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 Yes,
the weather has improved a bit; I’ve at least stop wearing a jacket to
work. Unfortunately it’s still not what I’m longing to enjoy. Each day
of late we’ve had clouds and threats of thunderstorms. It’s been much warmer,
but the forecast I’m studying on the Internet looks more like mid-spring
instead of summer. So yes I’m still in a complaining mode.
My mood is further soured by the advent of pine pollen season. Anything left outdoors for more than five minutes is immediately coated in a fine greenish tint. Leave a car sitting outside and you’ll quickly find it covered in pollen, mix that with a few rain drops and you’ve got a real mess to deal with. I’ve tried using my leaf blower to clear the decks and outdoor furniture, but all I’ve accomplished was to make mini dust storms. Keeping a car clean these days when you have to deal with pine pollen, and in my case sea gulls (what a mess they can make!) where I park at work, is a fruitless exercise. I know this is a Porsche orientated publication, so I shouldn’t be extolling other makes of automobiles. But since I’m the editor, I can write about almost anything I so choose. Hence I want to confess that I’m rather intrigued with the idea of purchasing a new Shelby GT-500 Mustang when they go on sale a year from now. I’ve previously mentioned my ownership of a ’70 Boss 302 Mustang, a car which I wish I still owned. Everything I’ve read about the forthcoming Shelby Mustang suggests it’ll be a hot performance setup, bringing back the glory years of muscle cars. I like the looks of this Mustang, and the numbers look entertaining – performance and price (particularly price as compared to Porsches). I’d guess I’m not the only “boomer” looking fondly at this offering from Ford. There will be a long waiting list in short order, proving once again that if you give the customers what they want – they’ll fork over the cash! Let’s see, what color would I prefer? We’ll be attending (I should say working) the Porsche Parade in Hershey, PA the last week of the June (we’ll be home by the time you read this column). This 50th version of the Parade has been a sell out from the moment registration opened last January. The schedule for the eight day event is jam packed with all manner of activities, competitive, social, and educational. I’m responsible for managing the two-day autocross event for which there are 317 entrants. Each entrant will get three runs on a very long course – on the largest paved surface in Pennsylvania. Autocrossing in our region would be our most popular activity if we had a paved surface this large in our area. In my capacity as parade autocross chair, I’ve had to respond to a steady stream of email. One message arrived today from an individual who didn’t read any of the parade promos, didn’t accordingly register to be a parade entrant, and only now (just two weeks prior to the actual event) has decided to inquiry of me if he could just show up and participate in the autocross – could I squeeze him in even though he’s not a parade entrant… well no I can’t just squeeze him in! I’ve had other inquiries concerning the event rules (published on the web, and sent to the participants), which those inquiring individuals had not read. Others wanted me to determine which class in the event they should enter, which I declined to answer (I don’t own their car, and haven’t any knowledge of what they’ve done to their car). Still others needed directions to Hershey, PA – I guess I’m an easier source of information than Mapquest on the web. I had one inquiry from an individual who had not autocrossed since the early seventies, and wanted to know if he could use his same helmet from that era. I said no to that one also, only to have him wish to debate me about Snell helmet safety guidelines. I suggested that using a helmet that has sat around for thirty plus years probably wasn’t a prudent thing to do, even if he’d kept it in a hermitically sealed container. Managing the parade autocross is a bit different from a region autocross. First there are a lot more classes – this year with new rules there was the potential that 84 classes could be populated – 47 for men and 47 for women. Then there are specific rules which dictate how the event is run. Specific times must be published in advance for tech, the driver’s meeting, and when each class runs (and you must run with your class). There’s a prescribed impound period for each class, to allow for protests (hopefully none). There even specific rules for signage. Then you have to manage a diverse set of participants – from very experienced and very fast drivers, to people who’ve never autocrossed before. You don’t have the benefit of observing these drivers to better gauge their ability, and accordingly how to space cars out on the course. That puts a premium on the observation powers of the starter; you don’t want to have cars get too close together. Further complicating things this year, was the need to get what is normally a 2 ½ day event done in two days (with one of those days shorter to accommodate another activity). Finally the volunteers, who are helping run the event, are people you never previously worked with. I’ll let you know how things went next month – note I’ll not be volunteering to be a parade autocross chair again! Our first driver education event in ten months was a source of much fun. We joined fellow NER members at Mont-Tremblant for two days of on track action. While a Nor’easter pounded Boston, we enjoyed dry (but cloudy) weather north of Montreal. Susana and me were a little rusty at first, but soon found our rhythm, spending lots of time on the wonderful Tremblant circuit. The cars ran perfectly despite the long period of storage in my garage. Bruce Hauben and the track team did a wonderful job of managing the event, keeping everything safe and on schedule. We’re headed back to Tremblant in mid-July for two more days on the track, and this time the nearby resort village will be packed with Jazz Festival patrons. As I write this column, I’m looking forward to the forthcoming weekend of televised motorsports. The 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Formula 1 race from Indy are both on the tube this weekend. I’ll be editing the newsletter at the same time as the races, so I’ll have good background entertainment to keep me motivated at the keyboard. Maybe in a couple of years we can root for Porsche to once again compete for an overall victory now that they’ve announced that they’ll build an LMPT 2 class car that will be available to privateers in 2007. |
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