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AUGUST 2015 6 President's Column – August, 2015 The Perfect Drive I was on a delightful club tour in July with about 35 of my fellow club members and Porsche buddies, making a not-so-fast lap around Mt Rainier. Less than perfect? Yes, but let me explain. A perfect tour in my view would be where all of the cars could run as a group, touring at spirited, yet safe speeds, along curvy roads, without obstructions, and the weather would be sunny. That is obviously a dream world and unlikely in the urban wilderness we frequent around Western Washington. Invariably, we find ourselves navigating around non- Porsche 'civilians' including slow moving vans, trucks pulling trailers, and others that impede progress. Plus we had unexpected rain and fog that day. That said, we found plenty of reasons to smile while behaving maturely and maintaining our record as a safety-oriented club. We've had plenty of discussion recently on how to assure the safety of cyclists and pedestrians that often populate the roads and sidewalks adjacent to our scenic tour routes. We understand that perception of speed varies depending on whether you are driving a car or are on the roadside. During our safety meeting, Tour Chair, Greg Halverson cautioned us on the importance of how we are viewed, how to assure the safety and well-being of all, and maintain our good name as a car club. He stressed the need to slow it way down whenever we see a pedestrian or cyclist, and swing wide to give them plenty of room. It's always good to be friendly. A nod of the head, smile, or a wave goes a long way. Additionally, my tour group leader, Gordon Lewandowski took care to announce over our handheld radios the presence of any roadside traffic, serving as a further reminder to respect the others on the road. So, getting back to the subject, let's reconsider our definition of a perfect ride. Although it would be fun to have the road from Enumclaw to Sunrise closed for our benefit, this is just not going to happen. Rethinking this, I look back to the early 1990s when I teamed up with Don Kitch in the formative days of what became the ProFormance Racing School at SIR – now Pacific Raceways. One person I got to know was a buddy of Don's, then IndyCar driver Ross Bentley, who was running a similar driving school out of the Vancouver BC area. We were up with Ross in BC one day (taking a fast lap around his track in a rented 4 door Lincoln Town Car – hah!) and he was talking about tricks to staying awake while driving home after a long day at the track. His thought was to concentrate on doing everything imaginable to make the drive perfect and safe – hence, the 'perfect drive'. That meant hands were positioned properly on the wheel, seat and seat belts and mirrors properly adjusted, turn signals used correctly, smooth inputs to gas, brakes, clutch and gearshift , maintaining the posted speed limit, obeying all traffic signs and signals, staying centered in your lane, eliminationg distractions of the radio, etc. That was Ross's perfect drive. I think if we were to all focus more on our driving, and take it less for granted, we'd all find there is a lot to any drive. Try it sometime. It's actually pretty hard to drive "perfectly". A good example is at Autocross where I find myself starting with my hands at 9 & 3 on the wheel, but after a few fast turns, they are 11 &1. Hard habits to break – as I prove I can't even do the perfect drive for 60 seconds. Enjoy your drives, even if they are not perfect. FROM THE PRESIDENT Ward Carter Mt. Rainier Tour Photo by Dean Holbrook Webber's hands on the Wheel, Photo courtesy of Porsche AG 6 AUGUST 2015 "Although it would be fun to have the road from Enumclaw to Sunrise closed for our benefit, this is just not going to happen."

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