Slipstream - July 2011

Time Trial People Are All Winners!
By Mitch Williams
Have you ever been to a Maverick Time Trial event?
How about a Maverick Autocross? If you have
been a regular attendee, then what I would like to
share will be familiar. If not, then read on and see some of
what you’ve been missing.
Time Trial #4 took place on a hot Texas June day at Mineral
Wells Airpark. We don’t run during July and August to avoid
the heat. June is normally cooler than it was last June 11.
But those of us addicted to driving our cars at the limit will
put up with a lot to get more seat time. And you get LOTS
of seat time at a Maverick event. If you have a Porsche, you
should really enjoy these events…considering you have a
car DESIGNED for just such fun. You can learn more about
just how well designed your car is for handling.
Even though our turn-out was low, our leader, Travis,
managed to run the event and make it a very good one. I
believe everyone had a great time. Our Slipstream Editor
Richard Bradley’s young daughter, Amanda, got her feet
wet in her first driving event. It was great to see her start
very slow, but steadily improve to where she looked like
she was driving pretty good at the end. Being in Daddy’s
great Boxster helped a lot, I’m sure. Mike Lockas was
back after getting his transaxle fixed…and turning great
times. Chuck McCoy did well, as did Travis and Robyn
Howard, Tannia Dobbins, Richard Diller, and quite a few
other regulars. But the big story is that Ray Kelly in his red
1985 911 Carrera saved the day. There was a Lotus at this
event. Now when you take a slot-car and a very talented
driver named Nathan, you get some very fast times. Ray
concentrated on his driving and got Top Time of the Day in
his last run set. The Lotus is going to do some suspension
work and be back…so the battle will continue. I hope
everyone can come out and cheer Ray on to victory again.
This shows you one of the best parts of the Time Trial and
Autocross events: diversity. Yes, there are non-Porsches
out there. Some of them are very fast. All of their drivers
are great people just like any other Maverick Region
member. I enjoy my Mav friends and the new friends I meet
at every event. It is a mini-social event. Everyone catches
up on what the others have been doing. Like a happy hour
in the sunshine around a lot of beautiful cars. Anyone new
coming out, just strike up a conversation and see what I
mean. Sometimes, you almost forget you came out there to
drive. Find someone else with a model like yours and find
out what they’ve done and how they drive their beautiful
machine to the limit.
I had the opportunity at this event to relearn a couple
of things that I learned long ago. Let me share them with
you. First I have a fresh engine in my car and it’s creating
about 60 hp less than the previous engine. So, I relearned to
concentrate on carrying as much speed as possible through
the corners. I also was downshifting more and really using
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