Highlight still from last Monday's (06/30) CFRA's race at Sonoma Raceway!!



All ended well though!!!



It was unbelievably hot, 98ºF at 3:30 PM after the race. I must say though, my car ran extremely strong all day. Even though my times were about 1.5-2.5 seconds off, most experienced the same as well due to the heat. I managed to get 11 heat cycles out of this set of R6's...very happy with that! Tires still look really good with even wear across all four tires and edge to edge surface. In fact it was so frickin' hot I opted not to change my tires and drove home with the R6's still mounted up!

We have a few months off before starting up the second half of our season, 'til then time to put the OEM driver's seat back in and have some DD'ing enjoyment while allowing for ease of entry and exiting!

Cheers!
VID

 

Just in case you were wondering about the 1992 Camaro...Its a tube frame full blown professionally built race car that was campaigned in the 90's.

Note how wide the front tires are!!!!

 

Do you ever wonder where Santa spends his free time during the off season? Apparently he is looking for a new sled of course at the Monterey Historic's...08/14/2014

 

Bruce Canepa patiently waiting and displaying his recently restored 917-017/004 to see what Gooding & Company will sell Steven McQueens/Jo Siffert's 917-024 at auction this weekend....Canepa's 917 is built off a crashed vehicle...chassis of 004, thus 017?? would continue in service. The damaged 004, now with the identity of 017 for paperwork purposes only.

In December of 2011 all of the components of 017/004 were delivered to the Canepa facility in Scotts Valley, and a full inventory of the parts was undertaken. Canepa's goal was to restore the car to its Gulf liveried, Brands Hatch configuration. Once the scope of the project was fully understood it was decided to bring together a team of the finest experts to complete the car. Normally all the work would have been executed in-house at Canepa, but with a dozen high level restorations already underway, including another 917, Bruce decided to send the body and chassis of 017/004 to Kevin Jeannette of Gunnar Racing in West Palm Beach, Florida. Gunnar, like Canepa, is well known for their extensive and thorough restorations of Porsche competition vehicles. Having owned and raced one of Gunnar's 917 restorations Bruce knew that they had the experience, expertise and quality that would meet his standards for a world-class restoration.

While the craftsmen at Gunnar began the two year process of completely restoring every aspect of the 917 body and chassis, the Canepa team engaged Ed Pink Racing Engines in Van Nuys, California to rebuild the legendary powerplant. Under the careful guidance of general manager, Frank Honsowetz, the 4.5 liter flat twelve cylinder was rebuilt and increased to 5.0 liters, the most potent of 917K engine specifications. A new crankshaft had to be manufactured to accomplish the build, and Canepa gave this task to the craftsmen at Crosthwaite & Gardner in the England who are renown for their precision machine work on vintage racecars. Finally having sourced a new set of 5.0 Mahle pistons and cylinders the intricate engine build was complete. The rare Type 920 four-speed gearbox was entrusted to Dieter Inzenhofer of Andial fame for a complete rebuild.

The Canepa project team spent long hours making sure all the elements going into 017/004 were absolutely correct. Working with a cadre of specialty parts suppliers, and using up plenty of favors, part by part the 917 came together. For example the headlights, NOS and still in their Porsche boxes, came from Kevin Jeanette's personal parts stash. Kerry Morse assisted the build, contributing his vast knowledge, and access to his sizable period parts collection. From the smallest bolt, to the intricate aluminum chassis, every element of the 917 was scrutinized and vetted. The goal was to create the most accurate restoration of a 917 to date, and thanks to the hard work of multiple teams of experts that goal has been accomplished.

This particular chassis, while not having the extensive race results of some of the other examples, occupies a special place in Porsche history. 004 began life as one of the original cars for homologation in April of 1969. It is one of the few examples to be raced in 1969, and is considered the first 917 to go the distance and finish a race in its entirety. However, it comes down to the fact that 004 was, and is, a legitimate J.W. Automotive Engineering 917K. 917s are rare beasts, and it is even rarer for one to come up for sale, especially one that can irrefutably wear the soul-stirring Gulf colors of blue and orange.

Ugh! Canepa just waiting to prey on some poor fool. He does good work, but he also likes to work in the shade...

 

Okay if I owned a McLaren and was in Monterey this week I would be really upset! Yesterday I must have seen 30 if not more 650S's & 12C's, along with a handful of F1's. Not to mention I think I have seen six P1's in at least the last 24 hours! On the positive side all of the P1's have been sighted in their own unique skin. For example, this below, Transparent Metal Flake Metallic Green over black carbon fiber. A very bold decision, yet very unique and I'm sure one of one. This vehicle reminded me of a 1970's Glastron Ski Boat or any metallic flake Ranger Pro Bass boat.





If you can believe it, the next most common vehicle sighting has to be a Bentley…they are everywhere! Least common, Porsche GT2RS, I have only seen ONE!….Next on the list, hard to believe but is a Ferrari California…I have only seen two and both WERE NOT RED!!!! THANK YOU for not buying a red F car!!!

Can you guess what this is below? Once again, I have only seen two of these in the last 48 hours….





But only one of these bargain basement specials! This has got to be the biggest bang for the buck, hands down! She is a looker….





Please be kind, these were all shot with my iPhone on location....the Z06 C7 is a bit whacked....perspective wise...

 

That's a 918 exhaust of course. Wish I could have made it down this year. I plan to come next year!

That green P1 is something else isn't it? I saw that particular one in production back in April and even in pieces she was a stunner!

 

A-80,

Hope all has been well! Hopefully next year will workout. Yeah, the Metal flake P1 was pretty crazy in person.

Finally had an opportunity to run the 5 Mile Configuration today at Thunderhill. First session was rather interesting to say the least. I warmed up to it by the end of S2. S3 was cut short due to a spin on T8. S4 was a lot of fun but you only get 3-4 laps per session with a five mile course before the checkers are flying (PCA GGR DE/TT event,) 20-25 minute sessions.

 

Very nice! Looks like a lot of fun.

 

First couple laps from Sunday's Race as viewed from inside P5 Z06 Corvette.

Top three qualifying positions were all with in 0.5 tenths of a second, I quali'd in P3. It was another tight race. Margin of victory at the end was 0.27 at the line....IT WAS A CLOSE ONE!!!!

Check one Lap One Turn Two!!!!

 

Here are the first few laps from inside my car. Wish I could figure out how to keep my iPhone from trying to focus randomly on what it sees fit to focus in on. My 4s worked much better than my current 5s???? Must be a setting somewhere to fix this....????

 

Yes, its been a while since I have posted...a lot has been going on...busy, busy, busy...

I was going through my iPhone tonight and came across this image. It was taken right after pulling into the paddocks after a session at Thunderhill on their new five mile course.

Note the odometer...classic...997.1...

 

I'm going to be tracking my 997.2 turbo for the first time next month at INDE Motorsport Ranch (http://www.indemotorsports.com/site/). Im running stock suspension and PSS tires. What tire pressure do you recommend?

 

29-30 f 30-31 rear cold. PSS get hot quickly try to keep hot psi less than 38

 

Thank you!

 

Dr.S:

Congrats on getting your car out on the track and in a safe environment to play with it! The facility looks pretty cool, although I have heard it can be a bit dusty (track surface) at times.

Being your first time out on track, I would recommend that you just take it easy during your first morning session and feel the vehicle out, track surface, and learn the track configuration. No need to push things too hard at this point. I’d start off at 36 psi and remember to activate your “Sport” suspension mode. If you forget to engage the sport suspension mode your car will feel like a 1970 Caddy going around the circuit.

After you finish S1 check your tire pressures and see where they are hot. If they are in the mid 40’s bleed them down to 38 (per eurotom). Check your cold pressures before you go out for S2 and note the pressures. After S2 check your hot pressure and see where they are at. If they are in the low forties try bleeding down to 36 hot. Again, check your cold pressures before going out for S3 and note them. By the time you come in from S3 and check your hot pressures you should have a pretty decent baseline to reference and play with for future track events.

38 Hot, seems a bit high for me, although I have not run PSS….Thom does have experience with these therefore, his info would be a great place to start things off.

Thom, have you tried 36 hot?

Dr.S, remember, you are use to driving around at 44psi cold for daily driving, therefore, starting off S1 at 36psi the car may feel a bit strange to you at first... wiggley ; ]

Enjoy!
VID