Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/100963
December Tech Notes Rennsport Reunion IV Allan Caldwell During this past October, west coast PCA members were treated to the first appearance of the Rennsport Reunion at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California. This was a three day celebration of Porsche���s historical and on-going activities in sports car racing that included extensive support from the Porsche factory and PCA competitors with demonstrations of most of the famous Porsche race models as well as modified production models. Also attending were many of the famous drivers and Porsche engineers who developed the winning cars and strategies. There were also a number of autograph sessions for attendees to meet and talk with the famous drivers and engineers who spent their careers developing the sports racing cars. After poor Pacific Northwest spring and early summer weather, and a distant Parade in Savannah, Georgia on the Atlantic coast, PNWR members responded in good scale with at least 40 or more attendees. The distance from Seattle to Monterey is about 915 miles. One of the larger PNWR groups stayed at the same motel in Marina, California, which was conveniently located about 20 minutes from the entrance to Laguna Seca on a lightly traveled county road. The Laguna Seca organizers arranged for a massive showing of Porsche owners in three or four dedicated Blue and Green parking zones on the elevated areas surrounding the central portion of the track from turns 1 through 6 as shown in Figure 1. During the peak attendance periods, the views of all the full Porsche parking lots from the pits paddock area were dramatic with over 800 Porsches in view. Track Activities Watching a sports car racing weekend when all the race cars are Porsches is a unique experience. The track program for the three day event consisted of dividing all the eligible Porsche race cars into a series of 8 racing groups as shown in Figure 2. These groups included all Porsches clear back to the earliest 356s, 550s and other historic Porsches. On Friday, the first day of the event, there were practice sessions for the groups followed by warm-up and qualifying on the second day, and some final races starting on the second day with the third day dedicated to warm-ups and final races. During the lunch breaks there was track 36 GROUP time allocated for VIP hot laps and parade laps. PCA attendees could apply to drive in the parade laps which a number of PNWR members took advantage of including your technical editor. The last time I had driven the Laguna Seca track was at the 1973 Monterey Porsche Parade when the track was shorter (there was no sharp turn at turn Figure 1. Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway MODELS Figure 2. Rennsport Reunion IV Race Groups 1. GMUND CUP 2. EIFEL TROPHY 3. WEISSACH CUP 4. CARRERA TROPHY 5. STUTTGART CUP 6. CAYMAN INTERSERIES 550, 550A, RSK, RS60-61, 2000 GSGT, ABARTH CARRERA, 356 GT, 356 HISTORY CARS 904, 914/6 GT, 911TR, 911ST, 911(UNDER 2.5L), LOTUS/PORSCHE, POOPER, ELVA/PORSCHE 906, 910, 907, 908, 908/2, 908/3, 909, 919 911 (OVER 2.5L), RSR, 3.0 RSR, 2.1 TURBO, 934, 935, 936, 924 GTS, 924 GTR 956, 962, GT-1, WSC, RS SPYDER PCA RACING CLASSIFICATIONS 8. RENNSPORT REUNION CUP PORSCHE CUP CARS 7. PCA CLUB RACING November 2011