NEWS

Phil and Susie Audibert's Fabulous Fourth Fall Foliage Tour began at 10 AM on November 1 at the CDOC facility a half mile south of the Gordonsville traffic circle, off of Rt. 231. CDOC let us tour their racer's goody store. Also, Paul Overstreet showed us around his new shop, Overstreet European Motors, which is located within the CDOC building. Since the club anniversary party was rained out this year, we had an anniversary cake and coffee, too. Note the photo in the frosting showing a car on last year's Fall Foliage Tour.

Phil and Susie led the tour in their gray Boxster because it was raining and their 356 "Green Bean" is only marginally able to run the wipers and headlights at the same time. The winding roads were scenic, and the sun actually came out for the second half of the drive. We ended up at Graves Mountain Lodge for an "all you can eat" buffet of southern cooking, followed by apple pie and ice cream for those able to eat more.

Click to enlarge photos

The new Panamera was on display at Euroclassics Porsche for the October 20 social/business dinner meeting in Richmond. It has four real seats for adults, four doors so you can easily get into the back seats, a big trunk, and a very luxurious interior (with lots of buttons to control the high-tech goodies like PASM, air suspension, etc.). Afterward we had dinner in a private dining room at Carrabba's Italian Grill.

Eighth Annual Euroclasssics Day at Virginia International Raceway: The eighth annual Euclassics Day on October 12 at VIR (Virginia International Raceway) provided another driver's ed opportunity and a great introduction to high-performance driving for first timers. Qualified instructors were available to give free driving instruction.

Photos by Emmett Richardson.

Porsches and Pastrami: On Sunday, October 4 Gary Hagar hosted our final Porsches & Pastrami for 2009. The owners of ten Porsches and one BMW arrived at Durty Nelly's Pub for lunch. Most followed on a brisk driving tour, led by Dan Graff and his son Jakob, through the scenic rolling hills of eastern Albemarle, western Louisa, and southern Orange counties and ending at the Civil War Museum at the Exchange Hotel in Gordonsville. Here we were given a group tour of the museum and adjacent kitchen, both part of a Civil War hospital complex.

More photos...

Autocross: The sixth and final autocross of the 2009 season took place at the Augusta Government Center in Verona on Sunday, September 20. The course was bidirectional, and particpants ran each way three times. The photo shows Don Mattingley driving his 2008 Cayman. Here are the results by time.

Basil and Spec Boxsters: On Sunday, September 13 the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge regions met for lunch at the Basil Mediterranean Bistro followed by a tour of Werkstatt in Charlottesville. Raif Antar served almost 70 of us another outstanding meal at his restaurant on The Corner near UVa at his expense. Afterward, we went to Werkstatt to meet with Kenny Shreves, Nicole Shreves, and Scott Leopold. They showed us around their shop and explained Boxster Spec Racing, a newly adopted class that has been added to PCA, NASA, and SCCA club racing. We saw some of the Boxsters they are preparing for sale and lease.   More photos...

August Fun in Verona: Another round of the Shenandoah Region's Autocross series happened on August 23rd. Coincidentally, we had 23 racers also, so kind of weird. We had some visitors new to the club and also had some first time racers give it a shot. It was good to see the new blood giving it a try and having a ball. It is nice to see people having fun no matter what speed they run and where they place. New blood reminds us why we got into this stuff in the first place.

We built up a unique track that allowed two cars on at once. We wrapped up everyone's 6 runs by 2:40 PM, which was really nice. There were no major straights, an 8 cone slalom, and 61 seconds pulled down FTD. The course was technical and not one I had come up with before. Most all enjoyed it but were tired at the end of the day. I actually fell apart on my last run and basically slid, tank slapped, and basically lost it for about 70 yards before I gave up and called it a day. I explained what one run too many looked like. We had a tight group in the top five, with Emmett Richardson coming back up to the top again. I got a drive in that car during this event and it is amazing how well a 997 runs and handles. Nice car, Emmett, and thanks.

Three strong ladies made that group fun to watch, with Cristina McCann taking top honors, while slipping by her co-driver, Paul Sponseller, by 0.4 seconds. I think Paul caught her in the fun runs, but too late to count. Good win Cristina. We had a strong showing of the Miatas, and lots of sliding and car control. Stephen Garstang showed yet again that your car doesn't have to have an S to run fast and high in the ranking.

I once again couldn't catch the FTD of Gary Krichbaum. The one second threshold seems to be my Everest. I have upgrades for the car, but not till next season, so second will have to be good enough for now. Lots of good drivers for the event, and it is always fun to see the people who push and continue to get better.

Next month is our last Autocross of the season, and then we have the VIR day with Euroclassics for Columbus Day. For the September 20th autocross, I have an idea that will be like nothing we have done before in Staunton. I saw something 10 plus years ago at the Virginia Nationals, and I think I can pull it off at our local track. If done right, it will be something you will never forget, and hopefully enjoy. I usually change things up, but this will be a stretch. Come check it out.

Thanks for all the help today; good run, club.     ... Rick Ebinger

Porsches and Pastrami: Despite the gloomy weather forecast for Sunday, August 2, the afternoon turned out sunny for this month's Porsches and Pastrami. Nine Porsches and about twice as many members showed up for lunch served by Gary Hagar, owner of Durty Nelly's Pub and Wayside Deli in Charlottesville, and a driving tour through Albemarle, Fluvanna, and Louisa counties led by Jeffrey Elmore and Dan Graff. The tour ended at a country store and ice cream shop. "It's not just the cars, it's the food."

Garage Mahal Tour and Autocross: On Sunday, July 19, Phyllis and Weldon Scrogham hosted a "pit stop" at their famous Garage Mahal in Waynesboro. Coffee and refreshments were served behind their house, and then Weldon and Cole opened the garage and showed us their amazing collection of Porsches in a garage that most of us can only dream of. Words cannot describe it; if you weren't there, you have to see the photos.

Afterward, Cole led us in his red 356 to the Augusta Government Center in Verona for another one of Rick and Erik's challenging (and fast) autocrosses. To encourage more women to participate in this autocross, Diane Clark the owner of Merle Norman Le'Spa in Fishersville donated a $25 gift certificate to be used toward spa services. This "incentive" was awarded to the fastest lady driving a Porsche, Pam Ebinger.

More autocross photos...

Here are the final autocross results by time and by class.

Rick Ebinger's autocross report:

We were not sure how many people would come since the commonwealth games were going on that day and our SCCA friends were down in Danville. We were pleasantly surprised with 23 entries. The day had a very interesting course, with three places you could take a 901 transmission and max second and one big run that was deep third. It was a very fast course. We had our usual group, with some first-time runners. My favorites were the two slowest guys of the day, both driving Golfs and having the times of their lives. One was a TDI and the other was a very stock 87 model. I helped instruct one of Carl Severtsen's runs, and he did very well. I was distracted though because this car had the rare option of shoulder belts only. I looked for a lap belt but found none. It was a very interesting (not good) feeling as the stock suspension worked beyond its limits and wiggled around the track.

We had three good lady drivers for the day, with Sherry Westfall, Christina McCann, and Pam Ebinger running hard and moving up the ladder. Pam worked out a win and was very happy with her second attempt ever at autocrossing.

Erik Huggins and Jeffrey Elmore were pushing their rides to the max and went in very deep in the big straightaway. Both had big slides at high speed but pulled off great saves and made the rest of their runs. Great car control, guys.

Gary Krichbaum ran a great day again with his set-up Camaro. Everyone loves to watch him push that big American iron around. I was close with the 914, but still need to do some more work on the car to make it better. Erik also ran the 914 twice and nailed down the third slot with only two runs.

Probably the highlight of the day for me was watching Pam run our new yellow Boxster S (photo above). She pushed hard and used the car the way it was designed to run. 7000 RPMs and heavy brakes were used to navigate the course. It is a lot of car. I drove it a few times and had a hard time working the computer adjustments. Cole Scrogham warned me about the Boxster's understeer and he was right. I didn't like the computer attacking me with traction control, and it was tricky to get the right settings to match my driving style. I settled for traction control on for launch and then immediately off after the clutch was engaged and I was rolling. I had the suspension and sport buttons pushed the entire time, so no problem there. I won't launch without traction control on, and I won't run a course with it on. The fourth fastest time posted of the day was my first run with the car, and it had more time in it. Unfortunately, I could not get it, and after the third try I was done. If I raced the car in the future seriously, I think I'd stagger the tread and put race compound on the front only. More than likely I won't run the car again, or infrequently at best. The 914 is still my favorite, but the Boxster has found a new home and we are glad to have it. It is a very good ride right out of the box.

Thanks for all of the help. We have two more events for the year. See you next month.

Rick

Rumble at the Oak Tree: PCA Zone 2 sponsored a three-day club race and advanced DE on June 26–28 using the full course at the Virginia International Raceway (VIR). Shenandoah Region members "Mad Mel" Brannan, Jim Condon, David Israel, Erin Israel, and Emmett Richardson drove in the DE. Emmett served as a volunteer grid-tech inspector, Jim Condon and Sherry Westfall assisted with registration, Rick Ebinger was the Steward Assistant, and Erik Boody was the Scrutineer Assistant. Matt Einstein, Mark Francis, and Scott Leopold (shown in his Spec Boxster the photo on the left) drove in the races. Matt won has class and came in third overall against very strong competition in the enduro on Sunday. Congratulations, Matt!     More photos...

Richmond Porsche Meet (RPM): Shenandoah Region's thirteenth annual RPM took place on June 5, 6, and 7. The (rain free!) concours (results) was held just a few miles from the hotel at the beautiful river home of Howard & Leeanne Faunce.

More concours photos...

Autocross results by time and by class from Rick Ebinger

Autocross photos by Bill Sanders

First Settlers Region Driver Ed: The First Settlers Region ran a three-day DE event on May 22–24 using the full course at VIR. The weather was beautiful, and the event was sold out despite the recession. New Shenandoah member David Few showed up for his first DE with his "new" 2006 Boxster S (photo), and Sherry Westfall was signed off for a solo run in the blue group.

More photos...

Making a Difference in Tanzania, Africa: Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world, with 58% of the population living on less than $350 per year. As a result of my first-hand observation and experience of specific needs in Tanzania, Mel and I established Tanzania Health & Humanitarian Fund, an organization of volunteers passionate about making a difference in the lives of Tanzanian children and adults. The mission of Tanzania Health & Humanitarian Fund (TanzaniaHHF) is to provide specific medical, educational, and missional support to people in Tanzania through contributions, partnerships, and sponsorships.

Please see my illustrated article describing this effort and consider making a contribution.

Jeanette Brannan     

Shenandoah Region web forum: Members of a web forum can post emails on the web for others to read. A regional web forum should make it easier for small groups to organize and coordinate Porsche-related activities quickly without requiring a flurry of emails and phone calls among the participants.

The websites of many PCA regions host open forums that can be read by anyone. However, even large regions usually fail to maintain active discussion threads; and a "dead" forum makes a region look bad to nonmembers, like broken windows in an abandoned house. Also, electronic communication on a public forum may need heavy "moderation" to ban objectionable comments, flame wars, etc. To provide the benefits of a forum but avoid these problems, I created a "restricted" forum called Shenandoah PCA using Google Groups. You must become a member of this group to read or post messages; it is invisible to nonmembers.

If you would like to join the group, go to the LINKS page, click on "Shenandoah Region Forum," and then click on "Sign in and apply for membership," click on "create an account", and fill in the blanks. Google will send me an email with your request, which I will approve if you are a member the Shenandoah Region PCA. After you have become a group member, you can log in to read or post messages at any time by clicking on the "Shenandoah Region Forum" link.

Thanks to Jeffrey Elmore for suggesting the forum, which I hope will help our members get together for small impromptu events. If you have any questions or comments about the forum, send me an email at jcondon@nrao.edu.