Pocono PCA Club Race, June 3-4 2000 By Mike Piera
The annual Porsche Club of America Pocono club race was held 2 weeks after the Lime Rock race, with a forecast for a clear dry weekend. On I-84 in New York State we were passed by "Rocket Ron" Savenor and two other 911 race cars being towed from the Boston area, and decided to get gas when they stopped as we were also low. At the gas station I smelled something burning from my trailer, and felt one wheel which burned my hand it was so hot. Jacking up the axles showed that the wheel was stuck... Ron and the other guys came by and gave me some ideas, I said I would be OK, then I decided to remove the wheel and they were on the road by the time I discovered none of my tools would fit the lug nuts. We found a parts store and paid $10 for a socket the right size, when a van pulled up and the driver said "Hi, Mike!". It was friends that I have known for 20 years from Autocrossing, Jerry Bowden and his wife Nancy. He asked if we needed help, when I noticed his van had a huge "certified NY State repair shop" plaque on it - YES!!!
Jerry and Nancy quickly set up their portable shop and he noticed my surge brake actuator was stuck back, probably forcing pressure on the brakes. He pried it forward and the wheel would spin but still dragged. He then lubed up the actuator and said the drum brake could be adjusted. I can never figure out drums so I asked if he could do it, which he quickly did and now the wheel was spinning freely. Jerry reminded me that he had helped me with my LAST (leaky) actuator at an autocross in Massachusetts last year... what a coincidence! I thanked them and we continued on our way. We soon drove through a fierce wind and thunderstorm, which left my home without power for most of the weekend. But it was fairly dry by the time we made it to the Poconos.
We put my car and parts/tools in our garage space, registered, then went back to the Ramada following Ron. We had a late dinner with Bob Scotto and his roommate Jeff Burger, two of the fast F-Troop drivers who were in my run group for the first time. Usually my class (E) has to run with the faster classes, this time it was just E and F which would be fun as they are usually only a bit slower than I am.
Saturday practice
I'd had a problem with pulsing brakes the previous week at Watkins Glen, I had put on complete new front suspension and brakes. The brake disc was wobbling, due to an out of true hub. I was not able to completely fix it before this race, was hoping it would not be too bad.
Saturday morning we were the second group out, and my "vintage racing" Kumhos were mounted so as to save my expensive new Hoosier race tires. They gripped well and the gearing was good, I was able to pull off a fast 1:01.3 on the cold track. I was third fastest in that session, just a tenth behind Greg Merril in a Prepared F class 911SC and Bob Scotto in his '88 F class Carrera. I was one tenth ahead of fellow E class Ron Savenor, who was quite a bit down on power due to ring problems. I was also a few tenths ahead of Dr. John Sullivan who was a second faster than I was last year and won the 1999 race in his E class 944 TurboS. Below is Dr. John on my tail :
In the next practice I left the Kumhos on, and had some good clear laps at the end, so pushed hard and got a 1:00.6 which was 2nd fastest to Dr. John (by one tenth) in that session. But there were several cars just a tenth or two behind me, including Jeff Burger in his F class '85 Carrera. This was only one tenth slower than my fastest Hoosier time last year, so I knew I was going to be able to go significantly faster later on, and hoped to get into the 59s. At the end of the session, I had passed a car coming into the infield, and not reached the apex of the first turn. This left my car on the left, slippery side of the short chute before the hard right hand turn. I could barely keep the car controlled so had no time to brake until it was too late. When the car was under control I broke hard then knew I could not make it around the turn and drove off the track carefully, coming to a near stop just off the track, and continuing on slowly to the pits where I was checked due to a "four off". I decided to go back to my garage to check things out as the car took quite a few hard bumps in the grass. Everything was OK, even my low air scoops for my front brakes were undamaged.
For the third practice I decided to get serious so I bled the brakes and put on the Hoosiers, as I had a chance to do really well this race. I also raised the front of the car a bit, after comparing others' front A-Arms to mine and seeing that mine were not as horizontal as they should be, which meant my car was too low. This would give a bit of toe-out, which would be nice on the infield but a bit hairy coming off the banking. I was able to lower my lap time by about 1/2-second, to a 1:00.2, but Dr. John just dipped into the 59s. The cars behind me were strung out through the next second, with Merril and Savenor just behind me. This practice session would be used for the "fun race" this afternoon- three practice starts followed by a ten lap fun race. Usually we only have a few laps, so this would be interesting. The car was a bit loose coming into the infield, so I loosened the rear sway bar a bit and lowered the front back down a bit to get back some toe-in. Bleeding the brakes took away some of the juddering in hard braking that was a problem at the Glen. They were feeling much better.
Saturday Fun race
In each of the three practice starts, I was aside Dr. John and heard him wind up his turbo against his brakes, letting it rip when the green flag was waved. I was able to stay very close to him and ahead of the cars behind, up to the point where we stopped racing and lined up for another start. On the final start we were fairly even again and I followed him around the course, with a few cars gaining on me on the straightaway, a Carrera 4 (!) and a very fast '86 944Turbo. I finally let them by as they had so much more speed in the straight, and finished fourth (also fourth in E). But I would not be so easy to pass in the real race where it mattered. The '86 944 Turbo was later questioned by the scrutineer about running increased turbo boost by a restrictor jet in his turbo control line. I think he removed it and continued racing.
Here is a shot of me with Bob, Jeff, Mark, and the C4 close behind.
Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!
Sunday morning was another practice session, which would be used for gridding for the qualifying session later that morning. I went out just behind Dr. John and had some good laps, finally getting some clear traffic at the end as I saw Bob and Jeff coming up on me. So I went for it on the last two laps and finally broke into the 59s with a 59.6, the fastest time of the session! This was where I wanted to be, and only Bob was able to get under a minute in this session, a tenth behind me. Next were Jeff and Dr. John. Ron was about a second behind me. But most of them did not know (nor did I!) that this was going to be used for qualifying, so they may not all have been pushing as hard. I was asked by Bob Jones, the head scrutineer, to take my car to impound to be weighed after this session. I was not prepared, but had just enough gas to be 10 pounds over the minimum weight... lucky. Here is Bob and the gang just behind me :
Fellow RENNLIST racer Barry Lenoble, in his 944TurboS was getting used to his new Hoosiers and got down to a 1:01 flat, about 8th fastest. The other RENNLIST racer, Tony Nuzzo in the only Boxster currently being raced, was having problems keeping up with the faster cars in the group, especially on the straights. Tony is still setting up his basically stock Boxster, and learning the limits. We may see that the Boxster has a chance in F class yet.
Before lunch was the all-important qualifying session, as passing on this NARROW track is about impossible unless you have more power and can pass on the straight. I have the least power of anyone in my class (maybe less than anyone in the group but the Boxster), so I needed a strong starting position in order to stay far enough ahead on the tight infield that they could not pass on the straight. I wanted the pole, as the inside line is best into the 1st turn to keep people from banzai passes there. I lead everyone onto the track (my first time leading a pack in any session!) very slowly, warning Bob and Jeff that I would do this so as to let the full group on the track so we would not lap them so quickly. We were slow, braking and weaving to warm the tires, but someone in the middle of the group decided to crawl around even slower, and they were not even at the first turn as we headed for our 1st lap!!
We started lapping people very soon, so were not able to get many fast laps at the beginning of the session. However traffic opened up quickly, and I let Dr. John pass and waited back to allow clear track in front of me. We then got in a few fast laps, passed more traffic, slowed again, and took another few fast laps. We had several fast sessions when we could slow enough to allow room ahead of us. I was satisfied that I had several fast laps, but worried that John did too.
It turned out that I was exactly ONE HUNDRETH of a second behind Dr. John's pole position!!! Autocrossing Deja Vu! I had a 59.342, which I would have been VERY happy with, if it were not for his 59.332... The next fastest cars were a tight pack - Bob, Greg, Ron, and Barry, about a second behind our 1st row.
For the race I would have to try to get by Dr. John at the start, while keeping all the other's behind. I was confident I could get a good start and keep the others back, but getting by the powerful 944TurboS was another story... I knew I was faster coming off the banking, and in the infield, but every straightaway he would pull away from me. The lefthander was another possibility, along with the first tight right-hand turn and its braking area.
THE RACE IS ON!
I bled my brakes again, checked everything, and made it to the grid where I proudly took my #2 spot. I had put in plenty of gas, would be about 30 pounds heavy after a 25-lap race, just to make sure I was legal. We warmed up our tires and brakes, then got in a tight formation as in the practice race, with John and I on the front row again. John revved his engine against his brakes, spooling up his turbo, while I put my car in second gear with my hand on the shifter and left foot on the clutch ready for a quick shift to third, while my eyes were fixed on the starter's arm. As soon as the starter moved a hair, I floored the gas and the race was on! Here is an excellent shot of the start from Mark Forrester's in car video. In the left lane are Barry, Greg, and me. In the right lane are Jeff, Ron, Bob, and John.
I got a good start, just like the practice race, and was alongside John, with the others behind. John pulled ahead towards the end of the straight, and I saw it was clear behind me so no need to block on the inside. I dove to the right going into the infield, and was nearly along John in the tight right-hander. I had a good head of steam coming out of the turn, but he accelerated away slightly as the track straightened up, and kept near the middle of the track to keep me from diving under him in the lefthander. I was past his rear bumper, and getting my nose under him wherever I could, but he would not budge and drove flawlessly. When we got to the straight again, I went to 2nd gear for the tight turn leading out so I could stay as close to him as possible. It worked and allowed us to pull away from the pack behind us. Again I caught up to him in the infield, and put the pressure on him, but he continued to stay ahead. I continued the risky 2nd gear downshifting to stay close. My gearing is much lower than the other cars, 2nd gear would only last a few seconds and could cause a spin during the downshift or with power oversteer coming onto the banking. But if I used third gear I would bog coming out and he would gain several MPH on me by the end of the straight.
Here, Barry had passed Ron at the end of the straight, but had too much speed to make the following hard right turn and went agricultural. Barry seems to make a lot of interesting in car photos! Ron got right by him again and stayed there :
After five or so laps in formation, we had lapped traffic to contend with. John took a brave move and dove by a car in the lefthander, knowing I would not have time to pass there. I soon got by that car, but the next car would hold me up through the last few turns, giving John a several second lead over me. It took me several laps and luck with traffic to get caught back up, but never got quite close enough to attempt a pass, then traffic slowed me again. I was having problems passing anyone on the straight, ending up passing most cars at the end of the straight on the inside by carrying all my speed into the infield - a scary place to pass! Thanks to the other drivers for leaving me room. One time, I carried a bit too much speed and could not scrub off enough to make the turn and got very sideways in the tight right-hander. I was able to straighten it out and continue with full negative lock, but lost a few seconds to John there. After pushing for a few laps, I again caught up to John. I was getting VERY close as my car is fast at the end of a race due to light weight and (hopefully) smooth driving. Coming through the last part of the track I saw the checkered flag waving frantically, while I was still a half second behind John.
About ten seconds behind us were the three fastest F cars, Greg, Mark Forrester, and Bob. Mark was slightly off the pace in all the warm-ups but with fresh tires and his race experience you can never count him out. Ron was just behind Bob to hold onto third in E. Jeff would finish 4th in F, with Barry 6th in E. Bob would be the only driver other than Dr. John and me to break the one-minute lap in the race. I ended up with fastest lap time, a 59.39, about the same as my qualifying time, while John was a few tenths slower. That makes the second race in a row where I had fastest time of the group without winning... yes I am still an autocrosser at heart! Here are the three fastest E cars in a previous session, Dr. John, Yours Truly, and Ron Savenor :
After the race I met Dr. John half way between our garages and we thanked each other for the excellent, clean racing. It certainly is fun to race with this group of guys, even Ron was happy with his 3rd place which was the best he could do with his sick engine. My new suspension seems to be working OK, although the shocks are too soft, as can be seen in the pictures where my car is leaning a lot. I still have some new sway bars to put on, and a limited slip differential, which would have helped stabilize the car coming into the infield. So maybe next year there will be a 58 second lap!!!
Here are the race results from the PCA web site in table format for my group.
Day is done
After some good-natured BS'ing, we packed up the tools, wheels, spares, etc and put the car on the trailer. We then headed over to the post race party, where everyone would get excellent digital pictures of their cars taken by Dave Newman, race photographer and excellent autocrosser. There would also be special awards and too many magnums of sparkling wine raffled off. I did not know many of the award winners, usually they are local drivers (that helped me win workers choice at Lime Rock!). When they announced the winner of the GT Racing Best Prepared Car award, I thought I was hearing things when they called car #44, Mike Piera. There were dozens of gorgeous cars with 6-figure professional preparations, with huge enclosed trailers and motorhomes worth more than my condo. But my 911 is very attractive inside and out thanks to the original builder and Auto Associates (and GT racing which supplied the bumpers and spoilers). And it was screwed together very well thanks to Dan Jacobs who did the mechanical restoration and modifications. I had replaced almost everything mechanically on the car myself since I bought it, and did my own performance and safety preparation, so I take great pride in this award. Maybe seeing the scrutineering sheets that showed my car was 10 pounds over the minimum weight showed my meticulous preparation (or pure luck!). I'll take it, the $100 gift certificate to GT racing will get me a nice front spoiler splitter to keep my car planted in the fast turns.
Photo by Vince Ponzo: Scotto and Burger in hot pursuit!
See you at the Watkins Glen PCA race in August!
Regards, mike piera AnalogMike@aol.com '72 911S Targa, '73 911RS Replica #44
http://www.analogman.com/911 - back to my racing pages