PCNSW Super Sprint No 4 , 951's do OK

[Buchanan Automotive]

• Yesterday ( Saturday ) 19th August ,Porsche Club NSW Super Sprint No 4  at Wakefield Park, Goulburn NSW , we left the Northern Beaches ( Sydney ) 3.45am , these Goulburn events are always a long day out , weather forecast was cold & windy ( 2 deg cel to 8 deg ) at Wakefield , with the windchill factor it felt like it was below freezing , but it was dry with some cloud , all in all quite good conditions for car racing .  Good turnout of this century & last century Porsche's ( around 60 cars ) & yet again the only Last century Porsche model to compete closely with the latest and greatest this century Porsche's  was the Porsche 951's from deep last century that are still mixing it up with the very late model GT3's & naturally I am talking about the cars competing with road legal "R" spec tyres , the reason I mention that is because on Racing Slicks any car can shave seconds off a lap time with a dedicated Racing Slick as compared to a "R" Spec road legal tyre 

   

  Mark Bloxham 1986 (944 Turbo) 951 3.0L ( 8 V ) Vitesse stage V  E85 drove to a PB ( personal best for Wakefield ) , well driven Mark

   

  Chris Moriarty in his 1991 944 Turbo ) 951 2.5L  ( 8V ) Vitesse stage 3  E85 also drove to a PB  & considering Chris does not have correct gearing nor does he have a proper competition  LSD ( this is to come later ) , he drove fantastic 

   

  Well driven you out of date last century front engine'd Porsche guy's & in the case of Mark ( & Sean ) they do not even have ABS 

   

  Sean Buchanan in his 1986  951 3.0L (16V )Vitesse Stage V  E85  ( drive to work 6 days a week road car ) was the quickest 951 competing and Sean drove his 951 better than expected considering we had some turbo boost control issues , it was either intermittently under boosting ( much nicer to drive but too slow for Sean ) or over boosting a bit too much which is a bit too exciting & near uncontrollable at such a small race circuit , both these conditions only means slower lap times , might just be a fraction of a second or when on such a small circuit you have to contend with traffic ( other Porsches in the way being lapped ) , so you could be having a good lap ( getting all the corners perfect ) but the moment you have to back off because you have caught a slightly slower Porsche , then there goes the lap time for that lap & you only get 3 laps ( 4 Max ) where you get a mild chance of getting a great lap time & you might only do 3 sessions per day( like we normally do ) but others stay longer & might do 5 sessions , so its up to the individual to how long than want to hang around waiting for the next session ( 6 different speed groups )

   

  But saying that , I am hoping Sean's in car Go Pro camera caught the action of Sean's 3rd and last session where in group 1 he (as normal) was in amongst a large group of GT3's , GT3RS's , GT3Cup Porsche's & a McLaren 650S , boy oh boy , lucky all these guy's in speed group 1 knew what they were doing at high speed because it was very close driving with Porsches diving in under brakes & accelerating overtaking blasting out of corners , Sean overtook a GT3 on one lap & then another GT3 being harassed by Sean's 951 flicked sideways coming out of one corner right in front of Sean & when a GT3 does this anywhere near you the one place you do not want to be is accelerating hard close behind because the rear engined GT3's can in the hands of a good driver will buck & flick its self off the track backwards in a fraction of a second , luckily the driver of this GT3 knew what to do & miraclesly saved it from disaster & meanwhile Sean did what he could to evade this potential collision , but in doing so there went another near perfect lap that could of been , but like Sean & everyone else says , getting a near perfect lap time is all very good , but because they're is no one else in the way its a bit boring , chasing down other fast Porsche's is much much much more fun & looks much better in the Go Pro footage & even better the McLaren 650S driver said he has footage from his Go Pro chasing Sean 

   

  Looking at the few GT3's that got a slightly better lap time on "R" spec tyres , Sean's 31 year old Front Engine'd  Porsche 951 is still the fastest road registered Porsche in the club that drives to work 6 days a week & also completes at the track , we know there is no prize for that other than the greatest respect for just how advanced these 951's were when updated / modified in areas that makes them not just a fantastic club track car but a way way way better road car compared to how they were bog standard , their potential is just incredible , in fact bog standard these 951's were OK 30 years ago , but bloody awful by todays standards particularly at the track , so thats why is so important to get the right MIX of upgrades & mods to make these a near supercar on the road & track , this is not possible with a last century 911's unless you throw twice the amount of money on them ,if you do throw twice as much money at them to make them a better track ( club) car ,but even then there is no way that the last century 911 could mix it up with the this century GT3's by spending only TWICE the amount of money as opposed to a 951  but it makes them ( last century 911) a dreadful road car , so thats why the 951 is so unique , you can have a supercar with A/C , climate control & excellent ergonomics from last century with the ability to amaze 

   

  Many Thanks to all the volunteers who drove all that way so early to help out  

   

  Regards

  Bruce Buchanan

   

  Buchanan Automotive   40+ years working on Porsche car 6 days a week

   

   

  
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