GoRideSno

This past weekend I went to the POC driving school and short track event at The Streets of Willow Springs.

It was lots of fun except for the speeding ticket and bent wheel. Luckily Jim Bailey was there with a spare set of rear wheels to get me back on the track..... oh and to help me bleed my boiling brakes and diagnose a loose electrical connection.

Jim won the timed competition for his class in the very brown '80. With much better times than me. I must add.

I won my class too. It wasn't hard, I was the only one in the class, V2.

There was one other 928er there of the 102 cars on Sunday, Andre, with a black, no sunroof, 5 speed 79.

I drove the supercharged car hard and am pleased to say that there were no problems with the SC or the engine. For close to half of the 1.8mi track I was at or near full throttle. Sessions were 15 minutes, or 10 to 11 laps for me. As hot as the engine got was the upper white line. Ambient temp was around 60 degrees. I was hitting around 100mph each lap. I was in 2nd gear nearly the whole 1.8 mi. Only on the long straight section did I hit 3rd.

My instructors were all surprised when I hit the gas.

I can't wait to go back on the 28 and 29th of Feb. It's the streets of Willow again. If you are a member and bring a new member you both get half off the event price (of $75 I think) $75 for 2 days at the track....pretty good.

Thanks Jim and Andre. I wouldn't have made it through Sunday without your help.





Andy K

Shane

Did you get the speeding ticket going to or from the track? Revenue collectors caught up to either way huh?

Jeremy B

Hey andy do you know how much the membership is for hte track? also what were the requirements to race, a helmet? exstinguisher?

GoRideSno

Shane,
I was on the way to the track. 80 in a 65.

Dr. Jeremy,
You just have to have a helmet, stock seat belts, 5mm left on brakepads, nothing fancy. You should come out on the 28-29 we'll get 1/2 price! You were on my mind all weekend. I allmost called you to see if you would come up to the track and straighten me out. I woke up sat am with a terrible stiff neck and my back was killing me. Standing on concrete all day, driving around the track w/ PS belt off and lack of sleep even made it worse. I'm sure Jim and the others must have noticed me rolling my head and shruging my sholders all day.


Andy K

Jeremy B

Just a helmet huh, maybe I should come out next time, well i'll give you a call today or so and see if i can get you in, it's been pretty busy since christmas and newyears,but I'm sure we can do something if your schedule is free.

Jeremy

Lagavulin

Hey Andy, glad to hear you had a good time and had no problems out on the track!

Man, you got me really excited thinking about April's event at 4.2 mile Road America. At the very least for that weekend, I plan on changing out my street Porterfield brake pads for some race pads of some sort.

I also want to install a tranny cooler too, but I don't know if I'll have time to do that by then as I haven't researched pumps, coolers, etc. at all. Does anyone have any ideas?

Do you have any advice gleaned from your track experience?

Jim bailey - 928 International

The Porsche Owners Club ..POC is a DRIVING club based in Southern California . Many have used it to gain valuable track time / experience ; this last weekend several POC members were DRIVING the Daytona 24 hr race many more were there as crew . The annual membership is $75 , the entry Fee for a day of practice at the Streets of Willow is about $ 100 the race track charges $10 as well . Members get a discount and the two day member price is usually $150 . As Andy mentioned the next short track event is a new member , new driver two for one !! .............so for far less than what Andy's speeding ticket will cost you get about two hours of driving as fast as your car can go on a 12 turn RACE TRACK in a safe controlled situation . Groups of cars practice together in 15 minute run sessions passing is allowed only on the two straights . Most 5 speed cars use 2 nd , third and just a bit of 4 th gear ; top speed a bit over 100 mph . POC also has a big track program and those who complete their short track license may participate ( eventually race against Mark Anderson and Joe Fan ) . Really all you need is a auto racing helmet and a desire to learn Feb 28 th and 29 th .....one day, either day, or both days . There will be many new drivers students , many street driven "stock" cars as well has some highly modified race cars . The run groups are made up of cars which are doing similar lap times so an old very brown 1980 928 may be lapping with a supercharged Miata , WRX , Boxsters , 911s , 968 . And yes , the club allows other makes to come out and play !! for more info about P O C .. Lauri Taylor ... OFFICEOFPOC@aol.com

GoRideSno

Lag,
I did learn a few things.

To get off the throttle sooner than I thought I should going into a turn.

How to throttle steer. We went around a skid pad in a slightly squared off circle. we were taught to let off on the throttle to make the car turn sharper and to get on the accelerator more to make it turn wider. All the while basicly locking the steering wheel into place. This was also practiced in the slalom.

928s must handle very well. It seemed that 911 types were spinning out all over the place. Driving the 928 very hard never brought me to a point where I couldn't recover.

928s are very fast. Jim in the brown very brown 928 was turning much better lap times than some gutted 911 twin turbo race cars. Uh...and Jim is very fast too.

When I was able to control my right foot I felt the car tend to understeer. I.E. at the end of the 1000ft straight at about 100mph I would feel the front end drifting out slightly more than the rear in the turn.

Turns are to be taken outside, inside, outside, slow to fast. Brake in a straight line towards the outside of the turn. As you cross the apex begin to accelerate.

Run high air pressure in your tires. I began with 36psi all the way around. You may start with less since you will be on a bigger course.

Pick a point off the track to focus on as you memorize sections of the track.



Andy K

rob rossitto

andy, that sounds like an absolute blast...I spent some time at willow when I 1st bought my shark... my mechanic got me in for 1/2 price at a driving school, told me it was just some other guys out for a spin...yeah right - a row of Ferraris, a RUF, a pristine, but leaking F50 (what a sound!), my entire car wasn't worth the wheels of any of them...got a lot of snickers - until I came in 6th overall...then it was, "wow, those old things really run, don't they"... but the 2002 bimmers were the top dogs, stripped and tricked, they totally blew by everyone...

willow is definately a hoot...a lot of 3rd gear on the straights, think it was topping out at about 115-120 in 100F temps...motor never got hot, I even used the AC and stereo at one point!!! these are such forgiving cars, it's nearly impossible to lose it and very easy to throttle steer, very predictable...

when I was there, a brand spanking new 911 turbo spun into the infield, filled his car w/dirt...I was laughing so hard I nearly cried when he pulled out of the pits and left a trail of dirt behind him...(nicknamed him "pig pen")

my shark is in for engine surgery, the motor should be out of the car by now, the heads, etc should be off soon...can't wait to get it back, but building the crank alone could take as much as 14 weeks if Devek does it... trying to find a faster alternative now...if it snowed here I wouldn't mind....but this is SOCAL.....so many nice driving days.....

ps thanks for the info on parts....

Jim bailey - 928 International

Rob ....."but building the crank alone could take as much as 14 weeks " If it only takes that long that would probably be a record time somehow it always seems to take two or three times that long to get a custom 928 crank . Some have waited well over a YEAR FOR A CRANK ! Scatt has a minimum order quantity , Moldex is very busy with their big customers ....

Lagavulin

Thanks for the insight Andy, sounds like lots of fun!