Porsche Club Supersprint 1 Wakefield Park 2014

[333pg333]

Was great to get back in the car again after hardly sighting it since October. Have made some changes to it since Time Attack and was watching the Weather channel all week. Rain was predicted and I had all digits crossed doing an Anti Rain dance. Seemed to have worked. Not a drop all day. 

 

Not a big turn out with only 38 starters. Some of the Big Boys weren't there although Richard Perini did a good job in his 997 GT3 RS while the RSR is getting further modifications. Not much left on the option list for that build! 

 

Paul just managed to get onto the track for the 1st practice session and had one clear lap which was just enough to get pole position. A particular favourite moment (which I wish I'd got on video!) was as he was catching up to lapped traffic and behind Indiran Padayachee in his Cup Car. As they rounded the last corner onto the main straight Indiran pulled to the rhs of a slower car to overtake him. Not happy to just follow him through, Paul pulled the double inside and almost had his rh wheels on the inside grass. He pulled past the Cup car in time to nose in front before the kink and then just draw away. Not sure that the Gentlemen of the Porsche club are used to the full 'Elbows out' method of Paul's, but it was the best thing all day to see from pit wall! 

 

Thankfully the format for cars with shared drivers for the day is that they put one group inbetween which gives you just enough time to re fuel and make quick changes on the run. It was my turn next and as much as I had thought to myself, no need for nerves this time, I could still feel my heartrate climb as I strapped myself in. We had just had the car re tuned for the new turbo and had decided to run at full boost rather than 3-4 psi less than we had last year. Straight away I could feel the difference in the way it picked up under the throttle. Much more alive than the previous turbo. Last time at W.Park I was very nervous as it was just before WTAC 2013 and I didn't want to put a scratch on it. So it was good to beat that previous time of 1:06.7 with a 1:04.2 first time out. Then as the day progressed it was a matter of trying to improve in a few areas. Especially driving it deeper into the kink at what felt like fairly stellar speeds! At one stage we were 1st and 2nd on the leaderboard which was cool. Indiran eventually got me but I was very happy to finish with a 1:02.9 on Medium compound R specs. 

 

The idea was that we'd wait until a little later in the day when it cooled off and put on the soft compound tyres to see if Paul could break the 60 sec barrier.  It was actually pretty hot down at Goulburn yesterday and quite a few of the faster cars weren't bothering with going out until later as well.

Twice on the dash the Predictive lap time showed he was on target for 59 seconds but a couple of times he had to pit before completing those laps. Once the Intercooler pipe blew off and then all was looking good with a 59.6 showing on the predictive when he was out of the Fishook. Suddenly the steering felt really weird and he came back into the pits. Hmm, the headers were hard up against the steering shaft. That would do it! Turns out so much leverage is being forced against the LH engine mount that the bolt inside it cracked so that was the end of the day for us. His best lap was a 1:00.07...sooooo close. 

That we're able to do this on R spec rubber while the Cups and GT3s are on Slicks gives us hope that we should crack the 60 second mark next time down there, providing the stars align. Of course we may have more competition when Richard Perini's RSR is back on the scene. Bring it on! 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se8HFkCTnnw

 

[Stardust]

I'm feeling sick with envy just reading this.

[GEETE3]

Fantastic to see you out there mate. The speed of your best on the back straight and charging up the hill after 2 was something quite spectacular!! Seriously - R Spec's - a near sub one minute on R Spec's - that has to be a record in itself. The track was not ideal so sub 60's possible on R Spec's but for your safety in this rocket you should run slicks. Really looking forward to watching you in it this year.

[Tit]

Sub 60 is rather fast for Wakefield...

[tazzieman]

 

Porsche Club NSW Supersprint 1 at Wakefield Park ( Goulburn NSW ) Saturday 8th March . A once  road going road registered 4 cylinder 1986 Porsche 951 ( 28 years old ) , now stripped & modified for track fun won the fastest time at Wakefield against the latest & greatest/ modified GT3's  , this is the first ever at Wakefield a last century ( or any century ) front engine d Porsche has won fastest / quickest lap time against the rear engine d brigade & I am not talking about similar year types , this is a 25 + year gap victory , this should not happen & is slightly embarrassing , particularly if you own or paid a shit load of money for a GT3/ RS / RSR  , only to find it can not compete against a Porsche that is out of date by a quarter of a century ( Yikes )

And no its not Sean & his ( commuter drive to work 1986 951 ) , besides he is too busy this year doing massive renovations to his & his wife's home unit , it was two good friends of our's , Paul McKinnon( builder & driver) & Patrick Garvan ( owner & driver) , both driving Pat's Porsche modified 1986 Porsche 951 , Paul did all the body mods & most of the mechanical mods ( and a bit of aero ) & Sean helped out with some things he has learnt running these cars for some years & I helped out with oil selection ( fancy that )

The fabulous thing is that its still mostly a road car , meaning it still has }

A)  The same 4 cylinder road engine , but modified ( as you would with a track car ), single cam cylinder head ( not 16V )

Same Mc McPherson front strut concept ( not double wishbone ) due to lack of funds 

C) Same rear control arms & same brakes as fitted to a 1986 951  

D) Road going 6 speed gearbox , out of a road going 1992 968 & a LSD

E) Same frame and same steel floor / steel roof & bulk head from 1986

D) Same 1986 951 Torque Tube & bellhousing

E) Same perfect weight balance( front & rear) as the 1986 - 1991 951 , this is its secret weapon ( perfect weight balance ) & power , very hard to beat balance when at the edge

This ex road car is up against Sequential shift gearboxes in some of the GT3's & all their drivers aids  , where as in 1986 there was not even ABS

Here are some times for the day }

Paul McKinnon  1986 951 track car   = 1:00.0730 ( on "R" specs)

997 GT3 Cup Car on Slicks               = 1:02.4030

Patrick Garvan  1986 951 track car    = 1:02.9310 ( on "R" specs )

997 GT3RS 3.6L                              = 1:04.1230

996 GT3 3.6L                                   = 1:05.5240

997 GT3                                          = 1:05.5530

997 GT3 3.6L                                   = 1:06.3460

997 GT3 RS                                     = 1:06.6520

If Pats 951 was on Slicks it would of been even quicker , this is the second time this car has done this , last supersprint for 2013 , Paul beat the quickest Porsche ( RSR ) in the club at the fastest circuit ( Eastern Creek)  with this 28 year old Porsche , and now this out dated Porsche is the fastest Porsche at Wakefield 

Quite an achievement 

Congratulations Patrick , Paul & all who competed  

Regards

Bruce Buchanan

Buchanan Automotive

[333pg333]

Thanks guys. It's been a really long labour of love and some other mental issues. There is really quite a lot of potential still undiscovered which is scary. I see a 57 in this car at W.Park with the Planet$ in alignment. That would be with slicks, SQ gearbox, ABS and modern suspension..ie...not anytime soon. :-)

Nevertheless, I am really enjoying making contact with the guys from Pcnsw again. Been too long. See y'all soon!