September Velocity Magazine - Issue 23-09

Back in Business

September 2023 / Issue 23-09

Note from the Editor: Hallelujah, we’re back in business! After a 2-month break, the POC finally hit the new asphalt at Willow Springs. Racing was awesome. You can read about it in this issue of Velocity where Brett Gaviglio and Steve Eisler call the action. Also, our esteemed president, John Momeyer, gives us a report on his recent trip to Germany to celebrate Porsche’s 75th Anniversary. Andrew Weyman interviews Karen Robinson and Steve Town interviews VALI Motorsports and also further updates us on our association with Wear Blue...all good stuff. Enjoy!

VELOCITY Staff

Editor / Art Director

Don Matz

Contributing Writers

Andrew Weyman

Steve Eisler

Steve Town

Brett Gaviglio

Contributing Photographers

Luis Vivar

Andrew Weyman

Steve Eisler

Chris Walsh

Don Matz

POC Board of Directors

John Momeyer President

Scott Craig Treasurer

Jim Salzer Secretary / PDS Director

Joe Wiederholt VP Motorsports

Dwain Dement Chief Driving Instructor

Eben Benabe Time Trial Director

Steve Town Sponsorship

A PUBLICATION OF THE PORSCHE OWNERS CLUB

Cover photo: Luis Vivar

At the last board meeting Nathan Johnson resigned from the POC Board of Directors. In case you didn’t know, Nathan has been a board member for the past 10 years. On behalf of the Board of Directors and all the club members: THANK YOU for everything you have done Nathan! Nathan plans on being at the next event so when you see him, please let him know how much we all appreciate the time he has put into the club. Nathan continues to work with the board to transition his duties and will continue to play an active role in managing the club’s insurance requirements.

After accepting Nathan’s resignation, the board moved to appoint Jim Salzer as his replacement and appointed him Secretary of the club for the rest of 2023. Jim will serve out Nathan’s term through 2024. Jim is currently our PDS Director and is spearheading our partnership with the Motorsport Safety Foundation. Thank you, Jim, for accepting the new role and responsibilities.

Images: Don Matz

https://www.gmgracing.com

714.432.1582

Instagram: @gmgracing / Twitter: @gmgracing / Facebook: TeamGMG

Providence, Genius

Image: Luis Vivar / Don Matz

Genius and Fuel

BRETT GAVIGLIO

“The moment one commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Having worked for nearly a decade to turn a 32 into a 26 in my old car at WSIR, I felt the stakes might be high with some fresh smooth asphalt. Now we were looking at the possibility of track records falling, which did happen for one class, in moderately warm weather with moderate breezes blowing in the Sa turday afternoon. Freshly paved roads are often smoother, grippier than the old surface giving the race driver a newfound confidence in the higher friction surface. In the case of WSIR the old cracks and bumps and irregularities were famous landmarks of feel. You could drive the track by Braille on the old pa vement. Feeling the bumps into 1, the groove a little over a car’s width off the edge of 2, the frightening off center feeling in the brake zone for 3. With T3 entry providing a staccato of beats on the steering wheel under braking as the car attempted to over rotate all by itself… or worse, bottom out like riding on a curb of imperfect pavement crowning down center of the car as the splitter made a telltale tch-tch-tch sound whilst the right side slid and the left side gripped.

Yes, Dorothy you are not in Kansas anymore said the Cup Racer returning from a two week trip to France and no practice on said smooth grippy tarmac. All those markers you’ve gained all that muscle memory from are gone… this old track is a new track…sort of. The more even, level pavement had me searching for

Photos: Luis Vivar

sight lines because I no longer had the feedback of the bumps and cracks. And all of the speeds were higher in every corner. At least for Turns 1-6… but once the new stuff ended just over the top of 6, hold onto your butt because the edge of T6 exit is coming baby! And that new grippy stuff is gone after you go over the hill.

Reduced tire wear had me missing the starting pressures as the normal 9psi increase went to less than 6. Shifting all the qualification secrets to those who practiced on Friday; I didn’t. What we did see was consistently faster race lap time and qual times.

We watched Anders Hainer, Riley Giacomazzi, and Ryan Moore round out the ultra-competitive BSR podium Saturday morning as those of us Red Cup Racers watched closely for signs of “the new new.” With John Momeyer and Larry Haase coming in 4th and 5th respectively. But the real story of that first Orange Race was this Blue GT5 car starting in the back and charging through the field on the strength of a 1:29 qual time. Who was that masked man? Dwain Dement came out to play in Orange and drove a brilliant series of laps Saturday morning besting Don Kravig as he held on trying to pass as many BSRs as possible.

The 2nd Orange Race ended up with John Momeyer making it up to 3rd and Anders holding the honors with Giacomazzi giving chase. There was a long yellow/black flag after Larry Haas carried too much through T9 and made it to the wall and through it. Larry was OK—a testament to our safety equipment.

Red Race had a crazy high pace once it started. We didn’t even make it to the green flag before our first incident as we grouped up in Turn 7. Once we got started for real GT1 set a blinding pace in the 18s as Mike Monsalve won, besting Loren Beggs in 2nd, and Eric Olberz rounding out the podium. GT2 had Razvan Sporea winning, with Ana Predescu and Paul Barnes taking the remaining podium spots. Our GT3 race was one for the books as our front row lockout had both Duane Selby and Steve Town qualified in the 22s with Eben Benade and I on the 2nd row. Darin Moore and James Buck started 3rd row. Town got mobbed on the start by Eben and me as we attempted to run down Selby. But it was not happening. Selby drove a perfect race with lap after lap in the 23s. Not qual times, RACE TIMES!! What was strange is that we GT3 cars were catching the GT2 cars and getting a GT3 podium meant passing or trying to pass GT2 cars. It was crazy. Out of nowhere here comes James Buck on a charge thru turn 8 on those fresh Hoosiers having not put in a qual lap at all. I thought new pavement made it “safer.” I thought we were all going to sort out like “normal.” No. Commitment, providence, genius…all playing live on Saturday. In GT3 Buck pulled a 2nd behind Selby and Eben made it to 3rd. I put that big blue butt out there and made the widest car possible for Town to stay behind. Everyone drove so damn fast in that race!

Sunday brought slightly more wind and a more even playing field. Tire wear and an extra day experience meant new adjustments in expecta tions and settings. Just like that a guy who thought he was never gonna break a 24… now had a predictive 22 coming up

Photos: Luis Vivar

passing Turn 8 in qualifying only to have the car sputter out of T9 and yup… cough, cough, weeze…then a cursing press of the RESERVE button as the car restarted slowly up the straight. So my new fast was a 23, not a 22. “Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, Begin it.” But first make sure you have enough fuel in the tank to do so.

Ever yone went a bit faster on Sunday. Anders won Orange Cup BSR race on a pace in the 32s with Mark Polunin taking 2nd and Ryan Moore scoring yet another podium. Satakal Khalsa made 4th.

In the Red Cup race Loren Beggs won GT1 with a 19 fastest lap of the race, Eric Olberz taking 2nd, and Monsalve in 3rd. Razvan won again in GT2 with Travis McElvany, and Ana Predescu to fill out the podium. Again, Duane Selby searched for that perfect race and caught and passed GT2s McElvany and Predescu, as did Town who hung on to Selby’s bumper for dear life as he screamed thru the race. Both of them nearly lost it on the last lap as Town had a good chance for a pass. I was just hanging out in 3rd the whole race when coming up to the white flag I checked up for a second in T9 losing some precious speed down the straight and my pal Eben capitalized on the 2nd error of the day to pull up and grab 3rd.

If you commit yourself to achieving your goals, it is quite possible the universe will conspire to help you achieve them…but maybe first pour another couple gallons of petrol into the tank!

Time Trial & PDS

Photos: Luis Vivar

STEVE EISLER

This was the first time in 5 years that I was not on the track in July or August. In the past I have found track days with Speed Ventures, Speed District, and two August weekends at Fontana with POC. Since our last event was the Time Trial at Streets of Willow on June 3rd and 4th, I am sure that all of us were eager to return to the track, especially since we would be treated to a partially repaved surface at Big Willow.

Over the summer they repaved the 2.5-mile Big Willow track from the start through turn 6. The surface was much smoother, and some drivers felt it had a little more grip. The rest of the track was covered with a slurry that gave it a dark black color like the repaved section, but did not remove any of the bumps through turn 8 or other rough patches. They also graded the run-off areas around the track to make them smoother and to add dirt at the edge of the track so there is not a big drop from the edge of the pavement to the run-off surface next to it. The new surface contributed to 4 new track records this weekend. Dwain Dement set the record in Orange Cup Racing, GT5, with a time of 1:29.332. Mike Avitt and Thomas Beyer set Time Trial Records in class Modified 2 - 1:24.806 for Mike and Modified 3 – 1:28.159 for Thomas. Modified 7 driver, Hunter Gaukel set a PDS record of 1:36.802 driving a 1988 Mazda X7. This was Hunter’s 4th time at Big Willow, but he and his family have a history of racing Alfa Romeo’s.

In contrast, Performance Driving Series (PDS) driver Jeff Lopez, from Huntington Beach, acquired his 2017 Carrera S in January, and had never been on a racetrack before. With the help of instructor Nathan Apelbaum, he had a great time and is planning to join us again soon. Giorgio Adams from Long Beach was driving his 1999 Boxster at Big Willow for the first time. He had previously driven at Streets, Podium Club and Buttonwillow. Giorgio recorded a best time of 1:41.628 and hopes to advance through Time Trials and, eventually, wheel to wheel racing like his instructor Riley Giacommazzi. Another newcomer from Riverside, Terrence Bisch, had previously raced motorcycles at Big Willo w, but this was his first time on track in his 2013 Carrera S. He enjoyed the track and the help from instructor and PDS Director, Jim Salzer, and is planning to return and improve on his unofficial time of 1:34.75. Irvine’s Bill Welch, an experienced PDS driver, completed the group. His 1988 Porsche 911 placed first in PDS Stock 5 class.

It is great to have a group of new drivers in the PDS where the emphasis is on learning and improving. Hopefully these drivers will gain experience and move into the Time Trial Series and eventually into the Cup Racing Series. I also want to recognize Angela and Mike Avitt, who got information on and pictures of the PDS drivers, and Jim Salzer for providing the student-instructor pairing.

Kathy and I arrived at WSIR on Thursday afternoon and unloaded at 4:00. As usual, the afternoon wind picked up and made for a breezy unload. I was at the track early Friday morning for the Test and Tune day sponsored by the track. In my first run on the new track, I had my best time ever on the third lap and was unable to improve on that time the rest of the weekend. This has happened to me several times in the past. I think I need an expert to help me determine how to continue to improve from my encouraging early results. There must be some way to repeat those excellent laps later in the weekend.

There were 32 drivers in Saturdays TT events: 20 in the Open Passing Group and 12 in the Point by Passing. Ten different Classes were represented with the Modified 3 having 10 cars entered, followed by Boxster Spec with 7 entrants. Although the car count was low in Point by Passing, I did have problems with high powered cars in several sessions.

As I exited turn five, I was close to a newer, higher-powered car that left me behind as he accelerated through turn six and into the entrance to turn seven. As I accelerated through turn seven, I saw brake lights at the entrance to eight, and I was soon right behind the leading car and braking to keep from hitting him. As we went through turn nine, he was slower than me, and I closed right behind or next to him coming out of nine where he would use his power to pull ahead. By the time we were exiting turn 2, I was right behind him again. Drivers of higher-powered cars need to recognize that if a humble Boxster is right behind them after several turns, that he is faster and that they are impeding his progress. They can open a gap in the straight but if the Boxster is right behind them again, they need to pull to the right of the next passing zone, point the following car by, and lift completely off the gas to let the car pass.

They will be a little slower as they follow down the first straight, but they can try to keep up in the turns and probably improve their times. If they can keep up for a few laps and are not just catching up at the end of the straights, drivers of slower cars are very good at pointing faster cars by them. Other Boxster drivers have experienced this situation and we all hope that reading this will help new drivers understand the responsibilities of safely sharing the road.

At the close of racing on Saturday, Mike Avitt had TTOD in the Open Passing group followed by Greg Gilson in GT3 -1:27.183, and Thomas Beyer. Rounding out the top 5 were GT3 Drivers Bob Gartland – 1:29.074 and Oli Thordarson – 1:29.220. In Point by Passing, Kelly Tribolet’s time of 1:30.603 in her GT3 was TTOD. Russell Murdock in Modified 3 was second at 1:37.571 and Mark Barry, also driving a Modified 3 car was third at 1:38.489. Kirk Fertitta’s Boxster Spec was 4th with a 1:39.946 and Charles Allen – 1:40.041 completed the top 5 driving a Modified 5 car.

Jeff Lopez

Hunter Gaukel

Giorgio Adams

Terrance Bisch

Bill Welch

Photos: Luis Vivar

In Sunday’s competition there were only 11 Open Passing drivers and 7 in the Point by Passing group. Kelly Tribolet again led the Point by group with an improved time of 1:28.656. She was followed by two of the PDS graduates, Hunter Gaukel with a Modified 7 class winning time of 1:36.883, and Georgio Adams who recorded a 1:38.300 for the third fastest time in Point by. Mike Avitt again led the Open passing drivers with a 1:25.673, Thomas Beyer was second at 1:28.159, and Nathan Apelbaum driving his Modified 2 car finished the day in third place with a time of 1:31.782.

Here are the top three Time Trial finishers in each class on Saturday and Sunday:

SATURDAY

1 Mark Polunin Boxter Spec01:34.746

2 Matt Juarez Boxter Spec01:37.573

3 Michael Yanoschak Jr Boxter Spec01:38.381

1 Fernando Spadaro GT101:34.746

1 Greg Gilson GT301:27.183

2 Bob Gartland GT301:29.074

3 Oli Thordarson GT301:29.220

1 Bruce Guarino GT401:35.918

2 Roy Stone GT401:37.918

3 Frank Hanraha GT401:48.199

1 Steve Eisler GT501:42.513

1 Mike Avitt Modified 201:24.806

2 Nathan Apelbaum Modified 201:29.858

1 Thomas Beyer Modified 301:28.430

2 Cyrus Hekmat Modified 301:31.116

3 Noah Kramer Modified 301:34.611

1 Vivek Hazari Modified 401:36.746

2 Frank Gussman Modified 401:39.613

1 Charles Allen Modified 501:40.041

1 Arnulf Graf Stock 501:50.507

SUNDAY

1 James Hovark Boxter Spec1:36.628

2 Georgio Adams Boxter Spec01:38.300

3 Michael Yanoschak Jr Boxter Spec01:39.534

1 Kelly Tribolet GT301:28.656

1 Bruce Guarino GT401:35.516

2 Roy Stone GT401:37.918

3 Oli Thordarson GT301:29.220

1 Bruce Guarino GT401:35.918

1 Roy Stone GT401:36.183

2 Frank Hanraha GT401:50.348 1 Steve Eisler GT501:41.559 1 Mike Avitt Modified 201:25.673

Nathan Apelbaum Modified 201:31.782

Thomas Beyer Modified 301:28.159

2 Erwin Jeong Modified 301:41.203

1 Steve Nollau Modified 301:42.343 1 Vivek Hazari Modified 401:38.256

2 Frank Gussman Modified 401:39.999 1 Hunter Gaukel Modified 701:36.833

I am sure any of you who missed this event will enjoy the track improvements when you come to the Tribute to Le Mans on October 7 and 8. In addition to the 3-hour Enduro Relay there will be TT groups for open and point by passing. We will be returning from Rennsport Reunion a few days before the Tribute and will be missing that event. Perhaps we can do a Rennsport article.

Through my lens

9/23 Willow Springs

Image: Luis Vivar / Don Matz

After a twomonth breakin-the-action, in September the POC got back to doing what it does best, RACING!

Photos: Luis Vivar

Photo: Luis Vivar

Photos: Luis Vivar

Photos: Luis Vivar

Photos: Luis Vivar

Photos: Luis Vivar

Photos: Luis Vivar

Photos: Luis Vivar

Photos: Luis Vivar

Photo: Luis Vivar

Photos: Luis Vivar

Photos: Luis Vivar

At Vali Motorsports in Corona California we offer everything needed to get to the track, be competitive and win races. We cater to anyone from entry level drivers starting out in PDS all the way to experienced club racers. Our focus is to provide the best possible outcome for our customers with safety, affordability, and reliance being of high priority. We make certain our drivers are able to compete to the best of their ability by providing full track support, storage, race prep and maintenance programs. We are in the business of making sure our customers can focus on what the pros do, be at every race and win championships!!

Bob’s Mom

by: ANDREW WEYMAN

There are so many things I admire about Karen Robinson. When I asked her if she would agree to be interviewed for Velocity she was a bit surprised. She reacted with, “Me? Why me?” I told her I thought she’d make a great interview subject. Somewhat disbelieving, she agreed, “Well, okay.”

Karen Robinson joined the POC in 2015 after two years of driving her 2014 Audi R8 with the Audi Club, Speed Ventures, Speed District and other track-day organizers. Karen told me, “I had never been on the track before I got the Audi and I loved it!” While her Audi was aboard ship on its way to the U.S., Karen planned her trip to Sonoma to attend the Audi Performance Driving School. “I had never been on a track before. It literally hooked me. I was reeled in,” she said. “I started doing as many events as I could and I couldn’t get enough.”

“After a while, doing events with Speed Ventures and Speed District, I didn’t like the lack of control. It didn’t feel good. So, I started looking around for other groups where I could run. A lot of them were marque specific. PCA wouldn’t let me come and play because I didn’t have a P-car.” Karen was supposed to go on a wine-tasting trip to celebrate her birthday with a friend. Her friend realized she had double-booked herself, having committed herself to chair a gala. Karen wasn’t about to stay home by herself on her birthday. She hit the web and searched ‘track events within 300 miles of Los Angeles’ on MSReg. Up popped Porsche Owners Club. “So I called this guy, Dwain Dement since I wanted an instructor and hadn’t run with POC before. I told him who I was and after a long silence, he asked, “You drive a whaaaat? How much driving have you done?”

Karen came out to her first POC event at Willow Springs with her R8. Dwain was her instructor. After a good number of laps, he pronounced her ‘not scary.’ Karen took that as encouragement and never looked back. I asked Karen if there was anything specific that stood out about her first POC event. She smiled, “It was loud. I had only been to HPDE events with street cars. I had never been around race cars.” She marveled at cars jacked up, people changing tires, and running around in funny outfits. “I was like, who are these people? What is this all about? I knew nothing about Club Racing. There was amazing energy in the air. Not just from the cars. From the people. The excitement. The buzz. It was awesome.”

It turns out, Karen’s first POC event was a Tribute to Le Mans weekend. She had no idea what that was. She left when the track activities stopped after scheduled run-group sessions. She thought the event was over. “I didn’t know what Tribute to Le Mans meant. I left, went back to my hotel and missed the race.”

Karen worked her way through the POC program and earned her Cup Racing License in 2018 while driving her Boxster (in the then, BSX class). She never intended to race. Karen appreciated our ‘safety first’ principle and over time, got comfortable with the idea of stepping up her game. She had weight taken out of her car. “It scared me. The car felt so different. I didn’t understand it. I went back into Time Trials for the rest of that year. So, even though I’ve had my Cup Racing License

Photos: Luis Vivar

for five years, I’ve only been racing for four.” The last couple of years, Karen has been working on improving her driving skills. She readily admits that it’s been difficult. “A BSR is a hard car to drive. It’s unforgiving and there’s a risk profile that only allows me to push it so far.”

I asked Karen how her racecar came to be named Bob. “Dwain Dement had gotten hold of a homely thing that had been sitting in someone’s garage for eight or ten years. It was all torn up, and the convertible top was paper thin. It was falling apart. I looked at it and I said you’re going to be my friend. I’m going to call you Bob. The Vision guys thought it was hysterical and they had a ‘Bob’ sticker made and stuck it under the frunk. I would stop by and they would use the intercom to say, Bob’s mom is here!”

Before the car underwent the conversion from street car to racecar, Karen shared, “Mo, at Vision, told me that they were going to cut-up my car one day. I said, “No, you’re not. I’m not going to race. That’s not happening.” He said, “Oh, yes we will.” He held up a sawzall blade with my name on it. When they started building the car, he sent me a picture of the well-used blade. When the car was finished, they made a vanity plate that says, ‘BOB’ and mounted it on the rear bumper, drilling a hole in the ‘O’ for the tow hook.

I shared that I’ve learned a lot about driving and myself since becoming an active member of the club. Karen told me that she’s learned about how to better manage her frustration. “I’m a person of action. I like to get stuff done. I don’t like to be frustrated. The more you get frustrated, the more contracted you become. If you’re in a contracted state, your breathing changes, your vision changes, the blood flow to your brain changes, and your ability to be a better racer, and have that wide open vision that we need to be able to drop into the zone and drive on that subconscious level that Ross Bentley talks about… you can’t be frustrated. I’ve learned to deal with my frustration and release it. And that’s translated into my personal life, too.” I asked Karen how she deals with her frustration. “I prep a lot before a race. A lot of it has to do with the visualizations that I do. During a practice or a race, I’ll use a deep cleansing breath to release it. I also have trigger words. If something happens, I’ll say to myself, ‘noted,’ rather than ‘why did he do that?’ or ‘what’s going on over there?’ I can’t solve that problem at eighty miles an hour exiting T1. Learning to really release it, it helps me get back into being in the moment. I borrow a lot from Ross Bentley. He’ll often say, ‘Eyes up, look ahead.’ If I find myself too focused on something right in front of me, if I know I’m going to be a little bit scared going into T8 at Big Willow, I’ll say, ‘Eyes up, look ahead.’ It’s a reminder to breathe, relax, and get back into where my focus should be.”

I couldn’t resist getting into the next subject. The man-woman thing. Karen is a woman competing in a sport that has historically been dominated by men. There’s a particular culture in the club that I think, is kind of unique in that it welcomes women on an equal basis and at the same time, a lot of the guys look out for the women. They want to make sure that the women are comfortable, they’re doing well, if they need support, some guy will jump in and help. I asked Karen about her feelings on the subject. She smiled. “I’ve been welcomed from the very beginning, and like you

Karen keeping Ross Bentley dry

mentioned, there’s always someone there to help. I’ve gone to, probably every Boxster driver, at one time or another, and asked for assistance. When I first came out to the club I didn’t know anybody. I had Dwain Dement’s phone number and name. But everybody has always been very friendly and supportive. When I’ve had a problem with the car, people have been generous in offering suggestions about what to do. Or, if I’ve been struggling they offer assistance. I haven’t found any sexism. You might think that that would be the case. I really do feel like I’ve been treated as an equal. I don’t think anybody is giving me any slack because I’m a woman racing a car. I haven’t been treated any differently. The helmet goes on, you get into your car, and you behave yourself the way our club expects you to behave. There’s a generosity of spirit that extends not only to women but to anyone. You have new drivers… Everybody struggles. I see everybody trying to help. I never have felt weird or out-of-place. I’m used to being in male dominated areas whether it’s work, hiking or climbing mountains. I didn’t have an expectation that I would be treated any differently. And I wasn’t.”

I asked Karen if she had any other hobbies. “There’s no time for anything else. I live and breathe cars. Watching car races, watching my videos, reading about it, thinking about it… I keep the car at my house so I’ll fiddle around with it on the weekend, talk to Bob, sit in it, smell that racecar smell…”

I posed the following question to Karen: “If a new driver came to you and asked for your advice, what would you say? I’m brand new to this, I’m learning so much, so fast, give me a few pointers.” She took a moment and looked pensive. “Wow, I hardly know where to start. If you want to get

better at something, you’ve got to commit to learn more about it. Reading things… I’ll go back to Ross Bentley’s Speed Secrets books, his newsletter. They’re really valuable. They make you think about things. Getting in-car instruction with somebody who knows what they’re doing in a safe environment, where the newbie is going to be encouraged… Progress at a pace that is comfortable for you. You may find that point-by passing is as far as you want to go. That’s okay. Enjoy that. Have fun. Then, if you decide you want to progress from there, put in a little more time, learn more about the dynamics of your car, the physics of what goes on. Our club has people who only drive in PDS all the way up to experienced Club Racers. If you want to go there, you can. It’s up to you.” She laughed and added, “And your budget.”

I asked Karen if she wanted to add anything. “At this point, I’ve been doing performance driving for ten years. I’m very grateful for all the people, all along the way. I didn’t know that this sport existed. I had no idea. Through the entire process, I’ve had fellow racers, fellow HPDE folks, instructors, give up their time at the track to sit down with me in a debrief session, and to be brave enough to sit right-seat with a stranger in a high-powered car so that I could learn. That generosity makes me feel very grateful. I found a whole world that I didn’t know existed. It has been amazing for me. I just love it.” I know that feeling. She continued, “I found my people. I’m a Type A. I can be a little bit much for some people but I come out to the POC and I’m an infant compared to some of the folks out there. We are a tightly wound bunch. We are driven, focused, risk-takers.”

It was a lot of fun for me to talk with Karen and learn a bit more about her. She’s a great asset to the POC. And a great mom to Bob.

Photo: Luis Vivar

Another one of Karen’s passions is Climbing...serious climbing!

Image: Karen Robinson / Don Matz

The Porsche Owners Club Recognizes VALI Motorsports as a Valued Sponsor

Vali Predescu of Vali Motorsports doesn’t need any introduction to the POC, but like many of POC’s vitally important motorsport shops, his story and his business is unique and I found it very interesting. This month, in my article featuring one of our sponsors, I was able to spend some time with Vali and learn much more about his business and his life, beginning in Romania.

I think I’m starting to age myself by saying this, but I remember well the Eastern European regimes, under the heavy thumb of the Soviet Union, and its impact on the world. Romania, with its vast remarkable history and culture was one such country, under the next heavy thumb, Nicolae Ceasescu, from 1965 until 1989. Vali said to me, “leaving Romania anytime before 1989 was essentially risking your life,” and as Vali put it, “nobody did it.” Vali is from the city of Brazov, in central Romania, and considered one of the most beautiful and heritage filled area’s of Romania, Vali said “I grew up having an early interest in motorsports. My Dad was a motorhead, had a passion for cars, engines, motorcycles, all of it, and I really liked that.”

Meeting in Romania in the 90’s, Vali married his wife Ana. Ana and their daughter, Ana as well, are also ubiquitous in the POC paddock. When Ana was just 3 years old, in 1999, they immigrated to the US. Vali said, “Most of my family left Romania as soon as possible, in the 90’s, after Ceausescu, and got out.”

By chance or by design Vali and Ana landed in motorsports central...Orange County, CA. Having a deep interest and passion for motorsports and specifically a long time love of Porsche, in 2000 Vali started a used car dealership in Anaheim, to begin life in the US. As can happen, or must happen to turn a passion into a successful business, the right business must meet with right timing, right location,

Steve Town / Sponsorship Director

the right people and a whole lot of hard work. This seemed to happen with Vali and Ana.

Vali’s car dealership was next door to Michael Essa’s shop, Essaautosport. Long time POC member, successful racer, and champion of Formula Drift, Michael helped Vali build his first race car, a Boxster, around 2004. Vali said, “I began doing POC weekends, time trialing, then racing. This led to building a 1999 911 into a race car and really start racing.”

For the Predescu’s, the weekend’s were the racetrack and the weekdays the car business. Vali said, “We took an older single car trailer, wrenched on our own, did everything ourselves and went racing.” With Ana as support and Ana in tow, they went racing all around the west. NASA was more or less his focus, and as he said, “I used plenty of knock off tires, no stickers in those years.” When Vali said this, I recalled how quite a few of the best club racers, ran and run on used tires part or full time. And those racers sometimes become the best in class, learning and adapting to tires with all kinds of different compounds and wear. It’s an impressive thing to see.

Vali said, “I ran on whatever I could find for tires, once running 3 different brand tires at the same time.” Now that’s being resourceful and committed!

Vali’s 1999 911 soon became a fixture, especially with NASA success, and Vali went on to win the 2009 and 2010 NASA National Championship in his class, GTS3. As Vali puts it, “I suppose that’s really my best racing memory, especially 2009

at Miller in Utah. We were on a modest budget and went over and won the National’s.”

Through 2010 Vali had yet to enter the motorsports business, but that changed in 2011, when he started trying to move customers to doing track events and supporting them in that effort, while continuing with the car dealership. But in 2013, Vali Motorsports became a reality, with an initial 1000 square foot shop. He closed the used car dealership and focused full time on the motorsports business, in a Corona location.

The trajectory in a few years is impressive, as Vali put it, “We started with that first 1,000 square feet, then in 2014 grew to 3,000 square feet, in 2015 grew to 17,000 square feet, and finally in 2019 with our current shop at 30,000 square feet.” From 1,000 to 30,000 in 10 years, that’s growth.

As Vali Motorsports grew, the focus remained ‘Porsche’, saying “from when I first was able to get a used 944 in Romania, I wanted Porsche to be what I did...now, our range of cars goes from early air cooled specialty builds for customers to the latest street or race cars.” When I asked Vali how they’ve been able to manage that range of cars, given the unique and special knowledge base to cover those completely different era’s and mechanical requirements, he said, “we’ve

been able to attract really good former Porsche dealer mechanic talent and also build from within over the years”

Vali said, “currently in Corona we have about 90 cars, in all stages of preparation and customer use, from race to street, early models to new, and customer storage.” As many of you know from being in the paddock, the grid of cars at Vali, especially Boxster specs is a remarkable site. For those of you who haven’t seen the Vali race weekend paddock, it’s quite a site and one that the POC is fortunate to have in place. Vali’s wife Ana has been instrumental in the

From his families’ Brasov home based motorhead passions in the 1980’s and 1990’s to 30,000 square feet in Orange County CA., Vali and Ana have had a remarkable ride to say the least. Vali Motorsports is a well known presence all over the country, with BSR’s, SPB’s, as well as the myriad Porsche race cars up to the latest Porsche super cars. The POC is fortunate to have its presence at every event weekend supporting their own customers but also really anyone in the paddock, which I was on the receiving end of in 2017, when Vali and his guys went out of their way to get me back up and running at an event.

business from the beginning and an important part of growth, and to say that daughter Ana grew up in motorsports is more accurately said, she was born into motorsports. She is a very quick driver, over the years posting wins in several classes and racing series. That and she’s an Aero Elasticity engineer at Virgin Galactic, meaning I have no idea what she does and can only guess!

It’s that way across the POC paddock with all the motorsports companies, for which we’re all very fortunate.

Drop by Vali Motorsports in the paddock sometime and take in the site of roughly 20 Boxster specs and many other race cars lined up next to each other. Thank you Vali for your time and helping us get to know more about you, your business and family, and your efforts in helping all those racers over these last 10 years.

Photo: Luis Vivar

At Vali Motorsports in Corona California we offer everything needed to get to the track, be competitive and win races. We cater to anyone from entry level drivers starting out in PDS all the way to experienced club racers. Our focus is to provide the best possible outcome for our customers with safety, affordability, and reliance being of high priority. We make certain our drivers are able to compete to the best of their ability by providing full track support, storage, race prep and maintenance programs. We are in the business of making sure our customers can focus on what the pros do, be at every race and win championships!!

75 Years of Porsche

How did you spend it?

There will always be days that I will remember for the rest of my life. I am sure you have them too, like your wedding day, the birth of your kids, and where you were on Porsche’s 75th Anniversary—for me, the 75th anniversary started a once-in-alifetime trip to Europe with my wife Joy and youngest daughter Joslyn.

Let me start by saying that until this summer, Europe was a place my wife and my two oldest children all got to experience during high school trips. For myself, I have been to 48 of the 50 states and jumped to a few other islands along the way in my life. There has been the occasional trip to Mexico, and I went to Canada once because the boat you take at Niagra Falls traveled into Canadian waters. So, international travel is not something I have much experience with. When I told my wife that Porsche had opened an invitation to all club members worldwide to celebrate their - Driven by Dreams - 75th Anniversary in Stuttgart Germany, let’s say, we started looking into it. We couldn’t believe that after comparing work, school, and my daughter’s theater schedules, we could make it work. So, the three of us set out on a great European vacation and planned our trip, to begin with Porsche’s anniversary weekend.

On our first day in Germany, Thursday, June 8th, we arrived at Stuttgart airport and got a ride to pick up our Porsche Cayenne we had rented for our time in Germany. The day earlier, the rental agency with Porsche had informed me that the pickup location of the vehicle had changed. Instead of the Porsche Museum, we were to meet at a parking structure near the museum to get our car. The entire ride from the airport to get the rental was a bit surreal. There were not many people at the airport, and there were not a lot of other cars on the street or traffic to speak of. There was a noticeable lack of people walking on the street, and most places almost appeared closed. When we arrived at the parking structure, it was empty except for the few rental cars still needing to be picked up that day. We collected our car and went to the hotel to check in. Upon arriving, we noticed again that the parking garage was empty, and no one was walking on the street. At this point, I am starting to get a bit worried. We got to the receptionist to check in, and the first thing she said was, “I don’t know if you noticed, but today is a national holiday, Corpus Christi Day, and most restaurants and shops will be closed today.” We all breathed a sigh of relief, checked in, napped, and headed out to our first Porsche Event that evening at the Porscheplatz.

Photos: John Momeyer

JOHN MOMEYER

The Porsche Museum welcomed us that evening to explore the cars and trophies on display. We enjoyed delicious food and beverages and were escorted outside for the main event. The entire Porscehplatz was used as a backdrop for the event, with the front of the Museum being used as a screen for a video performance. On the street in front of us, many of the cars we were just admiring in the Museum made their way by at full speed. The entire evening was capped off with Porsche premiering the Mission X concept car back inside the museum. The entire event was quite a show, and I couldn’t think of a better way to walk through the Museum and take in as much of the 75 years of history that Porsche was celebrating—certainly, a night to remember.

After a day of exploring Stuttgart and seeing the bustling activity of the town, when it’s not a holiday, we made our way to the Porsche Community Event on Friday night.

“Everyone has gathered here: family and friends, the global Porsche Clubs, the Porsche GT Circle, the Porsche Golf Circle, Porsche Pioneers Circle, Das Treffen, Luftgekühlt, Heizr, Onassis, Curves, Puur, Roads, Type7, F.A.T. International, and ACP Team Porsche.”

We settled in for a fun night of drinks, ice cream, and delicious food. There were multiple areas with iconic cars, including number 001. It was great to meet fellow Porsche club members from around the world. That night, we sat with folks from Ireland and met club members from Kuwait—a truly worldwide Porsche experience.

On Saturday, we made our way to Hockenheimring. Now, at this point, I have to say that getting the Hockenheimring allowed us to travel on the Autobahn in Germany. At certain points on the Autobahn, there are places with no speed limit. Let’s just say that we had a Porsche, and we found out how fast it could go.

“For two days, the Hockenheimring becomes the epicenter of Porsche passion, and the company has issued a stunning 80,000 visitor tickets. 8,000 Porsche vehicles are parked in the parking lots and on the grounds, and 4,500 Porsche Club members gather daily at the Community Clubhouse.”

What an exciting day at the track. On the track, multiple classes of Porsches took the track, and they sure took things seriously. We spent much of the day browsing the different makes and models on display and walking around the Porsche Experience Center located at the track. We made our way to the Porsche Community Clubhouse, where there was a worldwide map on display that allowed you to place a pin of your hometown. We were surprised to see that someone else from Arizona had placed a flag already but were happy to add a new one. It was easy to see that there were Porsche club representatives from all over the world at this event. We finished off the afternoon when my friend Nico Silva made an appearance. Nico has also been my driving coach and was on my radio when I took my first Boxster Spec race win earlier this season. Nico had made his way from the Nürburgring where he was currently working. Nico introduced me to several folks he knew in the clubhouse and took me down into the pits to one of the professional two-car teams. We watched most of the race from the pit box, and I was disappointed to have to leave before the race ended. We left early to turn our rental car in before the Porsche Museum closed. I was even more disappointed when we arrived very early at the rental return. Did I mention that we got to drive on the Autobahn in Germany…

I can’t imagine a better way to start a European vacation than three days with Porsche. I must thank my wife, Joy, and daughter, Joslyn, for allowing me to sidetrack our vacation for a few days. The next morning, we hopped on a train to Venice and went to Rome, Paris, and London before making our way home. Almost everywhere we went, someone stopped and asked me about the Porche Owner Club hat I was wearing. I am sure I will always remember when Porsche turned 75.

A

911 Design is a full-service repair and restoration facility located east of Los Angeles in the city of Montclair.

In addition to offering standard service, repair and restoration for all Porsche® models, we are known for and specialize in custom fabrication, design and performance upgrades.

All of our services are vertically integrated which means we keep all repair, fabrication and auto-body in-house.

www.stand21.com

genuine adventure committed to the betterment of the Race Car Drivers safety. Since 1970 Stand 21 has continuously delivered advanced technical innovations and safety improvements in products that are exceptionally efficient and comfortable.

WearBlue: Run to Remember

Last month we featured an article about a special foundation that our Board was introduced to this spring, Wear Blue Run to Remember. Please take a look at last month’s Velocity if you didn’t get a chance to get introduced to Wear Blue and Chris Walsh, who represents Wear Blue in a couple of capacities, one being racing and motorsports. Wear Blue representatives will join us for our Tribute weekend Oct 6-8, and Chris will be racing and representing Wear Blue on and off track, as he will also very likely at IMSA weekends in 2024.

STEVE TOWN

The POC has initiated an effort with Wear Blue to bring Gold Star family members to some of our events beginning in 2023 and/or 2024, and provide support and experiences to families that have sacrificed so much for our country. Also, in January at our POC Annual Banquet, we’ll have a fundraising effort for Wear Blue, with the organizations founder and other representatives attending. Recently I talked with Chris about his career, Wear Blue, and racing. I asked Chris for a view inside his utterly unique job. He said “I am an active duty Air Force Special Tactics officer.  Special Tactics is a special operations career field and falls inside of Air Force Special Operations command and Special Operations Command.  We are the go to source for air to ground integration and rescue/recovery operations for Special Operations Forces.  I have been serving for 15 years at this point.” He further described his role. “Currently I am the Special Tactics Training Squadron Commander.  I have 234 Airmen and am responsible for them, and staff.  My Squadron is the final stop in a 2 year long training program for Special Tactics operators and we help them complete advanced skills training to prepare them for overseas deployments and operations.” His Airmen are attached to units like Navy SEALS and Army Special Forces, functioning as those units do, as well as controlling the airborne elements of an engagement. Not unlike other career military officers, Chris’s parents were instrumental in the process. He said, “My parents both enlisted and served in the USAF.  They met in basic training and were stationed

Photos: Chris Walsh

overseas in the Pacific where they had me.” He went on to say, “As a kid I was a huge car enthusiast, which I learned from my father.  I also was a big fan of sim racing games like Gran Turismo and F1 2002 which developed my interest in motorsports.”

In addition to his long time interest in motorsports, he was active in other sports through his years of training and the physical requirements of his job. One of those efforts was a one-of-a-kind opportunity, the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics USA Bobsled team tryouts. As he described, “I spent time in the Air Force World Class Athlete program as 1 of 5 athletes given the opportunity to train for the Winter Olympics.” I tried out for USA bobsled initially in 2018 and got invited to the Olympic training center in Lake Placid, NY, to compete in my first race that year.  From there I continued to attend the annual team trials and compete in the seasons leading into the Olympic year where I took part in the USA Olympic team trials.  I was primarily a side push athlete in the 4 man event but I did race in 2 man quite a bit.  Ultimately, I wasn’t selected for the 2022 Olympic team.”

All those years of motorsports interest finally culminated with the combination of high quality SIM equipment being available in recent years, Chris’s hard work, and Hardpoint Motorsports based at VIR, beginning in 2021. I was aware (in 2022) that Chris was running as quick as pro/semi pro drivers, and that he had not been racing on track very long. But, I didn’t know the complete story. I asked Chris about his first race. He said, “my first race was a Champ Car race at Charlotte in July 2020. It was great, and I was hooked.” Naturally my next question was, when did you first get in a car on track? Chris’s answer, “getting in the car for that Champ Car race” I said, no, no, Chris I mean the first time you drove a car on the track. He repeated, “when I got in the car at that Champ Car race.” Ever get an answer to a question that stunned you, and it takes a moment to take it in and respond? Well, saying that he got up to speed quickly doesn’t quite cover it.

“My best track memory has to be my first professional race.  I had the opportunity in 2021 to debut in TC America in my second year of car racing.  I had never driven on slick tires or even driven the BMW M2 CSR that I was racing at VIR.  I was able to take a 3rd place podium in my debut and because it was a weekend where SRO was honoring veterans my father waved the green and checkered flags during my first pro race and podium finish.”

Chris’s SIM trajectory took off also, as he represented Hardpoint in PCA’s Pro GT3 Series, and along with teammate Careron Martineau, won the 2022 season championship. Chris also jumped into the POC SIM league recently, winning 3 of the last 4 POC races, starting in August at Zandvoort. While in the early years of SIM racing, given the equipment available versus cost, it didn’t translate to the actual track. That has changed. The latest equipment which is available to most anyone, accurately details every track. If a driver is really committed, the SIM and actual car and track is translating more and more. Chris quickly used his skill set into running at or near the front the last 2 years in WRL, TC America, SRO, testing and racing with Hardpoint, and now testing for a seat in IMSA Porsche Cup series in a 992.

When I asked Chris about this focus and commitment, he said, “I am obsessed with everything about racing.  I love the competition, I love the challenge of finding time during every lap.  For me it is a place where everything goes away. I get to hyper focus on my passion. It’s very freeing and fulfilling.” And how do you fit this passion and aspiration into the rest of your life? He said, “My family and work take the majority of my time but any and all spare time is spent on racing.  That is divided between physical preparation and fitness, 4-5 days per week, SIM time, 1-2 hours in the evenings 3-4 days a week, and finally any sponsorship things I need to do.”

For the near term what are Chris’s targets? “My goals are to continue to take care of my people and improve the units that I am assigned to. I am also trying to grow my professional racing career and trying to reach the highest level of racing in prototype cars and endurance championships.”

This weekend at our Willow Tribute event, it will be an honor for the POC to host Wear Blue, Director of Development Melynda Weaver, Chris and other Wear Blue representatives. They will join us Saturday and Sunday, in the paddock at the Wear Blue tent area next to the cafeteria, as well as Saturday night at our dinner. Please drop by to say hello, and/or learn more about the organization.

Chris resides in Niceville, FL., with wife Karen and daughters Kate and Izzy. Thank you Chris for your service to our country, for bringing Wear Blue into the POC awareness, allowing the club to provide some unique experiences for the organization, and to give back to families that have lost something so dear.

“Master Tech Tyson Schmidt with Over 25 Years of Porsche Experience”

Photos: Andrew Weyman

Trieste Car Show

My better half and I have been enjoying a weekslong trip through Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. While in Trieste, we stumbled upon a car show that featured, naturally, Italian cars. Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Fiat were well represented in several piazzas. One particular car screamed out to me. A Porsche 914 with a vintage POC hood medallion

stood apart from all the others. I also spied a Magnus Walker decal on the rear quarter panel. I felt like I was home! A gentle rain was falling but hey, that couldn’t prevent me from taking a few photos. Enjoy!

Image: Don Matz

Porsche News The New Porsche

Don’t drive the Porsche 911 S/T !

That public-service announcement is for the owners of the 911 GT3. Owners of those cars should be delighted with the steering, brakes, handling, and performance of their cars and will remain so provided they don’t get a chance in one of the 1963 examples of the 911 S/T that Porsche will produce.

911 S/T

The 911 S/T is the latest creation from the Porsche GT department (the engineering team whose resume includes heavy hitters such as the GT3, GT3 RS, Boxster Spyder RS, and Cayman GT4 RS). In all but name, the S/T is the long-awaited follow-up to the lightweight, manual-only 911 R that put a chef’s kiss on the last (991.2) 911 generation. Presumably to keep the last R a distinct once-in-a-generation thing, Porsche didn’t christen the new car the R. Instead, it wears the S/T badge, a link to a limited-production race-car version of the 911 S from the late 1960s/early 1970s.

A 911 in its purest form. Developed in Flacht. And built for a single purpose: maximum driving pleasure. The 911 S/T combines the essence of 60 years of the 911 with its puristic lightweight design, its breathtaking GT high performance and significantly reduced sound insulation. The result is an unprecedented combination of purism and agility.

Fast turns. Hairpin turns. Laps of honor. The 911 S/T loves them all. Its high-revving naturally aspirated engine, the optimized downforce and the sport exhaust system ensure pure driving dynamics at every turn.

Read the complete article at Car and Driver:

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a45291645/2024-porsche-911-st-drive/

Now you can order your favorite POC garments and other specialty items “Online” simply by clicking on any one of the above photos!

SIMRACING 2023 Season 2 Results

June 19 Montreal

July 10 Redbull Ring

July 24 Oschersleben

August 7 Zandvoort

August 21 Sonoma

Sept 11 Willow Springs

Sept 25 Laguna Seca

Oct 9 Mount Panorama

Oct 23 COTA

Nov 6 Interlagos

Nov 20 VIR

Dec 4 Daytona

Dec 18 Road Atlanta

CLICK HERE for YouTube SIM RACES

All club members with track experience or online sim racing experience are invited to participate – however, you will need an iRacing Membership and a simulator.

Willow Springs

Laguna Seca

SIMRACING

UPCOMING EVENTS

Willow Springs

October 7-8, 2023

The TRIBUTE Start getting your team together... More to come! Register TODAY!

Chuckwalla

November 4-5, 2023

We missed going there last year... the track was being resurfaced. Now it’s ready!! Get in on the fun early...sure to be a lot of cars!

Registration Opens Soon!

Willow Springs

December 7-8

Our season finale. Your final chance of the year to get your “Speed On.” Don’t miss out on this chance to hit the track one more time before the year ends

Registration Opens Soon!

And, don’t miss the Official POC Facebook Page with photos, videos and comments from our members.

Be sure to check out the POC website for our 2023 schedule of events and to stay current on PDS, Time Trial and Cup Racing standings.

E-Velocity designed by Don Matz Graphics