The final event for the 20th anniversary Richmond Porsche Meet (RPM) was an autocross at a new location: a large parking lot at the Richmond International Raceway (RIR) instead of the usual Southside Speedway. The RIR lot is much bigger than the Southside Speedway oval, and it is not bounded by unyielding concrete walls covered with menacing iron plates bearing numerous dents and battle scars. That meant that Rick Ebinger could design a big, fast course with wide sweeping turns and long straights. Although the course was long, it was very quick (the FTD was only 46.870 seconds), especially for the high-power cars. The overall winner was Randy Copeland who used the PDK launch control in his 2014 911 Turbo S to rocket off the line faster than anyone else. Richard Gray was close behind at 46.968 seconds in his 2004 911 Turbo, and Jeffrey Elmore’s 47.061 seconds showed that a determined driver in an “improved” 2000 Boxster S could keep the turbo drivers honest.
The pavement at RIR is much smoother and more uniform than at Verona, and there is no gravel to degrade traction. Other significant advantages of the RIR lot are shade trees and real bathrooms, as those who have baked in the sun at Southside Speedway or used their Porta-John can attest. Last but not least, the predicted rain never materialized, and the sun actually came out in the afternoon.