If you get close to him, there is zero draft off the Ginetta. The Batmobile is super-fast in a straight line, so I knew I had to get him in the corners. It took almost half the race to get by him, but it finally happened and I had clean air. My son was on the radio pushing me now. But I was content with being second. Kevin Roush was way up the road. Even if I caught him, I knew he would be too difficult to pass with only a few laps left. Better to play it safe, conserve tires, and finish the race. After having a few beverages and feasting on a gourmet meal with the Vision squad Saturday night, Sunday morning rolled around. I carefully opened one eye to gauge the level of hangover. I was pleasantly relieved that all systems were go, and there was no headache!! I had spoken to Kevin the night before and he said he was going to race GT3 on Sunday. I thought to myself, “this is my shot!!” Whenever he is not racing in your class, you have a chance. If he is in your race, 2nd is always good!! Qualifying was fantastic as I posted a PR. The car was working well and the reflexes weren’t damaged from the previous night. 5

With fellow Vision driver Dan Davis behind me at the start, I had planned on keeping the lead into one, then just keep it smooth and go for the win. Dan had other plans, and used his mega horsepower to take me on the inside before we reached the first turn. I kept up with him, catching him in the corners, and then breathing his fumes on the straights. I got a run on him out of 2 to get around him, but once again his twin turbos were spooled up, flames spitting from his exhaust, and he got by me on the back straight. It was time to change strategies and play the waiting game. Let the bright yellow lights in his mirror force him to make an error!! I tried a few more times to get around him, 2 tires in the dirt, but he was having none of it. The white flag came out and my son told me it was time to go. Screw it, I thought. I went around him in 2!! Much butt clenching was going on as we were door to door with me on the outside. I figured if Roush could pull off this type of maneuver, why not try it!! Coming out of 2, I had the lead! Now just keep him behind me, or so I thought. Coming into 3, I was way on the inside, not ideal. As we made the turn, maybe a little too much throttle, too much turning, or too much adrenaline, caught up with me. As the car started turning, the rear end started to come around as well. More throttle and counter steer, no big deal. Then it all ended, the car spun, race over. As I sat on the edge of track watching the race go by, I did a Craig Stanton. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=wUKUqjwsS-k These things happen, although a little too often to me recently. So much so that the guys at Vision have a new nickname for me, “DJ”, because at the end of the day, I am always spinning!! I was very happy for Dan, he had earned the win. Can’t wait to have the full GT1 class together at the next event. Whenever that may be…..

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My Porsche Metamorphosis from 911 to 981 by Martin Schacht

Back in the good ole days, I was a sales manager for a bio-company. One of my duties was to ride with my salespeople out in the field, in their cars, calling on customers. We paid them mileage for them to use their cars, hadn’t evolved to company cars yet. One of the salesmen, we’ll call him Tom, I worked with, covered N. California out of the Bay Area. When it was his “turn in the barrel”, he’d pick me up early in the AM and we’d head out on the road. The car he drove was a 1975 Porsche 911S. I had been a passenger once in a 356, awesome, and once or twice in a 914, but had never been a passenger or driven any sort of Porsche 911 before, and I was impressed. My sales representative had several flaws, one of which was fortuitous for me. On the bad side, he could not get his reports in on time, forgivable for a topnotch sales person, which he unfortunately was not. If a Sales Rep were 125% of quota, I’d gladly do their paperwork. His other flaw, and it turned out to be otherwise, he’d get sleepy on our way back to the Bay Area from a distant sales call. He’d ask me to drive. I agreed, he’d sleep and I’d drive, and here is where my romance with the aircooled, stick shift Porsche cars began. I found myself pretending to own that car… this had to be remedied. I had to get one of these Porsche cars, so I commenced my search. Living in the Bay Area at the time, first stop, to Carlsen Porsche in Palo Alto. They had a 71 911 E Targa. This car was fast….apparently my insurance company agreed, they wouldn’t insure it. Then off to Porsche of Burlingame to look at a very sweet, 1973 nonsunroof, 911 T coupe. It was super low miles and very clean….I bought it. I didn’t tell my wife about it; I just drove it home. She ran out of the house as I turned in the 26

driveway, and said the most memorable line, “Where’d you get that pussy wagon?” Kept the 73 for a while, sold it when I was forced to accept a company car. Later on bought a 1974 911…..got it cheap because it had some rust, not knowing the metastatic properties of rust at the time. What I know now, there’s the rust you see, and the rust you don’t. You never get rid of it 100%, it most always comes back, sooner or later. My body shop/paint guy said he could remove all the rust, or so we thought at the time. I had the car taken down to bare metal, sprayed in a color more pleasing to me, got some new chromed Fuchs wheels (Now that was stupid) from Wheel Enhancement, had the interior done over at Autos International, then in Solana Beach…this bitch was now cherry. A few months after I had the car restored, I stopped by a 7-11 for something or other. On the way out of the store, I just happened to notice a rust spot in the middle of the driver door. It was far enough up so the door would have to be re-skinned or replaced. That put me over the edge and I drove the car to Alan Johnson Porsche in San Diego…(I had relocated to San Diego in 1975.) By the way, Alan Johnson moved to Paso Robles, my latest home town. I had lunch with him and a friend last summer. He is still in his game, in his 80’s. Anyway, I perused their used car inventory and one model stood out, a 1980 Weissach Coupe, in Champagne Beige, 7” and 8” wheels, 15” in diameter, complete with a 911 Turbo front chin spoiler and a 911 Turbo tail, full leather interior to include the dash, sport seats, red piping, sunroof and a sport suspension. This car was I of 400 Weissach Coupes sold in North America, rare indeed. Kept it for about 5 years, but was compelled to sell it to help pay off a messy divorce, only to go into a 1/2 decade of Porsche abstinence. It was brutal. In late 1999, new and final wifey convinced me to get another Porsche car (It wasn’t that hard). She said I was miserable without one (So true). So off to Pioneer Porsche where, to my delight, I discovered a nicely kept 1997 993 Carrera, in Grand Prix white, with all the options to include, Option 220, which gave me a LSD and as a bonus, cars with Option 220 came with 4 channel ABS, sweet! I kept this baby for 17 years. It evolved from a street ride, and eventually to a track/street car where we competed in wheel to wheel racing for 10 years, with this chapter coming to an end in 2016. Sold it and used the proceeds to front the greater part of the purchase price of a Carrara White 2004 GT3. Toward the end of this latest Porsche romance with the GT3, a friend asked me to help him find a multi-purpose Porsche car that would do well as a “grocery getter” and, when the opportunity arose, a proficient track car. I accepted the challenge. I had no idea of what Porsche car this could be, but I knew whom to ask for advice, Adam Gill from Vollig Autowerks. This guy knows Porsche cars as few people you 27

will ever meet in the business do. His recommendation, a Porsche Cayman S, 3rd Generation, the 981, 2012 – 2016, aka the 981. The interior, with 8 air bags, is a little larger, accommodating the + sized driver such as myself. In addition, the car now has longer wheelbase, wider front track, electric power steering , a snappy interior just dripping with Alcantara, and with two (2) other important features: the 3.4 motor out of the 911 991 car, and could come equipped with a dual-clutch PDK transmission or a six-speed manual with dual mass flywheel. The Cayman S chassis is reported to be one of the most rigid chassis that Porsche has ever offered. The performance of the Cayman S was reported to be phenomenal by the automotive magazines, and numerous glowing YouTube reviews. The list of available options made my mouth water: Dual Clutch 7 speed PDK with 3 modes (Sport Chrono Package), standard for around town, Sport when you want to have a little fun and Sport + for days at the track, to red line in acceleration in the first 6 speeds, sport suspension 20mm lower than standard, sport exhaust, Porsche Torque Vectoring with mechanical LSD. But here is the problem, you can look all over the United States, and chances are you will not find a 2014 to 2016 Cayman S with all of these options. And if you were to get lucky, the car could be in a color you couldn’t live with. But bear with me Grasshopper, there is a silver lining in those clouds, it’s the 2015/2016 Cayman GTS. The GTS is a loaded Cayman S with 15 more HP. This car comes standard with sport exhaust system, Sport Chrono package, cruise control, Bi-Xenon headlights, Sport Suspension 20mm lower than a Cayman S. The two other key options you will most likely encounter on the GTS will be Porsche Torque Vectoring with Mechanical LSD, cost $1,320 when ordered on the car as new, and PDK, a $3,960 option. Some feel the GTS is a bit of a bargain compared to the Cayman S because these standard features are included. I told my buddy searching for the ideal street/track car, based on Adam’s recommendation, and my research, to get a 2015/2016 GTS. In addition to the great reviews (https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/first-drives/reviews/a6323/2015p o r s c h e - c a y m a n - b o x s t e r- s - a n d - g t s - f i r s t - d r i v e - r o a d - t e s t - r e v i e w / )

it had some very desirable additional features such as mid-engine as well as direct fuel injection. And in contrast, it was only down 10 HP from the 250 HP 2015 991 that he already owned. Metamorphosis, from 911 with stick to 981 with PDK: based on all I had learned about the Cayman GTS researching the car for a friend, the proverbial hook was set. I jumped over the metaphorical cliff and made my decision to sell the 2004 GT3 and get a 2015/16 Cayman GTS. This was big deal for me. My past Porsche cars were always 911 cars, and all stick shifts. Now I was to transition to a mid-engine car with 28

dual clutch PDK? The time had come. I had grown tired of shifting gears in traffic, especially the slow traffic one experiences in San Diego. Driving the 5 or the 805 in rush hours just isn’t fun anymore. I even went so far as to commence my personal GTS search before selling the GT3. I had every confidence that the GT3 would sell, and sell it did, in 3 days. Had it not, I would have been in deep trouble on the home front. But something was nagging in the recesses of my “gear head”, what were the potential downsides? My number one concern was performance. My 2004 GT3 was quick, and weighed about the same as the GTS, 3,050 Lbs., and it had 45 more HP. Would the GTS be a slug compared to the GT3? There was no way I could wring out the performance potential of the GTS in a pre-purchase test drive. I would have to take the word of the magazines, and YouTube reviews, and wait until I owned the car. Once the car was mine, I felt free to put the PDK into Sport +, and floor it. That I did, and good god was it fast. It actually seemed faster that the GT3, perhaps an illusion created by the quick shifting PDK and the raucous sport exhaust. I am pleased to report the GTS is all, and more, of what its reputed to be. I get very similar times in my GTS as my GT3 at Laguna Seca, and I have dueled with several GT3 cars at other track events. The GTS is the quicker car. Once I learn the car, I expect it to be significantly faster than the 2004 GT3 The end result, moving to a 2015 Porsche Cayman GTS provides me a car 11 years newer with more modern electronics, modern lighting, lots more cabin creature comforts such as the sound system with SIRIUS radio, sport exhaust, sport suspension, 20” wheels, mid-engine handling, 7 speed PDK, and Porsche Torque Vectoring with mechanical LSD. Have I had second thoughts about morphing from my long history owning stick shift rear engine 911 cars to a mid-engine 981 with PDK? Not yet, nor do anticipate any. I did address one shortcoming; the stock 981 front calipers were four-piston. I am a six-piston guy, and had been spoiled by the monster front brakes on my former GT3. As fate would have it, the front calipers from the Porsche 991 S are an exact fit. I ordered up a pair and flushed the brake system with fresh DOT 5 brake fluid, added Pagid Yellow brake pads to all four (4) corners of the car. The car’s stopping ability was substantially upgraded, and I have experienced no brake fade at the track. For some reason these brakes don’t squawk on the street. It may be because I went through the Pagid brake-in protocol, to the letter. So fear not, 911 stick shift junkies, a cure may be found in a 981 GTS with PDK and a wide assortment of track Nannies. And it won’t take 12 steps, one hot lap in a 981 GTS may do it. 29

Sim Racing with the POC by Chris Lewis

As an avid time attack and race car driver who has had to take time off due to family priorities and a slim racing budget, I was very excited to see the POC is now using the SIM racing platform during the COVID-19 stay-at-home time period. My last official POC race was during the 2017 Tribute to the LeMans at Willow Springs International Raceway with Team Precision Motion running in the #96 Porsche Boxster BSR. In the first hour I was able to set the fastest overall lap for the team. We ultimately finished 4th place after a very exciting and challenging endurance race. I’ve been on the iRacing platform since 2013, but only sim racing for fun. I invested in an inexpensive $99 dollar racing wheel to use on my iMac. Since then, I upgraded to a proper gaming PC but was still using the low-end wheel and pedal setup. When I heard about POC iRacing, I emailed Matt Hollander to ask if I could join the league and gain experience by finishing out season one. I figured this would be a great opportunity to get back into racing with the POC. He accepted my request. My first goal was to acheive reasonable times using my cheap wheel and pedal. Secondly, I would search for a better setup. Unfortunately, however, I wasn’t able to locate one except on EBAY for an outrageous price. The last POC league SIM race of season one was a 70 minute Tribute to LeMans at California Speedway. This is a familiar track which added to my excitement. After a few practices I was about 5 seconds slower than the fastest drivers. Realizing I’d need a better setup in order to be competitive, I went to the league chatroom looking to buy a used wheel and pedals. Fortunate for me, a fellow racer had just upgraded and was selling his old setup. I bought it... and, it was shipped just in time for the race! 30

With my new wheel and pedal setup, I was able to shave off two more seconds and maintain consistent lap times. I knew I could be competitive in that this was going to be an endurance race and not about fast laps. I wound up 3rd in the last practice race prior to the enduro and I had a few more nights to practice. The key to SIM racing is similar to the real thing. Be consistent, smooth, and smart. You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t win the race in the first corner. Stay focused. I was ready. In SIM racing you view the cockpits of the faster drivers. You can follow their driving line along with their brake points. There is also chat-enabling during the practices. The other drivers were really helpful when it came to collaborating on car setup and driving line tips. After several long nights of practicing, I was grateful being able to collaborate with drivers like Nico Silva, Matt Hollander, John Momeyer, Ron Palmer and Eric Oviatt. They were really helpful when it came to learning the line and car setup. I finally felt ready and comfortable for the big race. John Momeyer and I were teammates during my last Tribute race and it was great practicing together on iRacing the night before the official virtual POC Tribute to the LeMans endurance race. In the end, I qualified 14th in class and finished 9th! Now Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m looking forward to improving my skills and moving up in the ranks as we get into season two of POC SIM Racing! It was finally race day! I was able to log in just in time for qualifying and managed to qualify in 14th place for my class. I knew having a mixed class with the 911 GT3 and Cayman GT4 was my main objective to dodge the mess that will most likely unfold going into turn 3. Just as anticipated there was a spin and I was able to navigate successfully around it and ended up moving up to 7th place. I made a very small mistake on lap 3 going into the infield hairpin when my son Maverick, who is 15 months, decided to knock loudly on my office door. This allowed me to lose focus for 1 second and miss the braking point, causing me to drift slightly into the grass. I came to rest facing the right direction and luckily didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t spin out but had to let several GT4 cars pass by before re-entering. That set me back to 14th position, again, but I knew if I kept the rest of the race clean I would have time to fight my way back. Just shy of the halfway mark I managed to make it back to P10. My pit strategy was to come in a little earlier with a splash and go. I made two other mistakes prior to the end of the race and had to serve two slow-down time penalties for using too much racetrack on the left turn before getting back on the roval. Ultimately, I would finish in the top 10...9th place in class. Very happy with the results and only having 3 incidents the entire endurance race it was a very successful first virtual race with POC.

SIM G N I C RA

Second Season PODIUM Finishers

GT3 Cup

GT4 Clubsport

May 18 Daytona

1st 2nd 3rd

Connor Bloum Nealson Lawrence Matthew Hollander

Jacob Abrams Paul Newton Jonathan Brel

June 1 Sebring

1st 2nd 3rd

Teddy Framhein Gregory Liefooghe Thomas Boileau

Jacob Abrams Alain Stad Paul Newton

June 15 Mid-Ohio

1st 2nd 3rd

June 29 Watkins Glen

1st 2nd 3rd

July 13 Lime Rock

1st 2nd 3rd

July 27 Road America

1st 2nd 3rd

Aug 10 Virginia Intl.

1st 2nd 3rd

Aug 24 Road Atlanta

1st 2nd 3rd

Sept 7 Sonoma

1st 2nd 3rd

Sept 21 Laguna Seca

1st 2nd 3rd

by Matt Hollander

Winning the First Virtual Tribute to LeMans With COVID-19 pushing back our annual Tribute to Le Mans, I knew we couldn’t just stand back and not have the event in some form. That was the beginning of the Porsche Owners Club Sim Racing League. We held our virtual Tribute at a track familiar to most of you, also a track we have ran in the past for this event, none other than Auto Club Speedway. Unfortunately, the platform we use for sim racing, iRacing, does not have Willow Springs, yet. I set out wanting to make this race as close to POC fashion as possible so we made it day into night with multiple classes for a 70 minute endurance race. Although it wasn’t 3-4 hours we still wanted to get pro drivers involved to “dice it up” with our club drivers. The likes of Gregory Liefooghe, Connor Bloum, Nicolas Silva, and Kenton Koch were some of the top names entering. We were even fortunate enough to have a special appearance from Patrick Long to do a virtual track tour, just like in a real IMSA race: https://drive.google.com/file/ d/1rZaRau-zrZcredw69UJbjCGkL5hKGMz1/ view?usp=drivesdk Being the 2019 relay class winners with my co drivers, Alex & Anders Hainer, I was excited to see what I could do in the virtual world. But, there was one issue....the first three races in the sim series were raced in a 718 GT4 Clubsport. For the Virtual Tribute we added in a second class/car, the nonABS, lack of traction control beast known as the 991 GT3 Cup car which is known to be one of, if not the hardest car to drive in iRacing. Let it be known that I was actually nervous for this virtual race. With a lot, and I mean hours upon hours of practice I had finally managed to get the car close to where I wanted it. Big shout out to Dan at the Speed Gallery for spending time helping me tune the car! My lap times were still a bit off the top 3 but I knew this was an endurance race and consistency would be absolutely crucial. The day was here and I was ready for the green flag. The hours of practice would finally be put to the test. The race was interesting in a lot of ways one of which being that we were required to take a mandatory pit stop during the race and Dan had told me to be smart about when to do it. We wouldn’t need to take tires in this pit for the 70 minute race but both the 718 and 911 had been limited to 50% and 60% fuel 33

capacity. With that being said, both cars could make it about 75-80% of the race before needing to pit for fuel. I got stuck in slower lapped traffic early in the race, about 25 minutes in, so I decided to go ahead and pit but knowing people would be battling hard and would be running slower laps this strategy might just work! Fortunately, it paid off! Both Kenton and Gregory faced penalties for pit issues during the race so it put them behind me with about 15 minutes left in the race. This is what I practiced for! Don’t screw this up! Don’t look back, eyes forward! Are all the things going through my head at this point. Wait, what’s this? I didn’t put enough fuel in the car during my pit to finish the race!? CRAP. What should I do? Hmmm....with about a 35 second gap on Gregory Liefooghe, I decided to go into full fuel conservation mode. Coasting off the banking and slowly rolling on throttle would be some of things I would have to do to finish this race. The only question left, would I be able to keep a pace to keep Greg behind me for the win. With Greg absolutely flying towards the end to catch me he was able to reel me in. The last two laps of the race had us separated by less than 2 seconds! With it being dark I could see the headlights coming. Come on Matt lets not let this slow us down! What’s this?! Greg is flashing his headlights to try and break my focus. Darn those pros. On the last lap Greg came flying in behind me coming into the playground closing the gap to just 0.4 seconds. With only two corners left and then to hit the banking to cross the start finish line for the checkered flag, I had to hold Greg off! Last corner, great exit, on gas (please don’t run out of gas) and.......Boom! Across the line P1 for the 1st ever Porsche Owners Club Vitural Tribute to Le Mans! With only a 0.3 second lead on Greg it was a close race to say the least. I crossed the line and went to do a couple victory donuts after start finish and....let it be known, I ran out of gas! Video of the last two laps can be watched here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rbJG7aG0Ya8gD8qQ9k-oMNgRlS8bmUaP/ view?usp=drivesdk Link to full race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HlzYDsutLg&feature=youtu.be In reflection, this was a great experience to put our members against well known pro drivers while keeping our minds off of everything currently going on. I want to give a big shout out to the Porsche Owners Club for making this all possible and to all of our members for consistently showing up for practice and races to make this series a huge success. To all my fellow racers, I look forward to seeing you at the track soon and make sure to follow the sim league on the Global SimRacing Channel on YouTube for what is sure to be some exciting racing for season 2.

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Disaster Averted? by Martin Schacht

The origin of the title will soon become evident, but first a little background. As a result of the pandemic induced quarantine, most all Driving Club track events had been cancelled for the past few months, all except for those conducted by Speed District out of Los Angeles. On April 17th, never having run with this Club, I took a chance and signed up for a single day event at Willow Springs Raceway. If the event were sub-standard, I could always leave. As it turned out, it was very well done. Speed District conducted a Virtual Drivers meeting using ZOOM, and strongly recommended appropriate social distancing at the event. The event was very nicely run, populated by courteous drivers who respected the Club’s “point-by” policy in effect for the Beginners and Intermediate groups. The one major challenge of the event for me, it required a 200-mile drive, each way. To arrive at the track by 7:30 AM, required me leaving home 3 ½ hours earlier, which I did. I did four (4) sessions, and cut it short, knowing that I had to make the trip home. I was confident I could make it, was feeling a bit ragged, but thought I had enough reserve to make the trip back home, non-stop. This was not to be the case. The strain and stress of this very long day didn’t hit me until about an hour after I had left the track, while headed down the Interstate 5 Grapevine Grade. This portion of the trip is challenging under the best of circumstances, only to be exacerbated when driving tired. As luck would have it, I made it down the Grapevine with no drama. Just north of Bakersfield, the State of CA has provided the strategically placed, Buttonwillow Rest Stop. I pulled in, parked my truck and trailer, and took a nap. I purposely didn’t set an alarm; the nap was going to last until I awoke adequately rested. Well that wasn’t in the cards: about 30 minutes into my snooze, engine noise from a big rig parked next to me put an end to the nap. Surprisingly, I did feel quite rested and alert so off I went for the second half of my trip home. Arrived at the ETA predicted by WAZE. So a potentially

dangerous precedent was set, it seemed possible and within the limits of my constitution to make a roundtrip to Willow Springs in one day. That was delusional on my part. Let’s do it again: Speed District, announces another one (1) day event being held May 2nd, at Willow Springs International Raceway. With a flurry of track event cancellations as a result of the pandemic, who knew when our CA driving clubs would be holding another event? Most likely in the Fall, when the hot months had passed and hopefully the COVID-19 threat had waned. What choice did a “Track Junky” such as me have when a “fix” presented itself? I signed up, and off I went the morning of May 2nd. The outbound trip to Willow Springs was uneventful, arriving at the track at 7:45 AM. I did four sessions: My fellow drivers were competent and passing signals were given as appropriate. After the lunch break, with four sessions under my belt, it was time to head home. So I packed up and commenced a repeat of the last time here with Speed District in April of this year. I did feel a wee bit more weary than the previous trip, having gotten about 5 hours of sleep, an hour less than my last one (1) day trip to Willow Springs, 2 weeks earlier. By the time I was headed down the Grapevine, I knew I would be needing a nap in order to make it home without going to sleep at the wheel. So I set my sights on the Buttonwillow Rest Stop, only this time it seemed an eternity before turning into the State provided roadside oasis. I parked, and I was able to get in about a 30-minute nap, but in retrospect, it wasn’t enough. Post nap, I pulled out on to Interstate 5 north, and was driving along, albeit in retrospect, in a fizzy state of mind. In the background, I kept hearing a thumping noise, but concluded the source was the surface of the highway. Sometime into this reverie, a car pulled alongside in the left-hand lane, honking and the Good Samaritan passenger pointing at the bed of the pick-

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up, or the trailer, couldn’t tell which, so I pulled off to the shoulder and stopped. The freeway facing side of the truck and trailer were fine. So around the back of the trailer I went to inspect the other side. My mouth dropped, the aft trailer tire was completely shredded, and the leading-edge tire was nearly flat. I was very, very close to driving on bare trailer wheels on that side. Now that would have been a guaranteed calamity, of unknown consequences, all of which would have been bad.

I was going to have to drive on three (3) tires to the nearest tire store. My Auto Club guy tells me not to worry. Just put on the four-way flashers and drive the shoulder of Interstate 5 on three (3) tires, some 23 miles down the road to the Lost Hills off ramp. So this I did, at 35 MPH, all the time worrying that the one (1) tire holding up the right side of the trailer could collapse. Notwithstanding big rigs blasting by me at 60+ MPH. Very close to this exit, I located Gutierrez Tire store, open until midnight. And best of all,

It should have been a simple trailer tire change, albeit compromised by the nearly flat companion tire. So first thing, I placed a tire changing ramp in front of the nearly flat tire, and pulled the trailer forward. This would serve to elevate the shredded tire and make it available for changing it out with the spare tire.

they had my sized trailer tires in stock. I had to buy two (2), one to fill the empty spot in the trailer’s wheel well, and the other, as a spare, should I have another tire failure over the course of the last leg home. I was out of there and headed home in about 30 minutes, and had a very pleasant ride home. The adrenalin I had produced as of a result of the tire failure incident, kept me wide awake. When I got home my wife made me a mega-margarita, and an incredible dinner of fish tacos.

Next task, dismount the spare off the interior wall of the trailer. I knew the lug nuts are 19mm, so of course the two lug nuts holding the spare down must be 19mm. Wrong! These lug nuts require a 21mm socket! I didn’t have a 21mm socket in my possession. Curses! So admitting defeat, I called the Auto Club: I have their roadside package that includes my trailer. The driver Caesar arrived shortly thereafter, a very pleasant chap. He had a metric socket set, so that problem was solved. Off comes the shredded tire replaced by the spare. Now we have the issue of the other tire with very low pressure up on the tire changing ramp. Why not just inflate it to specifications, 80 lbs./Psi? Easily done, I had a nitrogen cylinder so I volunteered to pump it up to relieve the driver the hassle of having to drag 50 feet of air hose to my trailer. I was so proud of myself, finally, I was part of the solution, no longer the problem. I opened the master valve, placed my fancy nozzle on the valve stem, air began flowing, things were looking good for about 2 seconds, then the sidewall inflated and the tire blew up in our faces. It sounded like a M80 firecracker going off…fortunately we weren’t physically injured, or came away deaf! So Caesar removed the ramp, and subsequently the tire, with the trailer now having to rest on three (3) tires with a blank space where the leading tire had been.

Did I learn anything as a result of all this? • Never venture out on a driving episode of any kind unless sufficiently rested, • Install Tire Pressure Sensors in trailer wheels with a warning display in the truck cabin, • Under no circumstances will I ever do a long dis tance, anything over 2 hours each way event. Con veniently, Laguna Seca is 2:00 hours, and Button willow is 1:15 down the road, • Have a 21mm socket on board, • Put the best tires possible on the trailer, the truck too. I will never be able to trust ex-USA made Westlake brand truck tires, due to the second fail ure and subsequent explosion. The shredding of the first tire, something like that can happen in an un fortunate circumstance. This lack of trust in Westlake compels me to replace all 5 Westlake tires and substitute Goodyear Endurance Truck tires, Load Range E, 10 ply rating. The Westlake tires…into the recycling bin. News Flash, Jan 30, 2017: Goodyear is proud and excited to introduce the Endurance...the only radial special trailer tire built in the United States.

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nor a coupĂŠ, neither a hard top

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The Targa is neither a cabriolet

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The Targa concept reinterprets the Porsche driving experience Porsche introduced the 911 Targa at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt in September 1965.

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Upcoming Events

Click on event photo to register

SIM Racing at Mid-Ohio

Streets of Willow

June 13-14, 2020

June 15, 2020

Where it all started for many of us. While the cup racers are up at Laguna, why not come out to the Streets and hone your skills?

Club members with track experience or online sim racing experience are invited to participate â&#x20AC;&#x201C; however, you will need an iRacing Membership and a simulator.

The POC 2020 Coffee Table Book is Now Available

Be sure to check out the POC website for our 2019 schedule of events and to stay current on PDS, Time Trial and Cup Racing standings.

E-Velocity designed by Don Matz Graphics

And, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t miss the Official POC Facebook Page with photos, videos and comments from our members.