April 2012 New Member Reception

Wow, what a meeting. You might be asking yourself are they kidding. What could be so exciting about a New Member reception? Well let us start with the fact that we had a record number of new members turn out for the reception followed by what most attending the meeting would agree was one of the most entertaining and engaging speakers to come our way in recent memory. And let us not forget the food. The Villa put out a spread that had everyone at the reception’s taste buds singing.

We began the evening festivities by signing in the new members and giving each a name tag. We also gave them a heads up that after the reception, when the regular portion of monthly meeting starts, we would be introducing them to the club and ask them to speak about what model Porsche they own and what activities they plan on participating in with the club. With the help of the BoG members in attendance, we did our best to answer the new member questions about the Club and its activities. We encouraged them to share stories about their Porsches and themselves and we did likewise. This led to some very lively conversation. While all this was taking place we dined on the aforementioned sumptuous finger foods from the Villa’s kitchen.

Trying Not to Make a Splash

“Now, to put a water-cooled engine in the rear and to have a radiator in the front, that’s not very intelligent.” – Ferry Porsche (PANO, Oct. ’73).

There I was, out there just enjoying myself during the third Black Group run on Day 2 at Lime Rock, and all of a sudden I am doing a “tank-slapper” on the uphill. Holy cr#%, what the hell is going on. The tires felt a bit greasy at turn one but now all hell was breaking loose. I decided I better head to the pits and see what is going on.

Racing at Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV – Mazda Raceway – Laguna Seca

Dave Roberts is a member of PCA and has been a DE Instructor and Club Racing enthusiast for many years. As the Chairman and President/CEO of Carlisle Companies, a global diversified company that owns, among other companies, Hawk Performance and Cragar Wheels, Dave has the perfect job for a real car guy. His Porsche stable includes a 997 GT3 RS, Boxster S and a 944 Turbo Club Sport which he campaigns in vintage and Porsche Club Racing.  A car guy with eclectic tastes, he has a replica of the Penske/Donohue ’69 Trans-Am Championship – winning car (featured in the November 2011 issue of Chevy High Performance) that he also races. He owns the Hawk World Challenge Corvette, as well as a low-mileage 1990 ZR1 Corvette.
Ken Ernsting

NNJR Racing Results for Summit Point

NNJR Racing Results for Summit PointSummaryNumber of NNJR Racers 5Podiums 6 out of a possible 7 Fastest LapsDriver                                 Class     Best Lap      ClassRecordH ALTMAN / T DAWE            GTC3    1:16.104     1:15.363HOWARD ALTMAN                GTC3    1:16.985    1:15.363DANIEL CURRY                     GTB1    1:19.980    1:18.425CHRIS PALUMBO                   GT4S    1:20.114    1:18.147W DiGIOVANNI / J ABRUZZO   SP2      1:28.609    1:26.339   Race ResultsRace Driver                          Class […]

NNJR Racing Results for Laguna Seca

SummaryNumber of NNJR Racers 2 Fastest Laps       Driver           Class        Best Lap           ClassRecordTHOMAS EVANS   GTC4        1:36.028         1:31.281CHARLIE BOYER   SPB          1:44.522         1:43.694 Race ResultsRace      Driver      Class       Best Lap      Position in Class      Overall PositionGroup 8: Rennsport Reunion Cup Race 1THOMAS EVANS    GTC4       1:36.463            DNF                     DNFGroup 7: PCA Club Racing RaceCHARLIE BOYER    SPB         1:45.062            5/6                      41/48Group 8: Rennsport Reunion Cup […]

On Track December 2011

 

This is my last column as the Driver Education chair. The last two years have been challenging and rewarding at the same time, but I consider it a way of giving back to a club that has given me so much over the years. Before I relay my many thanks, let me tell you about a few upcoming events. First, our annual Mid-Winter Track Event is being held on Sunday, January 29 (for football fans, no worries- this is the off-week before the Super Bowl). The Mid-Winter event is not conducted at a track, but will be held at The Villa in Mountain Lakes. There are further details in this issue of the magazine, but this event is intended to inform members, who have not been to a Driver Education event, about the program. We will have presentations on various aspects of the program, on-track video, and plenty of time to ask questions of senior driving instructors. The cost is only $25. This includes a hot buffet lunch and a coupon to recoup your seminar fee at your first DE event. Second, although we have not settled on a date at this writing, Brian Till has agreed to join us for the Advanced Driver seminar. If you watch races on Speed you may have seen Brian reporting from the pits. He also is a former Indy Car driver and a longtime high performance driving instructor at the Mid-Ohio School. Watch for an announcement in next month’s magazine for the date and location!

IF IT’S OCTOBER, IT’S NEW MEMBER RECEPTION TIME

 This time of year while many NNJR member thoughts turn to a beautiful and relaxing ride though the New Jersey countryside in their Porsches to view the changing colors of autumn, the New Members thoughts turn to the second of the Clubs New Member Reception. With this in mind we began the planning several weeks ago. This included selecting the menu for the hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, making sure the chairs for the clubs programs are notified to be present and preparing the information packets we give to each new member. All this being accomplished prior to the event, we were confident the evening would go well.
 The evening of the event we decided to leave extra early to avoid arriving late as happened at the last event due to heavy traffic on 287. Arriving at the Villa, we set up our New Member table and were ready in plenty of time to greet the New Members. Shortly the Event Chairs arrived and we were ready for the New Members. As each arrived we greeted them, gave them there information packet and introduced them to the Event Chairs. While this was going on, the staff at the Villa put out the food. At this point for some reason most of the attendees gravitated to the end of the room where the food was. Go figure! Anyway the New Members got to meet the Event Chairs, have their questioned answered and have some great food while sharing their Porsche stories.

AutoX For December 2011

 As promised, here is the next installment on car setup basics for Autocross. In previous articles we covered some of the fundamentals of tires, tire pressure and alignment. This article will cover sway bars and shocks.
 The resistance of a car to leaning, or roll, while cornering is a primary factor in how a car behaves. There are two reasons for this: Roll affects how the tires touch the pavement and relative roll resistance determines how much weight transferred each corner of the car will carry in a corner. It is clear that a car’s body roll influences grip by tilting the tires on the pavement, but tires are also sensitive to how much vertical load is placed on them. More load equates to more grip, but the tire is also less efficient. Increasing the roll resistance of one axle of a car causes more load to be transferred at that axle, making the tires on that axle work less efficiently. It is this principle you work with by stiffening or softening the chassis. Sway bars and shocks are part of a car’s roll resistance. They are commonly adjustable and work in different ways to affect a car’s behavior.