From Porsche Club of America--Golden Gate Region
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From Porsche Club of America--Golden Gate Region From: John Celona <[email protected]> Subject: From Porsche Club of America--Golden Gate Region Reply: [email protected] Porsche Club of America Golden Gate Region April, 2007 - Vol 47, Number 4 In This Issue Dear Porsche Enthusiast, Place dé Leglise Welcome to The Nugget, the email newsletter of the Golden Gate Letter from the Editor Region, Porsche Club of America. Competition Corner If you have any trouble viewing this email, you can click here to Membership Report go to the archive of PDF versions Board of Directors of this newsletter. For comments or feedback, click here to email DE/TT #1 the editor. Beginner's AX School Thanks for reading. GGR AX#1 GGR Alum 3rd at Daytona GGR DE Schedule Zone 7 Concours School Crab 33 Yosemite Region Concours Porscheplatz in Utah Porsche Reduces Emissions Platinum Sponsor file:///Users/jcelona/Desktop/April%2007%20Nugget.html (1 of 24)3/29/07 3:56 PM From Porsche Club of America--Golden Gate Region Silver Sponsors Condolences for Luis Aldaz Quick Links Event Calendar Classified Ads Join PCA Now Nugget Archive More About Us Zone 7 web site PCA web site Great Links Place dé Leglise --by Claude Leglise, GGR President Don't spectate; participate! I was browsing the Internet last week, when I happened upon a Yahoo forum where a European surfer had posed the following question: "Why do Americans like NASCAR instead of Formula One?" Nothing inflames passions as much as such random questions of personal preference mixed with a heavy dose of self-appointed cultural superiority. The answers were predictably vitriolic, arguing either one side or the other with equally strong language. This was a couple of days after our home Tivo had recorded the Australian Grand Prix. In case you missed it, the race was standard modern F1: Kimi Raikkonen started from the pole position in the Ferrari; he made it past Turn 1 first, led every lap and then won. Fernando Alonso passed emerging star Lewis Hamilton . in the pits. End of the race. I think I am starting to like NASCAR, even if they only turn left. At least there is racing action, and the winner is usually not clear until a few laps before the end of the race -- occasionally not until the last straight. Meanwhile, the most recent issue of Autoweek reports that Michelin is suing the FIA because Pirelli was selected as the tire supplier of World Rally, AT&T is suing NASCAR for the right to change the name of the Cingular car, Spyker is about to sue Super Aguri and Toro Rosso over the design of their cars, and the list goes on. While not quite the end of the world as we know it, maybe these are signs that it is time to shut down the Tivo, get off the couch and get the Porsche ready for the next event. In that spirit, I want to encourage all you GGR members out there who have looked at one of our event listings and thought "That might be fun" to get off your good idea and show up. Here is my take on the file:///Users/jcelona/Desktop/April%2007%20Nugget.html (2 of 24)3/29/07 3:56 PM From Porsche Club of America--Golden Gate Region season so far. Infineon turned out to be an excellent weekend despite the iffy weather. It rained on Sunday morning, so the Time Trials were cancelled. I already had the car on the trailer, ready to go home, when the sun came out during lunch, the track dried and the remaining participants enjoyed several hours of open track. A 1965 911 is not as fast around Sears Point as an IRL car, especially with yours truly at the helm, but there is something to be said for driving at one's own pace rather than watching someone else do it, no matter how fast. Two weeks later, the Beginners' Autocross School at Candlestick was sold out, and students and instructors practiced or demonstrated the fine art of car control, or not. A few orange cones had to pay the ultimate price; everybody else had fun. The first autocross held at Altamont Raceway was also very well attended, and we have found a new venue to go burn hydrocarbons and rubber. This is really welcome news, given the situation at Alameda. Check out the pictures on the web site; the banking looks really inviting. The menu for April looks scrumptious: Driver's Ed and Time Trial this weekend at Thunderhill; Boxster Brunch at Alice's Restaurant on the 7th -- come check out the Group W Bench; Autocross at Candlestick on the 14th - if you have never been to one, just show up and a friendly instructor will show you around. If you need more, Redwood Region has two autocrosses at the Santa Rosa airport, and finally there is the social gathering at Mountain Mike's on the 20th. It does not matter what you drive, and you don't have to be fast, you just have to get ready to have fun. Pierre de Coubertin, father of the modern Olympic Games said it best: "L'important est de participer." The important part is to participate. Claude Letter from the Editor --by John Celona, Nugget Editor A Busy Month; Want to Write About It? Lots of events going on with the driving season in full swing. As always, we're looking for material to run on the events as they occur. If you attend an event and would like to write a short piece on it, we'd be happy to run it. It doesn't have to be the school essay you dreaded; two or three paragraphs would do. Usually, there's lots of people taking photos that we can run along with the piece. You can then forward the Nugget email to your parents so they can show their friends at the Elks Club: my son or daughter, the author! If nothing else, you can improve your Google ranking. So Far So Good on the New Software This makes the second month of using the new software to put out the Nugget. Notwithstanding my usual experience with upgrades, the result so far has been wonderful. Not a single complaint received. Hopefully, that's because people are not having problems! If your experience is to the contrary, please do send an email to let us know what's going on. It is our intention to be as close to problem-free as possible. If you're having trouble with this email, let us know and we'll try to fix it. Thanks for reading. file:///Users/jcelona/Desktop/April%2007%20Nugget.html (3 of 24)3/29/07 3:56 PM From Porsche Club of America--Golden Gate Region Competition Corner --by Neil Librock, Competition Director Let's Talk Autocross. Lot's happening on the AX front. The annual "one day" school - 50 students / 50 instructors (how's that for a ratio!) was flawless executed, even including a sunny day without gale force winds at Monster / Candlestick, by John Seidell and Howard Yao in early March. Thanks to all involved - John and Howard, our team of dedicated instructors, and all you "rookies" who came out and learned more about your car. Best quote of the day, by an unnamed instructor: "I really drove that well for 50 seconds". Unsaid: "The course is really 55 seconds long and I took out about 10 cones, and almost the timing light, at the finish." Now you know what it takes to be an instructor. My personal tale of woe is I got the flu and didn't make either GGR AX1 or Zone AX1 at Altamont. I've heard that Altamont was FANTASTIC - thanks to the Larry's (Adams and Sharp) for finding a fun new place and running a great event. If you also didn't make it there's a great in-car video from Trekkor Wills you can view by clicking here. Now the "good news / bad news". Several of our colleagues, Marc Blatt and Tim Stewart, were making good progress getting us back into Alameda, only to have the Navy decide that this summer would be a good time to repair drainage and pipes throughout the facility, meaning holes in the tarmac and large pieces of pipe and equipment strewn about. It's one thing to hit an orange rubber cone, quite another to run into a Caterpillar (the large yellow kind!). Seems like our first chance to get back to Alameda is the 2008 season. The "two-day", 100 students AX school is scheduled for July 7-8 at Monster. Dan Thompson, Bill Pickering, and Randal Barrick are hard at work - please either ask them how you can help or be ready to volunteer when asked. This is perhaps the one event that defines PCA competition in Northern California. Student and instructor registration will be on-line shortly. It may seem like the 2007 competition season has just begun, but it's already time to start thinking about 2008. Next month, I'll begin the process of soliciting rules changes for 2008, but it's never too early to let me know what changes you want. And, both our AX and Time Trial event chairmen will have served their 2-year sentence (without early parole) after the 2007 season. In all seriousness - both AX and TT survive and thrive because of the chair people. Can you take on this responsibility for the 2008 season? Let's wrap up with some thoughts from Ken Jones, our 2007 AX representative.