1st DE with my Boxster... blowing smoke
 

After 7 years track experience with Miatas I tracked my 03' 2.7 yesterday for the first time. Car needs stickier tires than the stock Michelins. It would benefit from a slight suspension upgrade and my stock brakes were toast at the end of the day. The latter might be due to old(er) brake fluid but better pads would really help. With that being said... the car was a blast to drive. PSM made me look like a hero out there. I enjoyed the safety net it provided even if it robbed me of a few seconds each lap.

Right before my second 20 minute session a buddy noticed that I got a small puff of smoke out off the exhaust when I started it up. Didn't think much about it until I started the car before my 3rd session of the day and I got more smoke. About 4 or 5 seconds of thick grayish smoke and then it cleared up. Like she was clearing her lungs. Car ran fine. Car sounded fine. No CEL's. I did notice my oil level drop a bit through the day. I can understand consuming some oil but I added a 1/2 quart just to get the bars on the dash gauge back up to "normal". Each time the car sat around an hour between sessions. No smoke on track. Just at start-up. Please tell me this isn't a sign of impending doom.

I am sure others will chime in here but there has been discussions on the smoke at startup. Here is a link to a discussion on it. A little smoke isn't a problem.

Smoke On Startup

The last DE I did earlier this summer I had the same problem. It was in fact the air oil seperator.

Does the harder than usual driving cause this part to go bad?

you have nothing to worry about. Make sure when you track your car, if your dont do now, take a couple minutes for cool down laps. Ive had my box sit for 2 1/2 weeks and when i started it up, so much smoke came out that i had to let my garage air out for a good 15 minutes to get rid of the stench.

This is caused by the H pattern of the engine, oil slightly come into the cylinder heads and is burned off when started.

I think its more if the part is already bad or getting there that the increased oil movement from g-forces on turns causes the problem to be more noticeable.