Sorry to do it this way yall but I'm brand new to the forums here and can't send a PM until I have 15 posts.

Al, if you see this, I'm the new owner of an old 911 (1988 coupe) and am just getting started learning how to drive it. I'll be at Road Atlanta this weekend working the NASA-SE event (probably in pit & grid). I am trying to find an HPDE instructor who drives a Porsche & who might be willing to let me ride along a bit sometime over the weekend. I saw you on the driver list & wanted to try & get in touch ahead of time, so here I am! My real email is kathycha (at) bellsouth (dot) net. If you'd consider taking a passenger (assuming you have a passenger seat...) please let me know.

I'll go do a proper intro in an appropriate forum now

 

I was at RA this past weekend but the car was not taken on the track at all. I have slicks and didn't care to venture out on them. I have raced in the rain and done DE's in the rain and it's really no fun anymore for me so I don't even own rain tires. I'm hoping for better conditions this weekend as I am testing a new set of shocks/springs, a rear wing and a front air splitter.

I will be trying to sort out a lot of new things and will only have 5 sessions to do so. One of the HPDE 4 sessions falls duriing quiet hours Sunday and I have straight pipes. Usually my student wants to go out for one session but I have to be sure he/she's not suceptible to motion sickness. I have made a few people sick from the g-forces and directional changes. Are you succeptible to motion sickness?

If things go well perhaps you and I could squeeze in at least a part of a session. I never drive hard with passengers aboard and therefore wouldn't be able to sort out very much with another person in the car. It messes up the corner balancing also.

Please come introduce yourself, if you have a chance. We can certainly talk some Porsche talk and if you are running this wekend, I would be glad to go on track with you, if there isn't a student session conflict for me.

 

Hey there, glad I caught your eye. I'll be sure to find you and say hello this weekend. I am not driving - just working pit & grid. I'm considering giving my Porsche the weekend off and coming in my granny car (Honda CR-V) since I'm not driving.

Motion sickness? Well I wouldn't say I'm susceptible more than the average person. But to be fair, I can't say I'm immune either - one blistering ride around Barber comes to mind (Daniel Eastman at the wheel) that left me feeling a little green - for which I thanked him profusely! But that's been several rides ago, and I haven't found it to be a problem.

I'll do my best to find you and at least meet you properly. I'll be on the grid, helmet at the ready, and if an opportunity arises for a ride, that'll be great. I've put the word out in several places and hope to work something out - if not, c'est la vie. Looks like we should have decent weather, and I'm looking forward to a fun weekend regardless. See you there!

 

Al:

I tracked my 500HP 2002 996TT at RA from 2003 to 2006. I used to do every RA DE from PCA, BMW, Audi to NASA. At the end I was running group 4 with PCA. I always ran on street rubber, and as I got faster, stopped learning how to drive better. On most of the groups, I was the fastest car (not the best driver), IF there were no cupcars, GT2, ZO6's on slicks or Radicals. I ran out of talent, nerve and money and gave up on tracking in 2006.
I watched you at the last BMW DE, you were the fastest car in that group. Very impressed with your runs. I wish I could drive like that. There was a red 997GT2 in your group which was embarrasingly slow. I came by to talk to you a few times but didn't get the chance. I also live in Duluth. I might try to make it out this weekend to watch you guys.

 

Interesting words. Looks like I have taken up where you left off. :-) I haven't tried to learn how "good I can drive". I try to be smooth and safe. I never turn off PSM. It forces me to be smooth but doesn't really give me the chance to recover from the car performing at its limits. I'm really not interested in the car's limits, or mine. My times are decent bc I have good power for straight-line acceleration and on the Hoosier R 6's can go through the turns at a reasonable pace.

I have made several changes recently that I haven't had the opportunity to test and tune. I added a new shock/spring setup plus a large rear wing and a home-grown front air splitter which I have never seen before on a 996 turbo. It's an ugly test-bed piece from which I hope to learn the proper front/rear downforce balance. I built it so as to be adjustable. Also have gone to a new tire.

Many changes all at once but I felt everything needed to be in place before the car could really be tweaked properly. I'm trying to improve my lap times in a safe manner with the introduction of additional downforce. Really trying to get over the scary moments in turn nine in which the front end gets light and won't take a proper set on turn-in when I keep full power on all the way through the turn.

Please brave the cold and come out and chat this weekend. I will have a student who will require a good bit of my time but that's OK bc I enjoy teaching. I look forward to meeting you.

 

Hey Al - it was great to meet you today! One of the other drivers got a photo of your car as you were heading to the grid today. I'd post it here directly but that option doesn't seem to be available. The link seems to work. This shot shows your new tail, but not the work you did on the front. I did get a good look at that, and I'll be curious to hear about how your new tweaks affected the way your car handled at T9 and elsewhere on the track.

You were pretty busy today, and I was, too (and cold, did I mention COLD?). But I did manage to grab a ride - and in a Porsche, driven by David Danhof. White 95 911 (993?) Carrera RS, #46. Beautiful machine, great driver. Whew! I don't think he was holding back...much

 

Enjoyed meeting you and glad you got a ride with someone. the track was just too cold for me to build enough temp in the Michelin slicks and after 2 sessions of slipping, sliding and spinning the tires, I put it on the trailer and took it home.

Guess I'll have to wait until it warms up next year to get any meaningful data. At least turn 9 felt safe at full throttle for the first time ever.

 

Sounds frustrating, but also seems like you mastered T9 anyway - plenty to be said for that! As it turned out, I got another ride on Sunday with Patrick Dowd in his 2001 993 (?), black #02. He took the track record for his class in the final TT run on Sunday 1:37.xxx. Then came back to the last DE session at 4:40 and took me out for a few laps. Another big WOW ride! Made working out in that cold 150% worth it! I'll look forward to seeing you out there next year.

 

Al,

It seems you've got a bit of a following now! Count me in as a fan as well. In your second post in this thread you mentioned straight-line acceleration and the R6s as the reasons for the "decent times", but don't forget those brakes-they are simply amazing.

Also, after riding (PCA DE) with you I knocked 2 seconds off my time around the track. Showing me the RIGHT line and what a 996TT can be capable of was great. I would say the smoothness and discipline you displayed was the biggest factor allowing you to yield those "decent times".

Looking forward to seeing you out there again.

Alex

PS-Congrats to Patrick on the NASA RATL record! It was well deserved

 

Thanks for the kind words, Alex. Let me tell you how to set up new suspension, tires wing and splitter and you can lose those 2 seconds you gained.

Hope things are going well for you at this time. Look forward to seeing you at some events next year.

Al