2012, Volume 3 - Porsche Club of America

Anatomy of a Club Race
Continued from page 19
Sunday March 25, 2012
There were two run groups for the
90-minute Enduro race. The H cars
were in the fastest run group with the
Cup cars! We were the second slowest
class in the race and we knew this would
make for some interesting passes from
the much faster Cup cars. The winner
of the Enduro drove a 2010 GT3 Cup
with a fastest lap time of 1:28 over 57
laps, whereas my fastest lap time for that
race was 1:39. The Enduro Protocol
rules state that we are required to pit for
a five minute period during the race,
and I pitted at 55 minutes to get fuel
and a drink of water.
Just prior to my pit stop, I ran off
track at turn-7. I was able to drive back
on track as a couple of H competitors
passed me. I decided that this would be
a good time to pit. During that off, I
must have cut a tire. After my pit stop, I
had two offs for no known reason. I am
told that the announcer called my second
off at the bottom of turn-12 (which
leads to the front straight) as “The Save
of the Day!” I don’t know about that,
but coming to rest within 5 feet of the
inside concrete barrier might have qualified
for the “Code Brown” moment of
the day. While I waited for the flagger to
waive me back on the track, I was
reminded of the wise words spoken by
Clint Eastwood. “A man has got to
know his limitations!” I had reached
mine. I returned to the pits and my
Photo by Brandon Kroll
Alex (the racer) with PCA driving coach David Murry and Alex (the son)
trailer with another DNF in a points
race at 36 laps and 1:11:05 on the track.
The H winner was T J Larson at 51 laps
and 1:31:37.
After I returned home and removed
the wheels from my car, I found that the
left rear Hoosier had severe separation
from the sidewall of the tire on the
inside. The tire was also flat. I only had
three heat cycles on the tires and I am
hopeful Hoosier will replace it once I
Continued on page 23
July - September 2012 21