Original Race

The last Competition Event of the year at Sandown on 28 November quickly turned into a “Whole of Club” extravaganza as the Social Run of the day wound up at Sandown along with a host of other features – Dealership Involvement, Display Cars / Race Cars, a Marquee, Catering, background Music / Sax Player and over 200 Porsche Social Members to ensure an amazing function at Sandown. It’s been many years since our last Whole of Club Event so we all knew it was going to be a BIG Day; so much so there’s a Sister-Article in this Porsche Parade by Russell Sturzaker for all the highlights of the Social Event.

Now back to the last Competition Event of the year and the weather gods were very kind to us with blue sky and mild temperatures which suit the Porsches perfectly; albeit did warm up after lunch. Normally we would conduct President’s Day at Sandown this time of year where Porsche Members take Sponsors, Family and Friends for a few laps around Sandown at mild pace. However COVID restrictions were very much alive during our preparations for the Sandown Event so the Competition Committee wisely decided to turn the Event into the COVID Cup. We envisaged ‘Passengers in a Porsche’ as too close for comfort and not a safe environment.

Having decided on the COVID Cup Event we then had to find an enticing prize for the top three Drivers of the day. Those who meet / exceeded their target Class points for Sandown (think Lap Records). Our friends at Southern Cross Trophies came up with the design. Quite impressive and definitely memorable as the COVID Cup. We’re hoping the end of year Event is also an end of COVID Event.

The Competition Committee’s next thought was to immortalise the day with a Video – across the Competition action and the Social spectacular. Our regular Film Crew at Neon Sheep Films obliged and devised an overall approach for the Video in collaboration with the Competition Committee vision. The Video should hit the silver screen (ha-ha) early in 2022, so look out for notifications in “Porsche Updates” or search out the Video on the Net. You’re sure to find Neon Sheep Films great work in capturing the PCV Sandown 360 Event for prosperity - over a number of years.

The day started in a frenzy as nearly 90 Porsche Drivers rocked up to Sandown bright and early - eager to get some Track Time. There was a fair spread of Porsches across the Competition Classes and over 10 Entrée Entries wanting to measure and enhance their skills and vehicles on the exciting Sandown layout. Additionally, close to 60 Officials, Track Personnel (Porsche Member Volunteers) and Guests as well as Crew, Safety Personnel and Catering turned up to inject some calm into the morning mix.

The vast majority of Porsches scrubbed up bright and shiny; there were even some newly painted cars in the Pits – notably Peter Harrison’s 2004 Black 996 GT3 Mk2 and yours truly in my 1983 Red 911SC. It would appear Peter’s new paint job was the result of a pirouette at the very wet Mobil 1 PCV Sandown 360 back in April 2021. In Pete’s words Paint and Custom Workshop did an all-round Great Job. My paint job was in response to years of Porsche Members noting the unsightly chip marks on the front of my Porsche (ha-ha). Ironically the same Porsche Members said my Porsche is now too pretty to be a Track Car (ha-ha). I must say Luxury Auto Body did an excellent job - Many Thanks to Ange and Danny. So some good things did come out of the COVID driven Event Cancellations.

One of the first orders of business is the Driver’s Briefing highlighting Track Conditions, Safety Protocols etc., which occurred around 9:00am. Well Frenzy then quickly turned into Exhilaration / Acceleration (same thing) as drivers readied themselves for Track Time. With the last Competition Event some 5 months earlier in the year and suffering numerous cancellations to Events the Drivers found “serenity” in anticipation of turning a wheel in anger.

Having successfully completed the Safety Checks, Porsches/Drivers were then sorted into 6 Groups of ~15 to tackle Sandown - for around 10 minutes a session. Such groups of similar lap times around Sandown rolled through the day from 9:30am to 4:30pm. The only break being lunch around 12:30pm for an hour allowing some sustenance for Drivers, Officials and Volunteers which was provided by the Porsche Club.

During the lunch break the Social members were treated to Parade Laps round Sandown under the guidance of a lead and trail All Social Members then enjoyed a scrumptious lunch, after which interested Members were invited to Pit Walks. A few Competitors joined in the Pit Walks as hosts / guides through the garages to enhance a better understanding of the requirements for Track Day Events. The Groups noted and discussed the Driver Training available (PCV Entrée Class and professional providers like EVOLVE, etc.), the Safety aspects of the Drivers (Race Suits, Helmets, HANS, etc.), and our Porsches themselves (Rollover Bars, Cages (of varying degrees), etc.) as well as the PCV Competition Processes put in place for each Porsche & Driver at our Events (Drivers Briefing, Scrutiny, Flaggies, etc.). Other Topics included Time involved and the Costs involved (“How long’s a piece of string”). The interactive Pit Walks were deemed very interesting and positive. Notably our very own ‘P.P.’ (Past Presidents) Michael O’Brien and Tony Carolan started Competition Events after a similar experience.

As the Timed Competition Sessions wound down around 4:30pm, PCV President Mark Horton Andrews presented end of year Competition Trophies thereby allowing calculation of the COVID Cup Podium Winners in the background. Mark started proceedings by reminding all those at the celebratory function, the Porsche Club understands Covid has impacted families economically, physically and emotionally and has caused great trauma to some of our members and the public at large. Our genuine thoughts are with those impacted. The Porsche Club’s intention is and was always to celebrate hopefully a return to normality not only in the Club activities but more generally.

As the food and beverages were made available, Mark presented the Major Awards as follows:-

Mark then presented the Class Winners as provided below:-

The remaining Awards affectionally known as the Bucket Lists of Driver Podium finishes throughoutthe year were made available for collection.

Andrew Bonwick as Chief Steward for the Day (as well as I.T. / Web Master) frantically worked on determination of the COVID Cup Podium across all Groups of Competition Classes but faced hardware & software technical difficulties; so the deserved COVID Cup Winners (below) were presented after the event.