Lincoln Trail News July 2010 Page 1

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1 Lincoln Trail News July 2010 Page

2 Contents Hello Fellow Porsche Enthusiasts! 3 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup to Makes its Debut at Pikes Peak Hillclimb 4 FIVE PORSCHE FACTORY DRIVERS TOP PODIUM AT 78TH LE MANS AS RELIABILITY AGAIN TRIUMPHS OVER SPEED 7 Calendar 11 Board 12 Cover Photo: Lemans winners. Courtesy PCA. The LTR PCA contains material which is derived in whole or in part from the Porsche Club of America, Inc. and other sources and is protected by international copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws. You may not modify, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit or distribute in any way any material from Lincoln Trail Region without permission. If you are a member of the Porsche Club of America, Inc., or a chartered Region, you may use material from this publication for your personal, non-commercial use only, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. To the extent that any material you download is a trademark of either Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft ( Porsche ), or of Porsche Club of America, Inc., you must comply with the limited license terms available upon written request. The points of view expressed in the public area of the newsletter are opinions of the persons posting such points of view, and do not represent the views or statements of the Porsche Club of America, Inc. July 2010 Page 2

3 Hello Fellow Porsche Enthusiasts! It s getting time to pack the car for next week. Are you wondering what happens next week? Well the St. Charles Parade of course. Shelley and I are getting excited about attending the Parade ( our first). After looking at our itinerary we find we have some time with nothing planned but that may change. Being that I love to autocross I will be taking some time to attend one of the two days for the AX. I wanted to bring the up for the AX but I didn t want to have to add another vehicle to the cost of the event, so I ll watch. Ken Hold and John Ruther are attempting to organize at Zone 13 gathering. Currently he is looking at Monday, July 5th from 3-5. Hopefully by the time you read this I ll have sent you an e- mail informing you where we will meet. The other group is the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). The Central Illinois Region (CIR) normally has two or three autocross events each year. The last one was held in Peoria and the next will be in Springfield. There may be another AX in September but you need to check their website, If you have an interest in autocrossing or rallying take a look at these websites. If you are new to the sports and need or want help, the other members are there to help. Have you ever thought about writing an article or column for the newsletter? If so we would be interested in talking with you. We are at still looking for a newsletter editor. Enjoy life, go for a drive, Mike Matthews Mikel@mchsi.com Speaking of autocrossing, I wanted to let you know that there are a couple of organizations that have events in the area. First is the Champaign County Sports car Club (CCSCC). They have at least one event a month and some times twice a month. You can find more information about their events by visiting their website, They also have a rally once a month. A rally is an organized drive with directions provided by the event organizer. You need to traverse each segment within a timeframe or you are penalized. At the end of the rally the points are added up and the winners are declared. July 2010 Page

4 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup to Makes its Debut at Pikes Peak Hillclimb Six-Time Champion Jeff Zwart Takes Purposebuilt Race Car to the Hill For the First Time Colorado Springs - June 21, For the first time since Porsche began production of the 911 GT3 Cup race car in 1989, the car will contest a major international hillclimb including more than five miles of gravel. Jeff Zwart, a commercial film director from Woody Creek Colorado, and six-time class winner at the Pikes Peak Hillclimb, will challenge the 2WD Time Attack class with his speciallyprepared Luminox Watch Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car. With technical support from Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA) and Pirelli Tires, Zwart will be contesting the 88th running of the hillclimb classic, the second oldest race in America (behind the Indy 500). Zwart said that running a 2WD, normally aspirated, purpose-built race car up the Mountain will be a new experience for him despite his nine starts at Pikes Peak. In previous years, I have always taken a street Porsche Turbo and converted it into a race car, but this time, with the help of Porsche and Pirelli, we have taken a race car and modified it for Pikes peak unique half tarmac-half gravel course. I practiced in the car last week, and was very surprised at the balance, power, and braking the car provided. The low-ratio sequential gear box keeps me busy through the 156 turns, but it makes the car very quick, said Zwart. Porsche Motorsport started with a 2007 Cup car, updated it to 2010 specifications, and installed a new 450 horsepower 3.8-liter engine currently in use in the Patron GT3 Challenge, American Le Mans Series Challenge Class, and the Porsche Supercup series. The engine management mapping was modified to perform well in high altitude as the race starts at 9,390 feet and finishes at the summit, 14,110 feet above sea level, and ride height was increased for the July 2010 Page

5 gravel sections of the course. The underbody was also modified to protect the car from gravel and stones similar to rally competition. Pirelli has provided road racing-style rain tires which worked very well both on paved and gravel surfaces during last week s test. This event should show the real versatility of our Cup racer, said Paul Ritchie, president of Porsche Motorsport North America, Inc. With the variety of surfaces and altitude changes, the car was a handful to set up, but, between our PMNA engineers, Porsche Motorsport engineering consultant Roland Kussmaul - a rally veteran - and great help from Pirelli, we think we have given Jeff a car which will provide his best chance for a win, said Ritchie. I can slide the car across the dirt and grab gears without even lifting, Zwart added. Add to that the car s behavior on the tarmac - the surface for which the car was built, and we should have a great chance to win. Zwart has won his class at Pikes Peak - all in Porsche Turbo street cars - in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2002, setting new class records three times. Most recently, he co-drove a Porsche Cayenne with Pikes Peak veteran Paul Dallenbach at the challenging TransSyberia Rally (Moscow to Mongolia) in He also has an SCCA PRO Rally Championship (1990) and a SCORE Baja 1000 class win (2004) to his credit. The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, built on the same assembly line in Stuttgart as the street-legal Porsche 911s, is raced all over the world in the Porsche Supercup series as well as various Porsche Carrera Cup and Challenge Cups. New last year was the additional of the American Le Mans Series Challenge class, where the Porsche Cup cars contest the full endurance series run by the Le Mans racers. The 88th running of Pikes Peak will start official practice on Wednesday, June 23, with Zwart scheduled to run the bottom third of the mile course. The Porsche will run the middle part of the course during Thursday practice, and the top part of the course on Friday. Friday is also Fan Fest in Colorado Springs, and the race Sunday begins at 9:00 AM MDT. Results will be posted on the official Pikes Peak web site - www. ppihc.com. July 2010 Page

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7 FIVE PORSCHE FACTORY DRIVERS TOP PODIUM AT 78TH LE MANS AS RELIABILITY AGAIN TRIUMPHS OVER SPEED 911 GT3 STREET-BASED RACER SCORES NINTH WIN IN GT2 Stuttgart/Atlanta - June The success story of the 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR race continues at the 78 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans as factory drivers Marc Lieb (Germany), Richard Lietz (Austria) and Wolf Henzler (Germany) piloted their German Felbermayr- Proton Porsche to a two-lap GT2 win over the second-place Ferrari earlier today. Two other Porsche factory drivers Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) - on loan from Porsche to Audi s factory prototype effort - helped lead Audi s sweep of the overall podium. They drove with former Porsche factory pilot Mike Rockenfeller (Germany) to a one-lap victory in their Audi R15 TDI. All six LMP1 and GT2-winning drivers have either victories or championships in the American Le Mans Series as well. As for the worldwide performance of the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR so far this year, the car that won the 24 hour race in Dubai and holds the championship lead of the Le Mans Series (Europe) and the American Le Mans Series, and was the most successful GT race car of 2009 has now won the GT2 class of the Le Mans 24 hour race. This victory at Le Mans marks the 98th win (class and overall) for Porsche at the prestigious long distance classic. For the ninth time, a race car based on the street legal 911 GT3 prevailed over its rivals. Positions three, five, seven and eight also went to drivers of the 450 hp Porsche. Moreover, the winning 911 also clinched the environmental Michelin Green X Challenge award as the GT car with the best efficiency. The basis for Porsche s success was this year again the reliability of the 911 GT3 RSR. Refueling, new tires, driver changes - the team mechanics of had nothing more to do from start to finish. Pivotal for victory was that we had no technical problems and spent the least amount of time in the pits. This win was a team effort, said Marc Lieb, who celebrated his third Porsche GT2 win in Le Mans, finishing first in 2005 and Richard Lietz took home the coveted winners trophy for the second time his victory in July 2010 Page

8 contested the Le Mans 24 Hours for the first time. For the twotime DTM champion Scheider, this was his first outing with a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. For us, it s a dream come true, said 21- year-old Holzer. Le Mans is the most important long distance race in the world - and we climbed the podium at our debut. That s sensational. Porsche s success is even more credible due to the fact that the 78th edition of the 24 hour race was one of the toughest in the history of the classic. The GT2 class in particular was excellently supported and fiercely contested with seven manufacturers and 18 race vehicles. With this victory, Porsche bested strong opponents Ferrari, BMW, Chevrolet Corvette, Jaguar and Spyker. We experienced an incredibly exciting race this weekend, especially in the GT2 class. I m delighted that the Felbermayr-Proton squad won both the GT2 class as well as the Michelin Green X Challenge. This shows that we re on the right path with our philosophy of Porsche Intelligent Performance. I m also thrilled with the results of the other Porsche customer teams. They put up a great fight and earned their good positions. I m proud as well of the three drivers in the winning Audi. Congratulations to them and the entire Audi team, said Hartmut Kristen, head of Porsche Motorsport. Porsche Junior Marco Holzer (Germany) and his teammates in the BMS Scuderia Italia Porsche 911 GT3 RSR team, Richard Westbrook (Great Britain) and Timo Scheider (Germany), were also pleased with their third in class. All three drivers The crew of the French IMSA Performance Matmut team had mixed feelings about their fifth position. Works drivers Patrick Pilet (France) and Patrick Long (USA) with teammate Raymond Narac (France) had kept up with the winning Porsche trio until the morning hours only to be held up by a clutch problem. Today is a great day for Porsche and I m pleased about that, said Pilet. But of course we re a little disappointed not to celebrate a podium result at our home race. Elation also permeated the driver squads of both 911 GT3 RSR that finished seventh and eighth as well: Both 911 were manned by gentlemen drivers. Finishing seventh were Dutchmen Paul van Splunteren and Niek Hommerson as well as Belgian Louis Machiels for the ProSpeed Competition team, followed by the second Felbermayr 911 with drivers Horst Felbermayr Senior and Junior (both Austria) and Slovakia s Miroslav Konopka in eighth. The only American-based Porsche entry, the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Joerg Bergmeister (Germany), Darren Law USA) and Seth Neiman USA) was retired from July 2010 Page

9 the from the race due to mechanical issues. After starting ninth on the grid, all three drivers cycled uneventfully through their stints until halfway through hour four, when an incident damaged the right radiator. The crew replaced the radiator and front under-tray and repaired some minor body damage. Unfortunately, after one out-lap, the car had to return to the garage again and was retired due to its accident-related mechanical issues. Le Mans once again bites us very hard. It s not easy to accept being out of the race this early, but that s racing. I know our crew will examine every part of this experience and do what it takes to make us even stronger in the future, said team principal Seth Neiman. July 2010 Page

10 o t d e t i v n I e r u o Y Porscheplatz (Porsche owners corral) and PCA Membership Station! August 21-22, 2010 at the ROAD AMERICA ROAD RACE SHOWCASE Join us for this exclusive PCA member opportunity! Display your Porsche in the Porscheplatz corral, watch the Porsche racing action, and take part in the following Special Events: Scheduled Appearances by Porsche Race Drivers Supervised Parade Laps of the Track "Hot Pit" Escorted Tour Raffle Michelin Tires "Long Distance Award" For information please contact: Ken Hold, Z 13 Rep - kendellhold@insightbb.com For the lastest schedule information please visit the IMSA website at Parking in the Porscheplatz is for Porsches only. "For Sale" signs on cars will not be permitted. Participants must be present to win drawings or awards. Porscheplatz is hosted by Porsche Cars NA and Porsche Motorsport NA with the cooperation of the IMSA and ALMS. July 2010 Page 10

11 Calendar We are now using Google Calendars to manage our club calendar. The details are there for each event. Go to the LTR website and click the calendar button on the left menu to view the calendar. Follow this link: for a more detailed view and help with synchronizing. July 2010 Page 11

12 Board President Mikel Matthews (217) Vice President Darren Sawyer (309) Secretary Membership Jim Petruska (309) Dana Sawyer (309) Treasurer Patsy Webber (309) Newsletter Mikel Matthews & Jim Roal (217) July 2010 Page 12

13 Technical Michael Benét (309) Webmaster Jim Roal (309) Driving Events Andy Berberich Social Events Safety Board Member Shelley Matthews Jim Anderson (217) Wayne White (217) Board Member Steve Jacobs (217) Zone Representative Ken Hold July 2010 Page 13

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