Porsche Club of America
Golden Gate Region

May 2010. Volume 50, Issue 5

In This Issue

Glenn Hills

From the Wurst Wing

Letter from the Editor

Porsche Pets Rule!

Competition Corner

5/22-23 DE at Buttonwillow

Board of Directors

Membership Report

The Power Chef

GGR Club Racing Report

Porboys Beginners Autocross School

Parade is for Kids, Too!

The Marin Sonoma Concours

Yosemite Concours on Campus

ALMS Monterey Porscheplatz

Zone 7 Autocross #3

Diablo Wash N Shine

Zone 7 Concours Weekend

West Coast Summer Concours

Quick Links

Event Calendar

Classified Ads

Join PCA Now
Nugget Archive
More About Us
Zone 7 web site
PCA web site
Great Links

Dear Porsche Enthusiast,

Welcome to The Nugget, the email newsletter of the Golden Gate Region, Porsche Club of America.

If you have any trouble viewing this email, you can click here to go to the online versions of this newsletter. For comments or feedback, click here to email the editor.

Thanks for reading.

Click the button below to subscribe or to enter a new email address. Click here to join the Porsche Club of America.

CoCo Giselle, CG
Executive Editor of The Nugget

Following a request by PCA National, CoCo G performed an audit for GGR's compliance with national retention guidelines. Thankfully, we passed.

Send in your baby's photo! Animals are people, too!

GGR Members receive 10% off parts & service!

Glenn Hills, 1932-2010

Glenn Hills, Golden Gate's President in 1978, passed away on April 2. He was 78.

When you question Golden Gate members from the 1970's about Glenn you quickly learn that he was bigger than life. 'Most everyone agrees that he was the driving force behind the founding of Golden Gate's on-track Time Trial series. At the time, this was an unprecedented adventure. He did this in the face of serious opposition from Golden Gate members who felt that track driving should be left to the SCCA. He fought hard for the program which has now continued for over 30 years and has become a defining feature of GGR.

Terry Zaccone recalled how extraordinarily competitive Golden Gate members were in the Glenn Hills era. Glenn was among the most competitive. His car was a yellow 911. His license plate was "YPAF" (short for "Yellow Porsches Are Faster). Most of the time this yellow car WAS faster.

In his year as President, Glenn oversaw a Golden Gate Region that put on a total of 74 events, including three time trials, nine tours, seven rallies, seven autocrosses and three swap meet/concours events. That year, Golden Gate was named PCA's "Region of the Year"

In addition to his involvement with Golden Gate, Glenn was an active member of the Almaden Cycle Touring Club and the SCCA. He was a designer and owned his own business, Glenn Hills Design.

Glenn lived in San Jose and is survived by his wife, LaQuita.

From the Wurst Wing

--by John Celona, GGR President

Hope you're having FUN!

The club's events are now in full-swing and coming fast and furious. Hope you're enjoying some of them; we put them on for you! Attend one and see where all your dues are going. There's more to belonging to the Porsche Club than reading Panorama!

Autocrosses In Gear; Next one on May 15th

Hats off to autocross co-chairs Chris Hamilton and Joe Lee who have GGR's autocross series on track and in gear. With their heroic efforts and the addition of backup timing technology, the last event went smoothly and provided lots of laps for lots of folks. Sure, it rained a little--what better way to get your revenge on all the folks who showed up with slicks!

Joe and Chris have put together an amazing number of events for a single season--possibly the most the club has ever put on in one year. Lots of chances to wear all the tread off your tires before it starts raining again! Here's what's coming up:

5/15 GGR Alameda
6/12 GGR Alameda
6/13 GGR Alameda
7/24 GGR/LPR/Zone 7 Marina
7/25 GGR/LPR/Zone 7 Marina
8/14 GGR/LPR Marina
8/15 GGR/LPR Marina
9/11 GGR Alameda
10/16 GGR Alameda
11/13 GGR Alameda

Get to work on wearing out your tires before it starts raining again!

Buttonwillow Approaching

Following a very successful initial weekend with utterly perfect weather, time trial / drivers' ed / club racing co-chairs Warren Walker and Mike Cullinan are setting sights on our next weekend at Buttonwillow. This fabulous track offers a great change if you're looking for something different than Thunderhill and, as always, the best track instruction program in the west. If you want to have fun learning to drive safely and fast, this is the ticket. Here's the whole schedule for the rest of the year:

May 22/23 - Buttonwillow - Club Race/DE/TT, co-hosted with Grand Prix Region from Long Beach. Central Coast Region will have their annual DE on the Friday before our event
July 31/August 1 - Thunderhill - DE/TT
Sept 18/19 - Thunderhill - Club Race/DE/TT
Oct 8th (Friday) - Infineon - DE-only

See Mike's report in this issue on our last event, and come have fun with your other co-crazies in the club!

GGR 50th Anniversary Update

The 50th Committee (myself, Mark Powell, Louise Sousoures, Susan Smith, Lou Felsher, Jim Mirowski, Scott Miner, and Bubba Gong) have been still been at it putting the plan together for our event. Here's what we have on tap:

Saturday, September 11th we'll be kicking off the celebration with an autocross at Alameda. For this event, cost will be $15 higher than normal and it will include a full catered barbecue lunch from Absolute Barbecue. Should be a lot of fun.
On that Saturday evening, the Presidents' Reception will be held at the historic art deco City Club of San Francisco, located on the top floors of the Pacific Stock Exchange Building. This black-tie-optional event features a gourmet menu and live "All That Jazz" floor show in keeping with the exceptional venue.
On Sunday, September 12th, we continue with an "Islands Getaway" to our own exotic islands--in San Francisco Bay! We'll be meeting at the historic Nimitz Mansion on Yerba Buena Island (the former residence of Admiral Nimitz) for gourmet lunch and a live show on the theme "Hollywood to Bollywood." There will also be a tour of Treasure Island to complete the islands experience.

Mark your calendar! September 11-12. 2010 you'll want to join us for the big celebration! Next month we'll have more details on events and registration.

Tour Organizers Needed!

On the morning of September 11th, we're looking for folks to organize driving tours from wherever you hail from (the Peninsula, south bay, east bay, Marin, etc.) to explore the scenic roads in your area and then meet at Alameda to join in that same great barbecue lunch with the autocross folks. If you're up some driving other than an autocross, this is a great way to join in. Cost for the tours will be $15 (the cost of the lunch) and we will provide registration on Motorsports Reg so the tour organizers don't have to handle this. You just need to figure out the route and advise people where to meet. If you're interested in organizing a tour for that morning, please click here to send me an email.

A Letter from Germany

While we're on the subject of the 50th, I received a letter from Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AktiEngesellschaft. Here's what it said:

Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AktiEngesellschaft
Porschestrasse 15-19
D - 71634 Ludwigsburg
Tel. +49 (0) 7 11 /9 11 - 7 89 68
Telefax +49 (0) 7 11 /9 11 - 7 89 89
Email paul.gregor@porsche.de

Our reference PG
Date 25.04.2010

50th Anniversary - PCA, Golden Gate Region

Dear Mr. Celona,
Dear Porsche friends,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The 50th anniversary of the PCA Golden Gate Region on the 30th of April is a very remarkable event in deed! This bears witness to the fact that a large number of very involved Presidents, as well as yourself, were able to keep members active and entertained with many captivating events over the years.

This also added a lot to the permanent growth of the Golden Gate Region and proves the passionate enthusiasm for Porsche. Your reputation of being a very active Region is another demonstration for your dedication to the marque Porsche.

On the occasion of your 50th anniversary, the Porsche Club Coordination would like to take this opportunity to thank not only the members, but also the Club management, for constantly spreading and preserving the worldwide ideas of Porsche Clubs. Through this you have added so much to the high reputation of the name and the Porsche marque.

In closing we wish you success and continued development in the years to come and of course an enjoyable anniversary in the spirit of the Porsche Clubs.

With our best regards,

Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche
Aktiengesellschaft
Porsche Club Coordination

Paul Gregor

Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft
Headquarters: Stuttgart
Registered at: Stuttgart Regional Court HRB-Nr. 722287

Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Dr. Wolfgang Porsche
Honorary Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Prof. Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
Board: Michael Macht, Chairman Thomas Edig, Vice Chairman
Klaus Berning, Wolfgang DOrheimer, Wolfgang Leimgruber, Lutz Meschke

Have some fun and come join us for an event. YOUR DUES are what helps put them on!

John

Letter from the Editor

--by John Celona, Nugget Editor

Thanks to Contributors!

Thanks for Mike Cullinan for sending in the article on Porsche club racing. Also, if you haven't seen it, GGR's own Terry Zaccone wrote a great article on autocross which appeared in this month's Panorama. (Terry: we're not hurt that you didn't send it here first. Really. It's forgotten already.)

Send in those Porsche Pets photos! We really do have enough photos of Coco G to run one each month if we have to!

Thanks for reading.

www.highperformancehouse.com

Porsche Pets Rule!

No photos sent in this month, so you get to look at CoCo G showing how to use the pointy bits.

Send in your Porsche Pet photos!

Competition Corner

--by Claude Leglise, Competition Director

The autocross held March 20th was promptly renamed Autocross #0, and the results will not count toward the season totals. Autocross #1 was then held at Alameda on April 10, and it was a great success. The event went smoothly, thanks to the many lessons our autocross chairs learned in March and the corrective actions they took. In the spirit of continuous improvement, you can expect autocross events to get even better as the year progresses. Come check them out and drive. The results are posted on the website at this address: April 10 results.

Another Great Day at Alameda

We need a representative of the autocross community for the Drivers Event Committee (DEC) for this year. The primary role is to review the proposed changes to the rules for 2011, and to decide which ones to accept or reject. The rewards for participating are primarily "psychic", and might also involve free pizza. If you have a question or want to volunteer, please send me an email.

GGR's annual world famous Autocross School is coming back, thanks to Howard Yao's and John Seidel's efforts, and the sponsorship of Joe and Annie Zeiph, the owners of Porboys German Automotive Service. It will be held Saturday, June 26 at Alameda. It is really for beginners or people who have only autocrossed a few times. If you have ever wondered what it is like to experience driving your Porsche on the edge (but safely in control), then this is for you. It is a good, safe place for drivers to learn about the handling of their Porsche. Young drivers under 18 are welcome with parental authorization. We will accept only 57 students, so that everyone can get in-car instruction. Watch for an email announcing that registration is open.

A Burning Love for DE

At Thunderhill last month, we had to watch a prototype car burn at the exit of Turn 13 while the corner workers red-flagged the session and the fire crew made its way backwards around the track. Meanwhile, quick-thinking spectators tossed fire extinguishers over the fence, which helped prevent further damage. No one was hurt, but the speed of the response left much to be desired. In a different situation, the outcome might have been worse. Mike Cullinan and Warren Walker have therefore lined up a full-time fire/rescue truck for future events at Thunderhill to improve our ability to respond to an emergency. We all want the safety crew to have nothing to do and be bored. But we ought to be prepared and live up to our goal of offering the West Coast's best track program: Safe, Fun and Fast.

Registration is open for the next track event, to be held at Buttonwillow May 22nd and 23rd. This will be a Drivers Ed / Time Trial / Club Race week-end. The Central Coast Region is holding its event at Buttonwillow on Friday May 21st, so you can make it a 3-day weekend. Their registration is also open. I hope to see you there.

Claude

Photos courtesy of Claude Leglise

May 22-23 Drivers' Ed / Time Trial / Club Race

Board of Directors

--by Bill Benz, GGR Secretary

GGR Board of Directors
Meeting Minutes for April 6, 2010

Call to Order
President Celona called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm at his home.

All members of the Board except for the Competition Director were present. The Board was joined by Sharon Neidel (Zone 7 Representative), Chris Hamilton and Joe Lee (GGR AX Chairs), Andrew Forrest (Webmaster) and Past President Claude Leglise.

As a first matter of business, President Celona announced that he had received the resignation of the Competition Director and that the Board needed to appoint a replacement. He further announced that Claude Leglise had volunteered to fill the position.   A motion to appoint Mr. Leglise Competition Director was made, seconded and passed with thanks by the Board.

           Agenda Changes - None
           Calendar Changes - None

Postmortem of Past Events
           Autocross #1 had a great turn out.   There were some technical issues which were overcome by the hard work and patience of the Autocross Chairs and volunteers. All are looking forward to the upcoming second event.
           A track orientation for the Thunderhill driving event went well as has become the custom.
           The March 26-8 driving event at Thunderhill had 26 club racers and 84 time trailers. Eighteen of the drivers were new students. Several PCA club race officials were present at the event and complimented the GGR team.
           Attendance at the Boxster Brunch organized by George Grialou was victimized by harsh weather. The people who attended had a good time at Alice's Restaurant in Woodside.
           Many members continue to enjoy the Friday night socials organized by Shirley Neidel on the third Friday of each month at Harry's Hofbrau in Redwood City.

Directors' Reports
           President - There is a minor change in the venues for the 50th anniversary party. The Sunday event will be held at the Nimitz mansion on Yerba Buena Island. This venue is now reserved for us. Carlsen Motorcars has agreed to sponsor the 50th anniversary festivities, The Board unanimously expressed its thanks for this generous action.
The President attended LPR's 40th anniversary gala and had a great time.

           Vice President - Insurance has been ordered for the Buttonwillow driving event and club race.

           Treasurer - The special bank account for MotorsportsReg's use has been consolidated into the main checking account. The Treasurer's report was delivered and accepted.

           Secretary - Nothing to report. Last month's minutes were approved.
           Social - Nothing to Report.

           Membership - Membership is up slightly. A list of new members was delivered and approved.

           Competition - March saw the first autocross and time trial/club race events as described in the Postmortem of Events. The issues at the autocross were traced to a lack of redundancy in the computerized timing system, The Autocross Chairs presented a budget of $1850 for required upgrades which they had personally purchased to assure smoother operation at the next event. The Board agreed to reimburse this cost.
John Tavernetti has volunteered to compile a new set of rules for competition events to reflect the additions and deletions made to them over the past year. This gracious offer was welcomed.
Howard Yao and John Seidel have agreed to put on their ever-popular one-day autocross school on June 26. Insurance will be ordered.

           Webmaster - Website is up and running.

Topics for Discussion
           Zone Report - The Zone 7 Representative reported the sad news that Glenn Hills, GGR's President in 1978, passed away on April 2, 2010.
She also provided a report of Zone 7 and PCA national news, which was appreciated by the Board. She reminded us to be sure to prepare observer's reports for our events.
She asked for the Board's reaction to a PCA national plan to raise national dues by $3.00 per year. No one expressed any objections to this.
She also asked for the Board's reaction to a PCA national inquiry about purchasing rather than renting office space for the national office.   The Board as a whole asked for more information before commenting on this idea.

Adjournment
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9 p. m.

Membership Report

--by Jeff Kost, Membership Director

The primary membership level and the associate membership numbers were up in both up again in March, a nice trend! New memberships continued at a solid pace, likely mirroring the stronger sales of new cars. On an exciting note, I would like to congratulate Burt and Joan Propp on their 50th anniversary with PCA. My best wishes for many, many more!

Total Members: 2396
Primary:    1396
Affiliate: 996
HQ Life:    1
GGR Life:   3

New Members:   19
Transfers In: 4
Transfers Out:     9

New Members

Branislav Blagojevic	San Francisco	2001 Boxster
Josh Brankman	San Francisco	1985 944
Paul Chan	Sunnyvale	2009 Boxster
Richard Chen	Saratoga	2008 Boxster
Chris & Lisa Ennis	San Francisco	1999 Carrera
Kent Fitzgerald	San Francisco	1973 911'S'
Chasen Garcias	Belmont
Farhad Ghamgosar	Campbell	2006 Carrera
Vick & Jasbir Gill	Lodi	2006 Cayman S
Tom Greathouse	Alameda	1963 356 S90
Linda Hall	Portola Valley
Arcinee Hermiston	San Francisco
Michael Johnson	San Jose
Navid Kahangi	Campbell
Dennis Kirkpatrick	San Francisco	2009 Cayenne
Roy Latka	San Francisco	1955 356
Warren & Arielle Leggett	San Jose	2006 Boxster
Mike Lyons	Portola Valley	2006 911
Rose Mastracci	San Francisco
Sean Mayer	Los Gatos
Dani & Thomas Mestaz	San Jose	1998 Boxster
Chris Otto	Los Gatos	2007 Cayman S
Bob Schwarzmann	Mountain View	2008 Cayman S
David Sheets	San Francisco	2002 996 C2
Marianna Thomas	San Francisco
Ami Tseng	Sunnyvale

Anniversaries

SPECIAL CONGRATULATIONS, 50 YEARS!!!

Burt & Joan Propp

Oakland

2007 911

30 Years

Diane Rossi

Scotts Valley

20 Years

John Seidell	Walnut Creek	1973 914
Harry Kauffman	San Ramon	1970 911

15 Years

John Beck	Santa Cruz	1972 911
David Fuson	Truckee	1974 911

10 Years

Floyd Boyer	Woodside	1999 911-996
Carol Coe	Santa Cruz
Brian Kirkis	San Carlos	1982 911
Charles Kolstad	Los Altos	1989 911
Robert Lonski	Santa Clara	1986 951
Dan Seligson	Palo Alto	1995 911
Kirk Harper	San Francisco	1973 911
Elizabeth Johnson	Los Altos

5 Years

James Berberich	San Jose
Trista Chen	Emeryville	2002 Boxster S
Jesse Durazo	Pacifica	1977 911 S
James & Lisa Fulker	Palo Alto	1999 911
Dan Sandru	San Carlos	1994 968
John & Gail Uilkema	Oakland	2002 911
Peter von Behrens	San Francisco	1970 911
Marga Wedekind	Atherton
Manuel Zitzmann	Rottach-Egern

he Power Chef

Strengthen & Stretch-or "Scope"?

--by John Celona, The Power Chef�

In the film "Groundhog Day," Bill Murray repeats living through a single day over and over until forced to reexamine his priorities. I have my own "Groundhog Day" experience, except it's a conversation I have over and over again, though with different people each time. It goes like this:

Me: "How's your [pick a body part] doing after that surgery you had?

Other Person: "Well, it's been a year and some change since I had the surgery, and now it's feeling as bad as it did before the surgery."

Me: "Are you still doing those rehab exercises they gave you after the surgery."

Other: "No, though I probably should. I have a doctor's appointment this week to have an MRI and I'm thinking of having them go in again."

Certainly, there are many conditions for which a surgery is absolutely necessary and produces great results. However, today with the combination of high-resolution imaging, less invasive and more precise arthroscopic procedures, ready-to-go surgeons and lots of people still wanting to do what they did twenty years ago, more and more people are going in for procedures on knees, shoulders, elbows and the likes which, a few decades ago, were reserved for professional athletes who needed to return to their income-paying playing as soon as possible. At that time, the emphasis was on getting them going now, rather than the long-term prospects. Nowadays, how many people have you talked to who were going in to a joint "cleaned up?"

My experience is anecdotal, but of the many acquaintances who've had various procedures, the story is depressingly similar: they went in for the procedure of some sort, and a year or more later they're no better than they were before the surgery. Some have had the same procedure repeatedly.

Unfortunately, taking your body in is not like taking your car in. Most parts can't be replaced with perfectly fine brand-new ones. And any procedure--even the least invasive arthroscopic ones--create new scar tissue you have to deal with. Scar tissue is the fast-growing stuff your body creates to reconnect and immobilize injured areas. It does that job just great, but needs to be broken up before you can have pain-free movement in an area.

That's why surgery is usually followed by rehabilitative exercises: to break up the scar tissue and strengthen all the muscles, tendons, and ligaments which were weakened by immobilization during recovery. Most people do these exercises as long as they're following the physical therapy prescription, then stop.

Here's a heretical thought, though: what if people continued those exercises? Could they avoid a subsequent surgery?

And an even more heretical one: suppose (for non-critical injuries) people just started the strengthening and stretching exercises instead of the surgery? And kept doing them? Would that work?

I've not seen a clinical study on the matter, but perhaps one is worth doing. It would be a tough study because one couldn't use the normal double-blind methods: people are likely to know whether or not they've had a surgery or are doing their exercises. And--no matter what doctors do or don't do--people generally get better when they think they're supposed to.

My own experience has been one of adding more and more permanent stretching and strengthening exercises for all the things that have bothered me over the years. Serious wrist problems in the '90's from too many hours typing had me packing my wrists in ice every night. I've done the exercises which finally cleared that up three times a week ever since.

The plantar fasciitis that kept me from running at all a few years back? The exercises and stretches I finally found to take care of that are likewise on the three-times-a-week schedule.

The worst, though, has been my shoulder issues. Possibly I can blame them on two collarbone dislocations from getting hit by cars while bicycle riding. At that time, the orthopedist I visited stated I would develop severe arthritis in the joints and they had a surgery that worked really well for that.

When they began really bothering me, I started researching treatment for arthritis. Wouldn't you know: top of the list was strengthening the muscles to take the load off the joint. After years of experimentation, I've finally found some exercises that help my shoulders enough they don't keep me awake at night. We're getting there and--more than twenty years later--that surgery is still on hold.

Possibly there's something in this to consider for that next aging joint you're sending in to the shop for "cleaning up." Strengthen and stretch, or scope? It's your choice.

Bon app�tit (& workouts!)
The Power Chef

Almost Heaven

In the spirit of rehabilitation this month, allow me to offer my prescription for a non-prescription scotch

muscle relaxant. Great after you've strengthened and stretched those injured parts, and no superfluous calories!

The Gist
Pour a little into a suitable glass and sip until the desired degree of relaxation is achieved. (No driving!)

Ingredients
Your choice of single malt scotch
a suitable glass

Method
I think the Gist covers it on this one.

Notes
Allow me to comment on the varieties of single-malt scotch. I like many varieties, but, as it turns out, I do not like the ones most commonly available: Glenlivet and Glenfiddich. My apologies to the respective distilleries. In a pinch, I find them tolerable over ice.

The many I do like the best include: Talisker, Oban, Laphroag, Glenmorangie, The Balvenie, The Macallan, and so on. There are many varieties, so feel free to sample and find the ones you like best.

Cost likely won't determine your favorite. 10-year-old Laphroag at around $30/bottle is one of my favorites--more so than some costing $60 and up per bottle. Do expect to spend somewhere north of $30/bottle, though. There are some varieties costing less, but most seem harsh and unpalatable to me.

Flavors vary hugely. Some are "peatier," some are smokier, some are lighter and some are fuller flavored. Let your palate be your guide. Some scotches pass their final aging in either sherry or madera casks, which rounds out the flavor and adds a hint of sweetness. These I also like.

Blended scotches don't do it for me. I'm not sure what they do, but it doesn't taste like scotch to me at all. No Johnny Walker to Chivas Regal for me, please!

Some folks like a good single malt scotch over ice. But, then again, some folks also put ketchup on their steak!

For a glass, I like a good, short, clear, lead crystal tumbler. Let's me enjoy the color and shows respect for the scotch. I've never tried a snifter glass, but I suppose you could. I'm not sure what a Scotsman would think of that.

GGR Club Racing Report

--by Mike Cullinan, DE/TT/CR chair

Golden Gate Region, a 50 - year PCA Club as of 2010, has a strong history of track events, going as far back as the 1970's. In 2009 it was decided to bring PCA Club Racing back to Northern California starting with three weekend events. Three more are planned for 2010, including the most recent March three day event at Thunderhill Raceway. There will be a May event at Buttonwillow, and another two - day event in September to round out the Rolling Thunder 2010 series.

            John Steinbeck's " Pastures of Heaven" in Monterey County, California, have a twin in the low rolling hills of the northern Sacramento Valley, especially in late March: Bright green rolling hills, snow covered foothills to the west, Mt. Shasta to the north, Mt. Lassen to the northeast and the Sutter Buttes to the southeast. Stunning scenery.

           That is the setting for Thunderhill Raceway Park, which has become one of the premier race tracks in all of California. Significant elevation changes, off camber turns, "blind" turns, fast sweepers and a nice long straight all combine for a challenging and very fun "drivers" track. Coupled with well maintained buildings and a fantastic staff, Thunderhill Raceway does not take a backseat to any of the California road racing tracks.

            On the third weekend in March, 110 hardy Club Racers and DE participants braved sunny 70 degree weather for the opening weekend of the Golden Gate Region's " Rolling Thunder 2010". PCA assigned Jim Coshow as Steward, Michael Wingfield for Timing & Scoring and Geoff Daniels for Scrutineer duties, a great crew of PCA folks.

            A variety of race cars were on hand, ranging from a lone spec 944, a lone 914, a couple of cup cars, and pretty much everything in-between. Timing & Scoring Chief Michael Wingfield was overheard to say, " I've never seen a cup car come to a race on an open trailer with the driver setting up under an easy up to service the car. You guys are going retro, but in a good way". (Hartley Smith was the owner/driver of the cup car).

CR1

Pole sitter David Stomp #77 and Behram Soonawalla #81 outside pole sitter are in front, followed by the rest of the spec group(s) at the drop of the green flag.

            The event featured a DE on Friday and Club Racing and DE on Saturday and Sunday including Sprint Races on Saturday and Sunday as well as a one hour Enduro on Sunday afternoon. In between the Club Racing activities, the DE drivers had plenty of track time with full 30 minute sessions as well as timed runs for the Time Trial portion on Sunday afternoon. The event also included practice starts and a fun race, which, along with the other Club Race sessions, allowed a number of rookie drivers to obtain their PCA licenses (Potter/Switzer/Alex Steele).

           Sprint race 1 featured the aforementioned Mr. Smith in his GTC4 cup car as the overall winner, followed by Ferd Carnerio in his GTA1. GT3R was headed up by Gary Willard in his white car with new graphics for 2010, followed by Don Brunell (winner of Best Prepared GT car), Warren Walker, Carl Switzer and Peter Venturini. Brunell edged Walker, one of the co-chairs of the event, by a mere .196 of a second. Great racing.

            The Spec911 crowd was well represented with nine Spec911's in the field. David Stomp, the pole sitter, took first with a tight battle for 2nd and 3rd with Kirk Millet taking the second spot just in front of Ken Park.

            Thanks to local SPBOX drivers and promoters Bill Pickering and Andrew Forrest, (GGR Club Race Registrar), the SPBOX class is seeing strong growth in Northern California. David Potter, with his newly minted PCA license, took 1st place in Sprint Races 1 and 2 in his new SPBOX. Andrew Forrest took 2nd in Sprint 1, with Jorge Barba taking 3rd. Pickering had transmission troubles and unfortunately was done for the weekend.

            In Sprint Race 2 on Sunday morning, Hartley Smith was once again the overall winner after battling Paul Camusi in his 2009 cup car, with Smith winning the 14 lap race by .520 of a second, both cars were nose to tail for the entire race.

            In GT3R, Willard made it a sweep of the Sprint races by taking 1st, with Carl Switzer 2nd and the other two GT3R racers retiring before the end of the race.

            In the Spec911 group Todd Grantham took first with Stomp 2nd and Kirk Millet 3rd.

              The Enduro was the first in the history of the Golden Gate Region. A total of 14 cars took the green flag for the one hour race with a mandatory 5 - minute stop. Carl Switzer, another newly licensed driver and attending his first ever race weekend, won the Enduro over fellow GT3R competitor Walker by only 15 seconds! Mike and Alex Steele, a father- son team, came in third in their very nice "I" prepared car. Don Brunell was vying for a podium only to have fuel starvation issues on lap 27 of 28 and was forced to retire.

              Todd Grantham won the Spec911 class in the Enduro followed by Behram Soonawala and Kirk Millet. Kirk made it three for three podium finishes for the weekend with two 3rd place finishes and one 2nd place finish.

              Pickering and Forrest teamed up in Forrest's SPBOX for the Enduro with Forrest driving for the first half of the race and Pickering finishing up for a 1st in class.

CR2

Mike Cullinan, Club Racer, Geoff Daniels, PCA Scrutineer, David Loop, Club Racer, Dean Lyon, John Teasley, Scott Kalkin (foreground) and Marlin Neufield, all having a taste of good California Cabernet  after the Saturday evening dinner.

              Unfortunately there were a number of racers who had fuel issues in the Enduro and were unable to finish. Forrest, who finished the Enduro with Pickering as a co-driver, was quoted as saying " winning an Enduro includes the basic ability to tell time and read a gas gauge". Regretfully, Mr. Forrest will be out of the country for the remainder of the year.

              The green hills also made a perfect backdrop to showcase the colorful cars. Larry Heitman, driving what may be the only sepia brown race car in the history of mankind took 1st in GT4S in Sprint race 1, Larry Robison in GT4R with his rainbow colored early 911, in contrast to Mr. Sepia, took 1st in GT4R in both Sprint races. John Seidell with his dark purple 914 - 4, who turned a fast lap of 2:05.637, a really quick lap for a 4 cylinder 914, took 1st in GT6R in both Sprint races. Jerry Whitteridge in his white and red Spec944 took 1st in both Sprint races. Other cars included your author, Mike Cullinan with his Kelly Green Spec911; David Loop with his black Spec911; Bill Ward with a bright blue and white Spec911 and Cris Wedekind with a very well prepared, dark charcoal colored Spec911.

              Hartley Smith, Paul Camusi and Carl Switzer won Worker's Choice Awards for the weekend, all having very nicely prepared cars. Congratulations to all three.

              As with any of these events, volunteers made the weekend happen. Besides the PCA crew the GGR crew consisted of Dan Thompson working race control, Ken Mack as DE steward, George Morris DE Tech, Andrew Forrest as Club Race Registrar, Paulette and Ross Johnson as DE registrar's, Paul Marty working Safety, Marlin Neufield and Jim McCelland working Grid, Chuck Kolstad as Chief Driving Instructor along with his hard working band of instructors, Claude Leglise handling Orientation & novice de-brief sessions, Karen and Sharon Neidel handling DE timing and helping with the Enduro timing and David Bunch, Dean Lyon and Scott Kalkin for helping wherever needed.

              Also, a heartfelt thank you to Jay and Amanda Jarvis of Jay Jarvis Motorsports for transporting the PCA equipment from Thunderhill to Fontana, saving GGR the shipping costs. Thank you Jay and Amanda, we appreciate it!!

              Rolling Thunder 2010 continues in the third weekend in May, with the next stop: Buttonwillow, Oil Captial of California!! See you there.

Mike

GGR Porboys Beginners' Autocross School

Announcing the Famous Annual GGR Porboys Beginner Autocross School!!!

It is that time of year to start thinking about all of the great Porsche driving opportunities in 2010. On Saturday, June 26, Howard Yao, Claude Leglise, and John Seidell will again run this school. It is really for beginners or people who have autocrossed only a few times. If you have ever wondered what it is like to experience driving your Porsche on the edge (but safely in control) then this is for you. This is a good safe place for drivers to learn about the handling of their Porsche.

The school will be on one of the large runway areas of the old Alameda NAS (just past the Alameda Ferry Terminal). The day begins at 7:30 AM with registration, teching of cars, and then a driver's meeting at 8:15. Students will then walk the course with their morning instructors. After that, students will be driving on skidpads in order to learn the feel of an oversteering and an understeering car. It is a lot of fun!! The day will proceed with students running the Autocross course with their instructors, while half of the students learn to work the course. As in the past, Mr. Larry Sharp, who is a world famous course designer, will make up the course for this year's event.

After the lunch break we continue to run cars in hour sessions until 5 PM. It is truly a fun day with lots of learning. One of the best parts is that students get a few rides in their instructor's car. We try as best we can to have instructors that have had experience with cars similar to the students. You will also have different instructors in the morning and afternoon.

The school is sponsored by Joe and Annie Zeiph, the owners of Porboys German Automotive Service. They are located at 3640 East 9th ST. in Oakland. Joe and his technicians are experts in the repair of all German makes, but they specialize in the maintenance, repair, and complete rebuilds of 911, 944, 914, 928, 996, and Boxster cars. If you have questions or need repairs, call Porboys at 510-437-9400. They do Smog Checks, excellent work on all German makes, and are highly recommended.

If you sign up and pay the $99 fee, you get:

Instruction from the best and most experienced instructors in the west!! (Really)
A lunch including Porboys sandwiches, chips, cookies, sodas and water.
A Porboys Autocross School T-shirt.
A knowledge of how an Autocross is run, and how to work different jobs.
A basic knowledge of car control and you will learn tips on how to handle your car.
You will drive home with a big smile on your face!!!!

If this sounds really good then sign up on www.Motorsportreg.com You will first need to create an account, then go to the Saturday, June 26 date and select the GGR Porboys Autocross School. If you have questions email Howard Yao or John Seidell. We do limit the number of students to 57 so that there is plenty of driving time. Advance signup and payment is required. See you there!!