As I'm writing this month's column, I'm
also watching the Porsche Rennsport Reunion on Speedvision. Interesting
how I can do two things at once. I was driving down the street today in
the rain, braked firmly and took a nice right hand corner, matching the
revs perfectly. Then it occurred to me what I had just done and that I
had done it all subconsciously. What I did was to take an aggressive right
turn in the rain, heel-and-toe downshifting... while eating a BLT sandwich!
I played it back in my mind to figure
out how the Hell I did it. I'm still not sure, but the technique seems
to involve holding the sandwich in your left hand, brake hard with the
right foot, applying the clutch you're your left foot, blipping the throttle
with the other part of your right foot, shifting with your right hand and
using your left knee to hold the wheel through the corner during the moment
that your right hand it busy shifting.
Back to Rennsport Reunion. I wasn't able
to attend this incredible event, so it was nice to see all those beautiful
cars turning their wheel in anger. One race showed NER's own Bill Hawe
racing his orange Jagermeister 962 against quite a large field of other
962s, including a sister Jagermeister car driven by Brian Redman.
You can also see some incredible photos
of the event at our website, www.porschenet.com. Look under "Photo of the
Month" and follow the links. By the way, if you have any interesting or
funny Porsche-related photos, email them to Jack Balthasar who handles
this page of our site. You can find his email address on our site.
This year is drawing to a close fast,
but looking forward to next year, the Porsche Club will begin a new program
called the Junior Participation Program. For the first time, this will
allow younger drivers (ages 16 and 17) to participate at our autocross
events. This is a program now allowed by PCA national and not all
regions will be participating in this program.
Those of you who have enjoyed autocrossing
know that it is a wonderful opportunity to learn about the handling of
your car at, and beyond, it's limits. Junior members may also now participate
in rallys as a navigator, but not as driver.
The program has some very specific rules
that must be adhered to, including the following.
1. Junior driver must have a full
privilege drivers license, which must be presented at the event.
2. At least one parent of the junior driver
must be at the event.
3. The parent must present special forms
at registration. These forms include a form, which must be signed
by both parents (unless one parent is deceased).
Continuing our look forward to year
2002 and beyond, some interesting products are in the pipeline from Porsche.
Some of the possibilities include a Boxster coupe, a pickup truck based
on the SUV (gasp!), a V8 powered grand tourer, similar to the 928. And
let's not forget the incredible V10 powered Carrera GT, which could go
into production in 2003. A new Targa 911 model will also be introduced
with a sliding glass top and a rear window that opens like a hatchback
- quite interesting.
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