Spec Boxster Build

[thstone]

Originally Posted by Chuck W.

Just spent the last hour reading this thread and watching the videos. Great stuff, thanks for posting.

As Harry Callahan said in Magnum Force, "A man's got to know his limitations". I'll stick to AX!

Thanks Chuck! If you're ever interested in trying a track day, let me know. There is something about nearly two hours of seat time per day that is quite enticing.

[thstone]

Here is the video for Race #2 at the California Festival of Speed. In this race, I start last (7th) and work my way up to battle for 3rd but eventually I spin and finish in 4th.

Be sure to watch where a 911 that spun ahead of me tries to re-enter the racing line and almost hits me at 2:20 into the video!

The move that I enjoyed making the most was passing below another car on the NASCAR banking at 6:40 into the video. My car just loves that lower line and sticks like glue!

Again, be sure that the player is set to HD for the best quality. Enjoy!

[jaykay]

Keep the videos coming! Wow 3, 4 abreast maybe one day I will be able to do that!!

[thstone]

Originally Posted by jaykay

Keep the videos coming! Wow 3, 4 abreast maybe one day I will be able to do that!!

Thanks! I have to say that racing is as fun as it looks!

Keep at it and you'll be amazed at how quickly your skill level improves. And before you know it, you'll be ready to get out there and mix it up!

[thstone]

And while I have the floor, I'd like to point out that racing doesn't have to be a wreck-fest. If you look at both of the most recent videos, there is a lot of damn close door-to-door racing and I have never had any contact (and it only happens rarely). I think that racing without contact is actually harder than being lazy and nudging or rubbing into someone.

Even more so, this speaks volumes to the QUALITY of the performance driver's training that the POC and PCA provide to their members at no cost! All it takes is a commitment and a willingness to listen and learn.

[thstone]

California Festival of Speed press release from my sponsor, House Automotive;

[RedTele58]

Very nice write -up!

[thstone]

Another busy racing weekend with the POC at Willow Springs.

Competition in the Boxster Spec Class was incredible with two former BSR Champions returning to run with us and a semi-pro.

I was slow in the first practice but adjusted the tire pressures for Qualifying and ran a 1:34.7 which was within 0.3 sec of my fastest time ever at this track (1:34.4).

Then I saw that I qualified 6th! WTF? The top 5 were between 1:32.2 - 1:33.4! Those are all near track record times... in Qualifying! This means that if you're not capable of running at near track record times, you'll be running mid-pack..........Oh crap.

To cut to the chase, I started 6th, finished 4th, out of 11 cars. I thought this to be a pretty good result considering the competition.

One note of interest is that my starts are getting much better so I wasn't dropped right at the flag.

Another note is that as the group split into two, I was able to stay with the front/fast pack for several laps before being dropped and then driving mostly alone between the two groups for the remainder of the race. This is also quite an improvement as I used to be dropped pretty quickly by the leaders and then had to battle it out mid-pack.

Video is on the way - I have a great shot of me saving a spin in Turn 9 while the car in front of me spins out. With the dust cloud completely obscuring my view, there were a few very worried moments but when I come out of the dust the other car can be seen spinning off to the side.

Later in the day, I also ran as part of a three-car enduro team in the 3-hour Tribute to Le Mans race. Info on that race coming up.

Last note - this is so much freaking fun that some days I can't hardly believe that I get to do this!

[Greg Holmberg]

Tom--

I heard that Nathan Johnson, driving a new car, set a new track record of 1:32.6 in qualifying (previous record was 1:32.9), putting him on the pole. And then he won the race.

It looks like the temperature was only 74F today, so I'm curious what made the cars so fast.

Any thoughts?

Greg

[thstone]

Hey Greg, it was Anders Hainer who qualified at 1:32.2 and who won the race. Nathan qualified at 1:33.4 and was next to me on the grid in 5th. Link to the qualifying times are below, you have to manually sort by BSR class.

The cool temps partially contributed to the fast times but there was simply a lot of friggin' driving talent in this race: Hainer is a past class Champion, Johnson won BSR two years in a row, Kemper previously held the BSR track record and is now full-time racing MX-5 Cup, and Bermudez is the current class points leader and was the current track record holder.

Put all of that talent together in one place, at one time, and they all rise to their best.

Also, from a competitive point of view, BSR is being taken to the next level. Its not a "beginners class" like some may think; certainly not if you want to run at the front and win. These are guys who have a lot of experience and who are dedicating a lot of time and money to have the best training, equipment, and support. For example, winning cars are passing post-race weight in the single digits! Single digits - that is roughly within 1 gallon of fuel. Me? I finished with 3/8's of a tank on a car that is already 40lbs over. That is how close the details are being managed on some of the cars.

At least, that's my take on it.

I will be up your way for the PCA race at Laguna Seca in early June.

2015 POC Tribute Race Qualifying

[thstone]

Last Saturday I Raced Against Porsche Factory Driver Patrick Long

For real, on a track, in real race cars, no joke, no asterisks.

Here is the story...

Late Saturday afternoon following the Sprint race, the POC held their annual Tribute to Le Mans 3-hr enduro. I was on a relay team with two other Boxster's where we each drove our own cars for about 1 hour and then come in and the next person goes out.

There are time handicaps to equalize the difference in cars and between teams so in theory, a Spec Boxster team could beat a team of Cup cars.

Porsche factory race driver Patrick Long was in Los Angeles and one of the teams invited him to the event to drive in a 911 Cup car. He drove during the first stint so we were in the race together for about an hour.

Of course, his car was much faster than my Boxster (about 10 sec's per lap faster) so I never really raced him side by side, but he did pass me twice during the hour. And I am very proud to say that I didn't do anything stupid while he was passing me. You have to relish the small victories friends!

All in all, it was very cool to even be in the same race as someone like Patrick Long.

In regards to endurance racing - its hard. An hour was quite a long time to need to focus and maintain my performance level. My goal was consistency in lap times and I had set a goal a few seconds slower than my typical qualifying time. My thinking was that this would be achievable and allow me to settle into a rhythm.

The start was chaotic, but after the first few laps things calmed down and I was basically time trialling while watching the rear view mirror for much faster traffic coming up! It is amazing how much ground a Cup car can gain in just a few seconds against a 2.5L Boxster. And they often blew by about a foot away just to make sure that I was awake!

After an hour, I was physically beat with particular aching in my neck muscles from over-straining them against the g-forces for an hour. Now I know firsthand why NASCAR and Indy drivers use a big head rest on the outside of their seats. Ok, its for safety too but the neck rest must come in handy.

Overall, a great experience despite our team finishing about 2/3's of the way down the entrants list.

[thstone]

Here are a few pic's from last weekend's race...

In the paddock with Tyson Schmidt and Brad Keegan of Pro Motorsports in Burbank...


Ready to go!


After the races...

[thstone]

Here is the highlights video for Race #1 at the POC race last weekend. In this race, I start 6th and finish in 4th.

Be sure to watch me sawing the wheel and another Spec Boxster going off the track and spinning as we both enter a corner too fast at 5:20 into the video!

The move that I enjoyed making the most was passing below the Red 911 in Turn 2 at 6:15 into the video. My car loves those lower lines and sticks like glue!

As always, be sure that the player is set to HD full screen for the best quality. Enjoy!

[jimk04]

Well done for holding on to that tank slapper! Brilliant

[thstone]

Originally Posted by jimk04

Well done for holding on to that tank slapper! Brilliant

Thanks. The interesting thing is that it isn't really a tank slapper; what happens is that as I start to turn in while going way too fast, the tires start to slide so I intentionally unwind the wheel which let's the tires gain grip again; then I re-initiate turn in, and the tires start to slide (again), so I unwind the wheel (again); then I repeat this a third time just as I am coming to the apex.

The reason that I made it though the turn was sliding the tires 2-3 times, even for a moment each time, scrubbed off enough speed to allow me to make the turn exit. Otherwise, had I maintained my original teering input, I would have spun the car on turn entry; or if I opened up the steering such that the car didn't spin, then I would have run off the track at turn exit (as the car in front of me did).

[Chuck W.]

Originally Posted by thstone

The reason that I made it though the turn was.....

And, you did that all of that in tenths of a second. There is a lot of mental preparation there.

Keep those videos coming.

[Greg Holmberg]

Tom, I really enjoy these videos. Thank you.

I almost bought that black Boxster in front of you, #176, from Dan Aspersi at the Speed Gallery. However, since I wanted to register it with the DMV so I could drive it to the track for DE days, we decided to build a new one.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by Greg Holmberg

Tom, I really enjoy these videos. Thank you.

I almost bought that black Boxster in front of you, #176, from Dan Aspersi at the Speed Gallery. However, since I wanted to register it with the DMV so I could drive it to the track for DE days, we decided to build a new one.

Well, as you can see, the #176 was pretty fast - especially with two time POC Boxster champion Nathan Johnson at the wheel. Speed Gallery builds fast cars and has a good reputation.

And I completely understand wanting to drive it to/from the track! Good luck with your build and let us know how it goes.

[thstone]

Here is a short 2 min video showing out of class traffic. You see this on TV when watching multi-class sports car racing where the insanely fast prototype cars are on the track at the same time as the nearly-insanely fast GT cars.

The same happens in Club racing and being good at negotiating traffic, both faster and slower, without hurting your own pace is a skill all unto itself and one that I am still working on.

If I had it to do over again, I'd have taken the opportunity to pass the red 911 on the inside after he moved up the track. Lesson learned.

As always, full screen HD is the way to go! Enjoy.

[Topless]

Eeeesh! Watching that guy go off in front of you exiting 9 gave me the cold sweats. You just never know if they will stay clear or hook back into your car going 110 mph.

Glad you are having fun out there.