Racing in the wet with Porsches

21st of April was the date that I was to compete in my first Supersprint with the Porsche Club of N.S.W. I was really looking forward to it, the car was perfect, I was pretty excited of the fact that I was going to mix it up with some pretty exotic German machinery, but there was just one problem. The weather. It poured down rain all the way from the Central Coast to Eastern Creek on the Saturday & then some. It did not stop all day. I've never competed in the wet so it was going to be a very educational day indeed. I have run at Eastern Creek once before & could only manage a best of 2.05 for a timed lap & since then I had made some more engine developments. Big valve heads, 1.25 Autocraft rockers, tall Weber manifolds & a bigger fuel line, as well as more camber on the front & KYB heavy duty off road shocks on the rear. So with some more time on the track I was going for a flat 2 minute run. But with the wet track & in wet I mean small rivers running across the track in a lot of places, I was expecting to add at least 10-15 seconds to my best time in the dry.

I pulled into scrutineering to some very bemused Porsche owners. The guy checking my car looks over his reading glasses at the little VW & says, "This looks interesting". Within seconds of pulling in there were at least 20 people walking around the car. I just stood out of the way & listened to the conversation. It was quite amusing to see owners of $100,000 plus Porsches taking an interest in the little beetle. One driver says to me, "Is this your only car, did u leave your Porsche at home because of the rain?" after telling me about the 3 Porsches that he owns. "Yes this is my only car, take my wife & son shopping in it, drive it to work & bring it to the track. No I do not have a Porsche at home." "Don't worry, we all have to start somewhere son" he says with a smile. Passed scrutineering with no problems & parked the car in one of the bays. Spent the next hour walking around looking at Porsches. Every model imaginable, from 1972 right through to 2000. It was like being in a toy store. There were even a few GT3 cup cars, which were awesome to see up close.

Got back to my car but didn't really have anything to do to it. Most of the Porsche owners were very busy adjusting, tuning checking & playing with their toys. Me? I took my toolbox out & I was ready. I didn't bother taking the seats out to try & lighten the car as I figured that I need the extra weight with all the water on the road. The morning events were to consist of driver training & practice laps. We were split up into groups of 10 & let out onto the track for 30-minute sessions. I was in the second group to venture out into the wet. They let you out onto the track separately in 200m spacings. I had a 944 Turbo in front of me & a 993 behind me. After a couple of laps I got into a rhythm & overtook the 944 & so did the 993. Then on my 3rd lap on corner No.7, just before the Goodyear overhead banner, a wide left hander off camber I got very sideways in 3rd gear at about 65 mph, corrected, swung back the other way, then the other, then did a complete 180 & stopped facing the wrong way, but I did manage to keep it on the track & off the grass. The 993 slowed, passed me & I spun myself around & started chasing him. The spin didn't scare me; I was more pissed off at myself as I've never spun the car before. I eventually get to within 100m of the 993 when on the very same corner that I just spun on, he started getting very out of shape. He flicked the back out twice, kept sliding off the track & slammed head on to the concrete wall. It wasn't a pretty site. Both the driver & instructor were fine but the beautiful 993 had seen better days. We all get the red flag & we pull into the pits & form another dummy grid whilst the 993 is removed from the track. Shortly we are back on the track again. This time I get to lead them out into the wet. After my spin I'm quickly finding the fine line between traction & sliding. 4 laps in & I'm starting to find a groove in the wet. Keeping half throttle on the corners, & applying the rest of the pedal 3/4 through the corner is just enough to break traction & walk the car across the track & line it up for the next corner. I did this for another 5 laps until the end of my groups run & actually caught the last 2 old 911's on the last lap. I was feeling pretty confident about the cars capability in the wet. Unfortunately the officials called the competition part of the day off as the rain had just not stopped & the traction on the track was just too inconsistent to compete on. So that was my day, it was still a buzz, & I got home in 1 piece. Thanks to Wade, Richard & Jurgo that came out to have a look, despite the terrible weather.

The next event is on the 2nd of June at Oran Park, just hope that it's dry so as to use the cars full potential.

Stay Cool, Jak Rizzo