GGR Time Trial Outtakes & Excerpts: GGR time trials are much more than the timed run sessions on Sunday afternoons. But often that's all that gets recorded and saved. In this section, we aim to provide some memories of the excitement of becoming one with our Porsches, of 48 hours smelling vaguely like gas, and of the friends we've made. If you write up your adventures for your friends, and would like to share them with the entire GGR time trial community, send them to me. You can read about other time trials here

2003 Time Trial #3, Laguna Seca, May 3-4, 2003

One of the few times the track was dry.

A couple from Sweden, Tom & Agneta Ericson, visited the club at Laguna. Tom wrote this for his local newsletter.

A Day at the Race Track with PCA

One of the many RGruppe cars that dropped by on Saturday.

When our own Porsche is resting back home in Sweden while in California for some time, it is unavoidable to be attracted to Porsche Club of America (PCA) events on the US west coast. PCA is organized with 13 Zones stretching from US north east to California in the south west. Each Zone is split in several regions depending on geographical spread. Zone California, which also include parts of Nevada, has some 7,000 plus members.

The Golden Gate Region (GGR) recently arranged a club weekend at the well-known Laguna Seca Raceway, now known as the Mazda Raceway after Mazda has injected a fair amount of sponsor money for a refurbishment of the tracks facilities. The event covered track practice and time trials (similar to our solo race but with individual timing of each of the cars on track at the same time). There must have been some 75 Porsches with drivers, families, relatives and friends filling up the paddock with tents, trailers and RVs. Following an invitation from the Time Trial Chairman Chris Murray, my wife and I had the pleasure of participating as passive spectators.

Thomas Ahlberg contemplates the track conditions

The Saturday started with lots of rain and regretfully there was not much serious track time. As compensation all participants had a nice BBQ in the evening. Then Sunday came with a light drizzle which forced the cars out for track practice mainly to dry up the racing line. At noon the sun was shining and the track was dry enough for serious driving. Anything from 914-4 to GT3s were quickly out on the track. The range of Porsches at a club weekend like this gives proof of why USA is Porsches best market with some 23,000 cars sold in fiscal 2002.

Our host Chris Murray is driving a Boxster S which he has equipped with a standard 996 engine. In order to transform the engine from street version to a race track beast, Chris has installed the GT3 injection, cone filter for the air intake and a purpose built exhaust system. Brakes and adjustable suspension for the lowered chassis are also part of the package. For club track events the noise levels limited to 92 db and the cars exhibited several interesting temporary creations to reach just below the noise limit. Exceeding the limit at a certain point at the track leaves you as a DSQ on the result board. At the free practice session I got the opportunity to join Chris in his Boxster under the "Taste of the Track" rules. This was a real feast! Thanks to Chris the famous corkscrew will remain etched in my mind forever. The corkscrew is a combination of sharp left and right followed by a long sweeping left in a strong decent down towards the base of the track. You reach the corkscrew after an uphill acceleration and at the top you see nothing but the track and the sky. At the moment you think you are getting airborne, two sharp brakings and a downshift takes you inte the corkscrew. A thrilling sensation which leaves you with one desire only - to be behind the wheel yourself!

Kristen Badgley looking optimistic about the track conditions.

Despite the rain, all drivers were pleased with the weekend event full of good racing and no accidents. It was great also to notice that drivers gave the flag officials a "thumbs up" when returning to the paddock after each heat, a small gesture which means a lot to all who enthusiastically contribute to making a weekend at the track a success.

When walking through the paddock we came across a fellow Swede, Thomas Ahlberg, who has been living in the area for more than 25 years. Thomas is now allowing more of his spare time for his "passion", driving Porsches at race tracks. Thomas told us that he is planning to give up his old 911 Targa for a 993 Turbo, anything for the passion! Another interesting contact with Swedish connections was Garth Falk (parents originated from Gothenburg and Stockholm). Under his racing overall Garth proudly showed his blue and yellow Swedish T-shirt with Sweden in capital print on the chest. Special thanks goes to Garth for showing extraordinary hospitality when offering my wife and me to use his 911 for a weekend drive on the Californian roads.

The fun resumes (once the track was dry).

The kindness and hospitality shown by all we met at this event made us feel at home with PCA, and we sincerely look forward to new PCA events in California before returning to Sweden after the summer.

Tom and Agneta Ericson

(PCS member 6036)

Event Statistics

92 people ran for time.

8 new class lap records

25 people bested their fastest time in the same car

New lap records:

AP : Mike Steinberg

CP : Jeff Reitmeir

DI : Stacy Reitmeir

DM : Steve Casaletto

FI : Richard Bradshaw

GI : Scott Robertson

OP : Dan Lofgren

QM : Henry Watts

[ Photos: David Leong ]