Horizontally Opposed - First Settlers Region PCA

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My First Parade: Christmas in July! By Bobby Smith This fall I will celebrate 25 years as a PCA/FSR member. During this time I have never had the privilege of attending the annual Porsche Parade. My work and time constraints have always been a problem for me. As soon as I found out that the 2008 Parade would be held in Charlotte, I started making plans. I registered in March and received confirmation of acceptance shortly thereafter. That is when the work began. My goal was to compete in the Autocross competition. I started by going over the 914 by checking out the major systems and changing fluids etc. This 914 has been my main Autocross car for the past 25 years, so it’s normally in “fighting trim”. I had a check list of services required and all of the spare parts and tools to bring along. About two weeks before the event I received a set of the PCA rules and two items jumped out at me. There would be a 103db sound limit and the fenders of the car must completely cover the tires. I run an open exhaust and my tires stuck out slightly so I quickly rounded up another exhaust and hacked together some homemade flairs. The day before the trip I loaded the car on the trailer and packed, tools, spares, helmet, clothing, personal items and everything that I could possible need during the competition. All I had to do the next morning was to put on my pants and grab my wallet. I’m on my way to the Parade. Everything is going great. I’m almost to Charlotte and I reach to find a phone number in my wallet. After months of planning every detail of this trip, I had left my wallet on the dresser. No licenses, credit card…nothing! Thankfully I had carried enough cash to buy fuel and food. I arrived in Charlotte and registered (no ID required). I got a chance to say hello to some friends in the Shenandoah region and stop by the Goodie store. The Westin Hotel was set up well and except for a few parking problems everything was smooth sailing. My plan was to meet up with the Driving Competition folks at 6AM at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on the day of the Autocross for the course walk through. I’m not sure exactly how many people ran, but 375 were signed up. I got there at 5:30 AM and it was still dark. 8 PCA First Settlers Region http://fst.pca.org
The sun rising over Lowe’s Motor Speedway is a beautiful sight. After taking a walk through the course, I thought that I might be in trouble. This was a layout unlike anything I had ever driven. My 914 is setup for your normal autocross course where 2nd and 3rd gear is used. This was a “mini road course” with banked turns, elevation changes and off camber turns. It was a high speed design and 4th gear would be needed. Most everyone in the paddock agreed that a GT-3, late model 911 Turbo or some other high H.P. car would take the FTD (fastest time of day). My class consisted of modified cars with 4cyl. engines over 2.7 ltr. and 6cyl. engines under 2.4 ltr. I felt pretty good about doing well against this group. The first car took the green flag a little before 8AM and after timing problems and several other delays it was looking like it was going to be a long day. We began to call it “The 24 hours of Charlotte”. The mod cars run last and I hit the track around 6PM. My 914 is built for shorts sprints and I only carry 21/2 gal.of fuel. Overheating can also be a problem. This was a long course and I was con Bobby Prepares (Photo by Andy Chisholm) Friend Andy Prepares His Car cerned about both. I take the green flag for my first run and ½ way through I see a cone that looks out of place. I stopped on course. Sure enough a course worker had missed something. I get a re-run. On my 2nd run I cross the finish line and I’m told there was a timer malfunction. I get a re-run. Now the oil temp. is starting to climb and I’m worried that my fuel won’t last for my 3 official runs. Oil temp is now 225 degrees. At 250 I must shut it down to prevent damage. I start the next run and I’m just hoping to get in a clean run because I know it may be my last. I turn a 70.994 which is good enough to take the M-3 class win. The oil is at 235 now so I shut it down and get back in line for my last 2 runs. At this point the 2 fastest cars are a GT-3 at 69.126 and a SCCA National Champion PCA First Settlers Region http://fst.pca.org 9
Page 1 and 2: Horizontally Opposed First Settlers
Page 3 and 4: Racing Don’t Gamble with your Por
Page 5 and 6: Horizontally Opposed Porsche Club o
Page 7: Editor’s Message By: Damien Walsh
Page 11 and 12: Porsche Parade 2008 - Charlotte, NC
Page 13 and 14: BALLOT 2007 First Settlers Region I
Page 15 and 16: Insurance, Life Insurance and relat
Page 17 and 18: Hunt for 901 The debut novel by Kev
Page 19 and 20: Calendar of Events (For FSR event d
Page 21 and 22: PCA First Settlers Region http://fs
Page 23 and 24: PCA First Settlers Region http://fs

Horizontally Opposed - First Settlers Region PCA

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