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Back in action at Laguna Seca, looking just like it did 23 years ago. 964 BiTurbo (ex-BPR) heading down corkscrew at Laguna Seca, Porsche Rennsport VI, September 2018
Well it was a mixed bag. The car was very fast... at least it was the fastest car I've ever raced personally. It made a consistent 530+ HP to the wheels at 1 bar or a little less boost. That puts it at over 600 HP at the flywheel. In qualifying, with myself at the wheel, I got into the mid 1:36s at Laguna Seca. That was fast for a 964 and 993, even some turbo variants, but it wasn't fast enough to keep up with the 996 and 997 RSRs and Rs that I was classed with. A 997 cup car has front tires the same size as I have in the rear!
At Rennsport VI I was classed in Group 7, which included everything from 964s on up. Therefore I was the oldest design 9xx car in the group. Still, with that much boost on tap it was competitive in qualifying to be a solid mid-pack car in that field. Unfortunately in the race one of the two connectors on our ECU worked its way loose, and it cut fuel injection on at least 1 cylinder, probably 2. And it happened right as I rounded the curb going onto the front straight. I had to limp it around the whole track and then pull into the pit to diagnose and fix the problem. Easy fix, and we need to make a long term solution for that problem, but it definitely hurt us in the race.
That didn't really matter though because to be on the track with all the factory Porsche drivers and other cars with tons of race history made it all worthwhile. We came home with all the shiny bits still shiny, the paint now has a tad more rash/patina. Good stuff. We will continue to vintage race the car in 2019 and beyond, and hope to be back at another Rennsport in the future. The car did seem to be a crowd pleaser.
...That didn't really matter though because to be on the track with all the factory Porsche drivers and other cars with tons of race history made it all worthwhile. We came home with all the shiny bits still shiny, the paint now has a tad more rash/patina. Good stuff. We will continue to vintage race the car in 2019 and beyond, and hope to be back at another Rennsport in the future. The car did seem to be a crowd pleaser.
That corkscrew picture needs to be made into a poster for your garage wall! Great event recap.
This car has definitely taken you on an amazing adventure, and you definitely don't give up easily either!
Guys thanks for the great pictures and kind words.
Here is a video of a fast (for me!) lap in the car. We had to take a pit stop after after the first 3 or 4 laps in the race because an ECU connector came loose and we lost 2 cylinders. This is a lap a few minutes after that pit stop when I was basically running alone.
Remember, I wasn't driving this car in anger... hard but making sure it was going to be OK. No more big bills on this one are desired for a little while. We have other race cars we can write off!
10-01-2018, 06:39 PM
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