CP

Hi,

I took my Ruf to Thunderhill to see what the car can do. My first track event driving the Ruf. Porsche of Fremont (P/F) sponsored this semi-private track day with Hooked-on-Driving. Total of 28 cars. I'm in the beginner's group with 7-30 minutes sessions. All in all, I could have 3.5 hours of track time in a day.

Brandon Kraus was my private instructor, and he is as good as they come. I'm lucky (more on that later) to have him with me today.

The 3 morning runs were terrible. I didn't know the track, way too tense, did not look far afield, didn't unwind the wheel after the apexes, screwed up most of the lines, forgot to shift, etc. etc. It was not an auspecious start. Turns 5, 14, and 15 just killed me.

The afternoon sessions were like night and day. I was doing almost everything right. I worked to perfect a corner at a time, and by the second afternoon session, I was hitting everything as good as could be. My main issue was judging entry speed, and I still was not comfortable with the capabilities of my car, so I certainly followed the slow-in, fast-out rule. By the end, I was hitting 125 MPH at the front straight (before turn 1) and 100 MPH at the back staright (before turn 14). It was a hoot. Brandon just could not believe the difference, like a different driver (his words). All in all, I did 145 track miles.

Conclusion, the Ruf's capabilities far far exceed my ability to drive. Brandon took the car out by himself for some hot laps, and thinks he could be doing sub-2 minute laps. That 's really hauling. Love the car. That's the good news.

Now onto the bad news. After my 6th session, I pitted and asked the P/F service manager for a quote to do the 120k miles service (I'm at 118,976 miles now). He asked to look at the engine bay. I flipped the rear deck, and Brandon immediately spotted a fuel leak. It was not in the fittings, but in the line. Since I have fuel leaking into the engine bay, my day is done. Good thing Brandon was there, or I could take the Ruf out for one last session and set the car on fire on the track. I count myself extremely lucky finding the leak when I did.

Now I have to find a way to get the car home. I called AAA and they tow for $5/miles. That's a $950 tow. Just as I was scratching my head, a flat bed tow truck drove up. Turnes out a GT2 crashed during the morning session and P/F sent for their contracted tow to get that car down to the dealership. To make a long story short, the tow driver (he specializes in Porsche tows) hitched the Ruf up and towed it to P/F for a $150 ride-along-fee. Now P/F will have my Ruf for a week or so to do a 120k service and a fuel leak. It's not going to be pretty when the bill comes.

We got there by 7:15 pm. If I was using a local AAA tow at Thunderhill, it would be $950, and I would get back by 9 pm or later. Talk about lucky timing.

So now you know the rest of the story, here are the pics. Start with a group pic, end with the 2-cars tow pic, and some track pics in between. The trck pro-photographer took those shots. Can't claim any credit for them.

Enjoy.

CP

EricGT3

Pong - sounds like you had a great time and now you're hooked! You can now follow Mooty to all his track events. Lucky you caught the leak in time before any damage was done. Let me know when your next event will be, maybe we can hook up. I haven't been to the track in a while and need to go.

mooty

congrats pong. no longer a track virgin.
i hope u are now hooked.

DJF1

wow Pong, welcome to the dark side! There is no turning back

Air Kuul TT

Congrats Pong, Sounded like you had a great "Pop the Cherry" track event. Sorry to hear about the fuel leak... so when is your next track event?

CP

Hi Folks,

I had a great time, but I don't consider myself hooked.

To be honest, before I went on track, I was really apprehensive and nervous: what the day was going to be like? Can I handle the driving, will I get motion sickness, will I get a headache, will it get too hot and irritating, worse fear: will I ball up the Ruf? So I started out one step behind already. Lucky Brandon is an incredible instructor. He knows the track like the back of his hands, is totally patient. Sometimes an instructor doe so well on track he expects the newbies to be like him. Brandon is not that way. That took away some of the pressure. In every download session, he helped me with the sections on track I messed up and gave me instructions on how to correct the mistakes, which I eventually did. I owe him big time.

I have no plans for another event now. I may never do it in the Ruf again. Afterall, the car is 13 years old and 120k miles, so parts are going to fail under such stress. I'm pretty sure the car had not seen such constant and high boost durations before. That may be why the fuel line sprung a leak. I hate to be somewhere far away, and had to tow the Ruf home. If I ever go, it might well be in the Cayman.

But if you guys have a group event, I may come by just to hang and smell the buring tires and brakes.

CP

993inNC

Sorry to hear about the car......but it could have been much worse. Those are some great shots, even if you never went out again, at least you have some great photos You'll be back and do better the next time, I know it

ca993twin

Pong,

All-in-all, a great day. You can feel really good about your steady improvement. It really will make you a better driver on the street too. The pictures are fabulous. It's terrific to see a Ruf being used like Alois intended! The fuel line is no biggie. All-in-all... a great day. Congrats.

Blaine S

Pong - hey I know how you feel. I went through all the same emotions the first time I took "Brunhilde" on the track.

I guess I keep telling myself the these 20 minute stints are well within the car's capabilities and really shouldn't do any harm.

Sure, 20 minutes of track time is going to be harder on the car than a trip to the grocery store.

However the upside is that for those 20 minutes your car is alive - and you will never forget them.

- Blaine

DJF1

Pong, Steve is right on about track time making you a better driver on the street. The more time you spend at higher speeds the more you are able to "listen"and feel what the car is telling you. You develop almost like a muscle memory, when things get out of control you are more capable of bringing them back under control. That can only happen with seat time.
The key here is what you said. You need to be comfortable with your pace and you really dont have to go faster than what you are comfortable with. This is much safer for you, the car and the others and more enjoyable at the end of the day.
As for putting stress on the car, i think that the RUF will take more than what you give it credit for...
The Cayman is a different beast, I just think that driving the RUF on the track you are going to be more comfortable with that car, instead of the Cayman...

MrRoboto

Great story and great pics Pong. However, the last picture really concerns me. How did Ruf's front splitters turn out being towed that way?

CP

Jimmy,

I did not inspect closely afer the Ruf was unhitched. It was getting dark and my wife and daughter were in their car waiting for me to go to dinner. I will go there Sunday morning and take a close look. I think it is ok as I also have a FPB.

Thanks for the thoughts.

Denny,

I am absolutey astounded by the Ruf. In the front straights, I gun out of turn 15 at about 35 MPH (max.) by the end of the front straight (start of turn 1) I was at 125 MPH in 4th. I scrubbed speed down to about 50ish for turn one, and the brakes were like hands of God pulling the car back. This is too good a car to be in my ownership. It really should belong to someone who can drive it to it's limits. I am nowhere close, and never will be.

I have attached a Thunderhill track layout for for your enjoyment.

CP

DJF1

Nahh..do about 10 events and then come and tell me you are not worth the ruf From the pics it looks like you already gave her a good workout and you learned a ton of things. That is very significant as I have met "students" who were incapable to do what you described in their 3rd or 4th event... Dont sell yourself short. Just go out again and at your pace have fun.

ca993twin

Pong,

Don (911/Q45) is a very proficient instructor, especially at Thunderhill. He has been nagging (threatening) me to come out to Thunderhill. I will if you wiil.

nota_troll

Pong. Sounds like a full day. Fortunate you didn't go up in a blaze of glory.

If I was there I would have used my AAA tow which allows 100 free miles (I think).