Issuu

2025 Board Members

President Rich Cao president@fsrpca.org

Eastern Vice President Josie Grandfield eastvp@fsrpca.org

Assistant Eastern Vice President

Carlton Harris asstvp-eastern@fsrpca.org

Assistant Western Vice President

Cedric Wiggins asstvp-western@fsrpca.org

Tour Meister

Dave Wallace tourmeister@fsrpca.org

Secretary & Archivist

Carl Bess secretary@fsrpca.org

Social Media Coordinator Roops Ramdon socialmedia@fsrpca.org

Treasurer John Schwaebler treasurer@fsrpca.org

Activities Director Dana McKnight activities@fsrpca.org

Past President

Erik Apotheker pastpresident@fsrpca.org

HO Editor

Bryan Fox editor@fsrpca.org

Charity Chair

Jenny Kay charity@fsrpca.org

Membership Chair Ken Thomas membership@fsrpca.org

High Performance Driver Education Chair

Marco Estrada dechair@fsrpca.org

Safety Chair

Mark Hugel mark.hugel@cox.net

Northern Area Chair Steve Marcom gps@fsrpca.org

Tech Chair

Jim Hamel hameljr@icloud.com

IN THIS ISSUE

From The President

Advertisers

Horizontally Opposed (HO) is the official publication of First Settlers Region (FSR), Porsche Club of America (PCA). All opinions, views and information appearing in HO are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the PCA, FSR, its Officers or the Editor.

The HO Editor reserves the right to edit all material submitted for publication. Permission is granted to reprint any material provided that full credit is given to the author and to Horizontally Opposed

This publication, and previous publications of Horizontally Opposed, are available to view online at www.fsrpca.org.

Advertising rates, schedules and commercial partner marketing support is available to all parties interested in engaging the members of the First Settlers Region of the Porsche Club of America. Please contact HO Editor, Bryan Fox, at editor@fsrpca.org for more information.

Rich Cao

Spring has finally arrived! Although winters in our region are milder than much of the United States, the cold in Virginia still feels endless. And as winter fades and spring arrives, one of my favorite pastimes is spending a warm afternoon in the driveway washing and detailing my Porsches. Getting reacquainted with everything that makes me love my Porsche, and maybe a few of the things I’m not so fond of but I’m always striving to fix or clean up. Even after a mild winter, it feels great to get all that winter grime off the car and get my Porsche ready for one of our First Settlers Region (FSR) Fun Runs!

Our FSR Board of Directors spent much of the winter season planning events to appeal to the wide variety of interests of our FSR members, so I encourage all of you to check the FSR App for a list of all our driving, social, and charity events planned for 2026. And at the time of this writing we are also hard at work on updating our official FSR webpage (www.fsrpca.org) which I encourage you to visit to find digital copies of this magazine, Horizontally Opposed, an updated events calendar, biographies of your FSR Board members, and a new FSR Goodie Store where we have cool FSR swag available for you to wear at your next event!

Another program that I’m extremely excited to mention is FSR’s strengthened partnership with Porsche Virginia Beach. General Manager Jimmy Anderson (also an FSR member) has arranged for his team to host a monthly Tech Session called “Show and Tell Saturday.” During this Tech Session they will focus on a specific Porsche model and have one of their certified technicians walk around the car to highlight special features or work they have performed. Jimmy also committed to paying the first year of PCA membership for every customer who buys a Porsche from their dealership in 2026! I can’t thank him enough for his commitment to our FSR Porsche community.

I am also extremely proud to announce that this spring FSR will host our first teen drivers’ safety course in Franklin on May 16th. The Tire Rack Street Survival school is a National Safe Teen Driving Program, designed to give teens the driving tools and hands-on experience they need to become safer, smarter drivers. So, if you have or know a teen driver who could benefit from this type of instruction, please register them for this event. Teen registrants don’t have to be affiliated in any way with Porsche Club of America or FSR to participate. Thanks to Phil Grandfield for working so hard to put this together, with the help of Blue Ridge Region of PCA, Viginia Department of Transportation, and our National PCA Tire Rack Street Survival Coordinator.

As you can see we are all very excited to kick off the 2026 driving season and I hope you can all join us at some or all of these events, but the one thing I want to close off with is that I would like to ask that as we continue to plan for and participate in these events, we all take an extra moment to think about safety before we pull out of our driveways. We all love driving and showing off our amazing Porsches, but the reality remains that anything can happen on our beautiful Virginia public roads. Please take those extra moments to check tire pressures and tread. Inspect brakes for any surface rust, and make sure all fluids—engine oil, coolant, brake fluid, and windshield washer—are at proper levels. And be prepared for those other drivers on the road who don’t take driving as seriously as we all do. At the end of the day, I want us to all come home safe with long lasting memories of our time together and our beautiful machines looking just as good as when we took them out of our garages. Thank you all for being a part of our car club and for being passionate Porsche owners. I look forward to an amazing and safe 2026 driving season!

Prost,

Paula and Bryan Fox

As many members may be aware, FSR’s “Meister of the Fun Run” Ed Merry , and his co-driver, Bob Balscio, were involved in an accident while doing a “pre-drive” for an upcoming fun run. After ensuring that both were doing okay, we felt that it would be germane to discuss the safety features of the modern Porsche 911. These features carry over in some manner to all modern Porsches.

When people think of Porsche, they usually picture curving roads, thunderous flat-six engines, and world-class performance (guilty as charged). But beyond the speed and styling lies another story rooted in safety innovation, rigorous engineering, and a philosophy of protecting drivers without compromising the thrill of the drive. Porsche doesn’t just build fast cars. It builds safe ones, too. This is true both with regards to preventing an accident, as well as surviving one.

Preventing an accident is not just about the world class brakes and top spec tires that assist in avoiding accidents in a panic situation. The electronic suite that is available augments those mechanical features more so than just the standard ABS and traction control that are ubiquitous in today’s automotive world. The potential feature list is lengthy:

❑ Porsche InoDrive - A dynamic cruise control system that integrates GPS, radar and cameras to anticipate the road ahead and maintains an appropriate following distance from the vehicle in front.

❑ Collision and Brake Assist– Designed to prevent accidents before they occur. With the help of radar and camera systems, this technology monitors the road ahead for potential collision threats. The system visually and audibly alerts the driver if a risk is detected. If the driver does not respond quickly, the Brake Assist function automatically applies the brakes to stop or even avoid a collision.

❑ Lane Keeping Assist– Using cameras, this system will gently guide the car back into its lane.

❑ Night vision assist– Using infrared cameras, this helps to identify animals and pedestrians that may otherwise go unnoticed.

❑ Porsche Wet Mode: A world-first system that uses acoustic sensors in the wheel arches to detect spray and automatically adjusts stability control for slippery conditions.

If an accident does occur, the engineering behind occupant safety is second to none. The 911, as well as other Porsche models employ a full suite of airbags, including frontal, thorax head and side curtain airbags for both passenger and driver. Additionally, the cockpit structure represents a mixture of ultrahigh strength steel, high-strength steel, mild steel and aluminum to address the differential needs of absorbing impact through the crumple zone and maintaining cockpit integrity. While high-performance sports cars often lack standard ratings from agencies like the IIHS or NHTSA due to low volume and high cost, the latest 911 (992 generation) has undergone federal compliance testing and is generally regarded as having exceptional crashworthiness.

Ed reflected on the designed safety integrity of his 991.2 cockpit. He had a horrible wreck and while bruised from the many airbags, he only had a badly broken left arm. Excellence in engineering again.

Thanks to Stuttcars.com for the information above as well as their contribution to the Carrera RSR 2.1 article later in this edition. Check out their website, they have a wealth of Porsche content! Nick from Struttcars has offered First Settlers members a discount for membership to his exclusive content. Just type FIRSTSETTLERS50 at checkout.

Paula & Bryan

News from the Secretary

by Carl Bess

Springtime. That welcome season that reminds us we’re still very much alive. And if you drive a Porsche, you know that feeling goes up several notches.

While many of us were waiting out the colder months, your Board of Directors was hard at work. We held a productive winter work session to take a closer look at our FSR Standard Operating Procedures, approve the 2026 budget, and adjust meeting dates to improve attendance and engagement.

In the previous quarter, your Board voted to:

❑ Approve the 2026 FSR Budget

❑ Adjust select elements of this year’s Frühlingsfest to improve sustainability and supportability

❑ Continue the current print format of Horizontally Opposed

Looking ahead, plans are already underway for two 2026 New Member Socials—an Eastern gathering in June and a Western event in the fall. Meanwhile, the activities calendar for March, April, and beyond is filling quickly. In fact, we’re fine-tuning the FSR website to help prevent scheduling conflicts and allow members to plan further in advance. Be sure to keep an eye on the website and future editions of Horizontally Opposed to stay up to date.

As always, our focus remains on fiscal responsibility, event sustainability, membership growth, and strengthening engagement across the region.

Speaking of engagement, Rich recently reached out to me and a few other members to begin forming a sim racing committee. While we’re in the very early stages, the goal is to explore how we might better organize, promote, and grow sim racing participation within FSR.

We’re looking at sim racing to enhance year-round involvement and connect members who may not participate in our traditional driving events. For those who regularly track their cars, sim racing provides an invaluable platform for track familiarization and honing skills.

At this stage, we’re simply looking to:

❑ Gauge interest

❑ Clarify the committee’s purpose and scope

❑ Identify potential activities (league participation, beginner sessions, tech setup workshops, friendly competitions, and more)

❑ Determine how this initiative might complement our existing programs

We welcome your ideas. If you’re interested or would like to contribute, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at secretary@fsrpca.org.

Finally, a reminder that the Board meets via Zoom on the second Tuesday of each month. Any FSR member is welcome to attend. If you’d like to sit in, just reach out to me or any Board member for the Zoom link.

Thanks to Rich and all our volunteers!

Activities Update

by Dana McKnight

Now that winter has passed, this spring is full of fun runs and social events. Below is a list of currenty scheduled upcoming events.

New Members

January, February 2026

Welcome to all our new members. We hope you enjoy your membership and all the related benefits. Most of all, we hope you get involved and attend some of the many driving, social and charity events. You’ll enjoy the events and the friendships you make.

January 2026

Luke Kikstra Norfolk 1999 Boxster

John Taxin

David Parsons

Phillip Luebbert

Glen Allen 2026 Cayenne E-Hybrid

Virginia Beach 2003 Boxster S

Virginia Beach 2004 Boxster S SE

David Zuck TI Potomac Richmond 2021 718 Boxster GTS 4.0

Robert Wich

Avery Sandler TI Hurricane

David Darche

Norfolk 2018 911 Carrera S

Knotts Island 1979 911 Turbo

Williamsburg 2017 911 Carrera S Cab

Michael Brady TI Potomac Richmond 2002 Boxster

Scott Hodor

Chesapeake 2017 718 Cayman

Rich Katz Norfolk 2023 Taycan

Judson Clements

Newport News 2025 Cayenne GTS

Peter Olson Henrico 2013 Cayenne

Pin Ooi

Tandika Gregory

Marc Cerri

Chris Riley

Midlothian 2025 Cayenne Coupe

Virginia Beach 2017 911 Carrera

Williamsburg 2016 718 Cayman S

Virginia Beach 2015 Panamera GTS

Phil Jessop TI Everglades Providence Forge 2021 Macan S

Jim Kaczorowski TI Shenandoah Richmond 2010 Cayman

Alex Czajkowski Henrico 2018 Macan S

Tom Taylor

Edward Bailey

Jackson Salvant

February 2026

Virginia Beach 2026 911 GT3

Fredericksburg 2007 Cayman

Newport News 2019 911 Targa 4 GTS

Kevin Williams Hampton 2015 Macan S

Adam Levenson

Brad Reynolds

Barry Sroka

Chad Carter

Newport News 1979 911 SC

Virginia Beach 2013 Boxster S

Virginia Beach 2015 Boxster

Manakin Sabot 2018 718 Cayman

Member Anniversary Milestones for the First Quarter 2026

Ken Thomas, Membership Chair

Congratulations to all our members who celebrate membership milestones in the First Quarter of 2026. Thank you all for your loyalty to the Porsche brand, the Porsche Club of America and First Settlers Region. Congratulations to Louis Radwanick who is celebrating 45 years of membership this quarter.

We hope you are enjoying your membership and all the benefits that are available to you. If you haven’t come out to an event lately, consider joining us for an event in 2026. First Settlers offers many popular events throughout the year with a focus on driving, social and charitable activities. Our monthly breakfasts are very popular also. Hope to see you at an event soon.

45 Years

40 Years

35 Years

Louis Radwanick

Sterling Williams

William Grant

30 Years Don Hedelund

25 Year

20 Years

Brandon Hull

Greg Felthouser

15 Years Mack Lewis

Ed Weidner

10 Years

5 Years

Rodney Malone

Brett Siegfried

Duane Bushy

Charles Short

Randy Green

Dennis Januchowski

About the Cover:

Jerry Coffman Bruce Cushing

H L Marks

Alan Wilhite

Rick Woolard

Rick Griffin

James Lindler

Dennis Coronado

Ellen Apotheker

Porsche Motorsports Update

Tim Ashbridge

Kevin Michalowski

Thomas Godfrey

Timothy Tracy

Richard Purkins

Porsche leads the championship standings following back-to-back major victories

❑ 24 Hours of Daytona: The #7 Porsche 963, driven by Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer, and Laurin Heinrich, secured Porsche’s 21st outright win at the event and its third consecutive victory (2024–2026).

❑ 12 Hours of Sebring: Porsche achieved its 20th outright victory with a sensational 1-2 finish.

o GTP Class: The #7 Porsche 963 took the win again, followed by the #6 sister car.

o GTD Pro Class: A dominant 1-2 finish for customer teams, with the #911 Manthey “Grello” winning ahead of the #77 AO Racing “Roxy” car.

o GTD Class: Wright Motorsports secured a podium finish (3rd) in the final moments of the race.

Photo by Steve Marcom of his 2012 997.2 Turbo S against the backdrop of A. Smith Bowman distillery in Fredericksburg

Photos and article by Jenny Kay, FSR Charity Chair

2026 Charity Committee & Approved Charities

Our 2026 Charity Committee: Ruth Apotheker, Ernestine Hibbard, Betty Kendall, Kindall Maddox, and Scott Hoffman, continue to give their time and heart to support FSR’s charitable work. Their dedication makes our efforts possible, and I’m grateful for each of them.

We’re also proud to continue supporting the same outstanding charities as 2025: Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, Feed More (Richmond), Horizons Hampton Roads, Samaritan House, and the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore, and PCA Club Racing will support God’s Storehouse. The only update for 2026 is that our HPDE Charity Laps will now benefit Track Heroes, an organization serving veterans and first responders facing PTSD, anxiety, depression, and transition related stress. You can learn more about their mission in Scott Hoffman’s article in this issue.

Your Generosity in Action

Breakfast Raffles

A special thank you to Scott Hoffman, Betty Kendall, Ken Thomas, Dave and Nancy Wallace for faithfully running our monthly raffles. As of February, we have raised $1,324, which is $634 more than this time last year. That steady support really adds up.

Williamsburg Winery Holiday Party

Our January Holiday Party was a huge success, raising $7,179 for our charities compared to $1,055 last year. Thank you to Josie Grandfield for coordinating this event, to our volunteers, and to everyone who donated incredible items and participated in the White Elephant auction.

Each winning bidder wrote their check directly to one of our six supported charities, and several members who did not win still chose to donate. Holiday Party donations were distributed as follows: Track Heroes: $50, Feed More: $235, Samaritan House: $400, Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore: $1,072, and CHKD: $5,422. Be sure to check out the photos and related article in this issue.

Maria & Mike Podolsky at Pop’s Diner Chesapeake Breakfast

Honey Butter’s Kitchen, Williamsburg Breakfast

Porsche-Themed Paint & Sip for a Cause

We hosted our first Porsche-themed Paint & Sip at Pinot’s Palette in Norfolk. Each attendee painted their own Porsche, or dream Porsche, on canvas. We even had a beach scene option for our non-Porsche artists. No experience was required, but judging by the results, we clearly have hidden talent in our club!

Akhil Jain, with his (2) sons and nephew

Rosana Allison

The evening raised $276, with $12 from each registration benefiting CHKD, Horizons Hampton Roads, and Samaritan House. Thank you to Nothing Bundt Cakes (Hilltop and Norfolk locations) for donating Bundtinis, and to the Pinot’s Palette team for their outstanding service and hospitality!

PCA Club Racing

Chaired by Phil and Josie Grandfield, this event is already on pace to break their charity donation record. As of February, $820 has been raised for God’s Storehouse, with three more weeks to go. Last year’s total was $680. This year a total of $2240 was collected, $500 for Track Heroes and $1740 for God’s Storehous. The generosity continues to grow!

Upcoming Charity Events

• March 31 – Wasserhund Brewing Co. Music Bingo, Virginia Beach, benefiting Samaritan House

• June 3 – Wasserhund Brewing Co. Music Bingo, Chesapeake, benefiting Horizons Hampton Roads

• July 10 & 17 – Horizons Hampton Roads Member Visits

• September – Horizons Hampton Roads Career Night

• October 10 – Air & Auto Charity Classic Car Show (rain date October 17)

• November 21 – Turkeys in the Trunk

Charity Tour Opportunities

If you would ever like to tour one of our supported charities and see firsthand how your support is making a difference, please reach out. We are happy to arrange member visits.

If you have ideas for future charity events, know a venue that loves to give back, are interested in sponsoring, or would like to join our planning efforts, contact us anytime at charity@fsrpca.org.

Thank you for continuing to show up, have fun, and give generously This club truly makes a difference!

Stephanie Santarelli and Priscilla Horner

Rosemary Iguina, Lila Ilson, Rosana Allison & Paul Crump

Ceseley and Terrence Dunbar

HOLIDAY PARTY

Photos and Article by Josie and Phil Grandfield

The First Settlers Region Holiday Party is a great way to kick-off the new year and share memories of the past year with Porsche friends. The festive party was held at the quaint Williamsburg Winery for the second year which proved, again, to be a great venue. Hotcakes, the East Coast’s #1 dance band led by our own long-time member, Bobby Smith, provided the lively entertainment. Having recently celebrated their 50th Anniversary, Hotcakes kept the dance floor hopping all night!

Like everything in the Porsche Club, nothing happens without volunteers. Thanks to Josie Grandfield for leading the planning and execution of our biggest party of the year. The very special and festive table decorations were created by Diane Liedman and Luana Hugel. Thanks to Karen McFaddin and Betty Kendall for jumping in to help getting everyone checked in and issue their all-important drink tickets. Thanks also to Jenny Kay for taking charge of all the donations for the silent auction. Jenny made it look easy but it is quite a job to keep everyone straight during the competitive bidding and to keep track of all the items. Our very generous members both donated some fun, mostly Porschethemed items and then opened their wallets to take home some other unique scores. The team effort raised $7179 that goes directly to our sponsored charities.

Rich Cao, our Region President, took the mic to introduce and thank the board members for their time and effort throughout the year. He recognized Phil Grandfield as the outgoing PCA Zone 2 Representative and welcomed George Michaels, another First Settlers Region member, who stepped into the important role. Josie Grandfield replaced Scott Hoffman as the Eastern Vice President. Scott served as the VP for two years and was everywhere. He was a fixture at the Chesapeake and Williamsburg breakfasts. He was a key to the success of the new member party too. Dana McKnight stepped in as the Activities Officer taking the reins from Keith Stone. Keith coordinated every event in the Region for two years and brought a wealth of great ideas to make our Porsche Club experience more fun. Thanks to both Scott and Keith – we know you aren’t going anywhere!

Thanks, also, to all the members who attended and had a great time. After all, what is a party if no one shows up?!

by Erik Apotheker

THE PORSCHE TURBO CARRERA RSR 2.1

Every once in a while, Porsche builds a car so advanced, so ahead of its time, that the motorsport world has to recalibrate itself.

Long before the 930 Turbo hit the showroom floor, and before the 935 rewrote the record books, Porsche created the Turbo Carrera RSR 2.1—a testbed for ideas that would go on to define an entire era. Wearing iconic Martini stripes and stretching a full 89 inches wide (a 992 is only 80 inches with mirrors extended), these experimental machines were both brutal and beautiful, a perfect mix of Stuttgart engineering and paddock-level improvisation.

And remarkably, they did more than just race. They changed Porsche forever.

of collectorsworld.com and RS65photos.com. Reproduced with permission

How Four Experimental 911s Rewrote the Future

In the early 1970s, while the world’s prototype grids thundered with 12-cylinder Matra Simcas and V8 Mirage Fords, Porsche’s motorsport department found itself at a crossroads. Financial pressures were mounting. The mighty 917 was legislated into obsolescence by a simple fuel capacity related rules change, And the rules for the World Championship of Makes were hinting at a future where cars with silhouettes of production-based cars would define the battlefield.

What rose from this moment of uncertainty was one of Porsche’s most radical and influential experiments: the Turbo Carrera RSR 2.1. Built in 1974 in a run of just four cars, these super wide-bodied Martini-liveried weapons were not only the first turbocharged 911-based racers—they were the evolutionary link between the RSRs, the 930 Turbo road car, and the Group 5 935 that would go on to dominate international racing for years.

They were fragile, complicated, underfinanced, and rushed into competition. They were also decades ahead of their time.

Genesis of a Radical Idea

courtesy of collectorsworld.com and RS65photos.com

Porsche saw the new rules coming—rumors of a 1975–76 formula that would favor production-based cars under 3.0 liters. To compete with larger-bore rivals, they needed something lightweight, efficient, and explosively powerful. Porsche saw a narrow window to build a smaller-displacement car that could punch above its weight class, and leveraging technology proven in Porsche’s 917/10 and 917/30 Can-Am monsters, was the obvious solution.

Photos courtesy of the Apotheker Collection unless otherwise noted

Photo courtesy

The revolutionary turbo technology established by Mezger and Schaffer in motorsports served as the basis for the Porsche 911 Tubro unveiled in Paris in 1974. Photo courtesy of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG

Photo

Ernst Fuhrmann, a Porsche board member and a force behind the company’s racing exploits, directed engineer Norbert Singer to create a new GT contender under tight financial and regulatory constraints. Singer’s canvas was the familiar 911 shell—but everything underneath would be recalibrated for the future.

The “Turbo Rule” allowed forced-induction engines to multiply their swept volume by 1.4, meaning a 2.1-liter engine became, in the eyes of regulators, a 3.0. Thus the bizarre displacement of 2,143 cc was born.

A Technical Masterclass in Ingenuity

The resulting engine, Type 911/78, was a compact sledgehammer:

• 500 bhp at 7600 rpm

• 405 lb-ft of torque at 5400 rpm

• Single KKK (Kohnle, Kopp, Kausch) turbocharger set to 1.5 bars of boost with a pioneering charged-air intercooler reduced intake temps by 212°F versus previous oil cooled units. A type 917 oil cooler with a 908 oil pump further dissipated engine heat

• Magnesium crankcase, a forged crank with 83mm bore and 66mm stroke (same as 2.0 litre engine), titanium rods (developed for the Carrera-6), titanium intake valves and sodium filled exhaust valves

• Twin-plug ignition and Bosch mechanical fuel injection with breaker-less capacitive discharge system (from Carrera 911)

• 5 speed transaxle w oil cooler and 80% locked differential, connected to the wheels through 917 half shafts

The chassis was equally extreme

• Boxed aluminum trailing arms and lightweight titanium components from the 917, saving 66 lbs over the RSR 3.0

• All fiberglass and plastic bodywork with 3.5 kg doors

• Progressive conical shaped titanium coil springs over Bilstein shocks

• A tubular subframe for the engine and suspension

• Center lock wheels measuring 10.5” front and a massive 17” rear

• Aluminum roll cage

• 1653 lbs total weight—remarkable in many ways

63 inches wide without the fenders, 89 inches with, R12 is borth brawny and stylish. This phot was takem in 2007 in the Old Porsche factory museum in Stuttgard and prior to being fully restored.

The rules allowed 120 liters of fuel—a blessing for strategy but a curse for handling. When Porsche mounted the tank in the nose, the car wandered dramatically as fuel burned, shifting from nose-heavy to tail-happy in hours.

The solution? Move the tank inside the cockpit, behind the co-driver’s seat, aligned with the car’s center of gravity. It improved balance and reduced pitch.

This relocation, along with the outrageous body width gave the car a menacing stance. It was a silhouette racer in spirit, before the category formally existed.

A 1.5 litre twin turbo v6 Formula 1 World Championship TAG (Techniques d’Avant Garde) Porsche built turbocharged motor. These motors carried Mclaren to championship in 1984, 1985 & 1986.

Trial by Fire: Monza & Le Mans

It was believed that experience turbocharging the flat 12-cylinder moto would translate to the 6-cylinder based on similarity of design. Here one can see the shafts that effectively connect two individual 6 cylinder engines. Sincere apologies to the Porsche engineers for such a rudimentary explanation.

The debut at Monza in 1974 was nearly a disaster. Scrutineers discovered ball bearings in the steering linkage, disqualifying the car from the GT class. With no way to correct the issue that weekend, Porsche petitioned to run in the Prototype category as both a way to save face as well as to continue development. The Turbo Carrera was a David among Goliaths.

The car had no realistic chance of winning, but as faster rivals burned up their machinery, the RSR 2.1 simply kept running. It finished second overall, an extraordinary achievement for a car built on short money and shorter timelines.

Le Mans told an even stranger story.

Running again as a prototype, Porsche benefitted briefly when the leading Matra suffered gearbox issues. In a twist worthy of racing folklore, the Matra team appeared in the Porsche pit—because Matra’s gearbox was a Porsche-built unit. Ernst Fuhrmann ordered his crew to repair it.

With that, Porsche repaired the gearbox of its own “competitor”, returned Matra to the race, and ultimately lost to the very car it had helped. Sometimes the race gods giveth and sometimes they taketh away

The Bridge to the 935

Though short-lived, the RSR 2.1 program was foundational. The lessons learned in turbocharging, intercooling, chassis weight distribution, and ultra-wide bodywork paved the way for the Group 5 935, one of the most dominant racing cars ever built.

In truth, the RSR 2.1 was the first 935 in spirit—an experimental silhouette racer wearing a 911 face.

The Four Cars: R5, R9, R12, R13

Only four examples were constructed, each with a distinct story.

Legacy: A Small Project That Changed Everything

Porsche almost named the Turbo Carrera the 917/50, a nod to the turbocharged monarchy that preceded it. In spirit, that name would have been appropriate. But the car’s greatest contribution was that it advanced Porsche’s turbo technology, eventually powering 17 of 19 Le Mans victories, a Paris-Dakar win, a Formula 1 World Championships (TAG-Porsche turbo power)

R5 — Chassis 911 360 0576

The prototype. Began life as a 2.8 twin-plug RSR and wore the first full Martini livery. After an accident at the Nürburgring, it became the basis for the first 2.1-liter turbo project. It has been said that up to three donor 911 shells were sacrificed during its metamorphosis. Two “R5s” exist today—an original Turbo Carrera configuration and another restored to 2.8 RSR spec—both under the same ownership and paying homage to the original as well as its final evolution.

R9 — Chassis 911 460 9016

Originally part of the famed Matt Drendel collection and once a “neighbor” of Porsche’s First Settlers Region the car resided for years in North Carolina. After Drendel’s passing, it was sold along with 11 other historically significant Porsches.

R12 — Chassis 911 460 9101

Never left factory hands. Still owned by Porsche and frequently displayed at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. The most original of the quartet.

R13 — Chassis 911 460 9102

The most successful of the four:

• 2nd at Le Mans

• 2nd at Watkins Glen

The car was acquired by the Vasek Polak collection and resided in his storage unit until his passing. Acquired by Jeff Lewis, then Greg Galdi (who also owns a Martini liveried 908/3), and most recently sold to collector John Kotts in Texas. It remains a star at prestigious events it attends.

With only four built, these are some of the rarest and most influential 911s ever created. More prototype than production racer, more experiment than finished product, it was the moment the 911 transcended its naturally aspirated heritage and embraced forced induction—a shift that would define Porsche performance for the next half-century and forged the DNA of every turbocharged 911 that followed:

The Porsche Turbo Carrera RSR 2.1 wasn’t just a race car. It was a promise—a glimpse of the turbocharged future to come.

Photos courtesy of The Apotheker Collection unless otherwise cationed

It took a lot of air to keep this monster cool. note the brake, engine, intercooler and turbo air inlets. The wing was painted black to be less conspicuous. Good luck with that!

Photo courtesy of Stuttcats.com and Richard Owen. Reproduced with permission

by Phil Grandfield

Tire Rack Street Survival aN FSR Teen Driver Safety Initiative

Photos from TIRERACK,com

“Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for all 15-20 year olds”. This is the sobering statistic that comes from the national Tire Rack Street Survival (TRSS) organization.

The First Settlers Region is jumping on board the TRSS train and will host the second ever school location in Virginia. The planned date is Saturday, May 16 at the municipal airport in Franklin, Virginia. We will need in-car coaches and volunteers. Please stay tuned to our social media announcements for more information and look for registration via www.motorsportreg.com

The Tire Rack Street Survival teen safe driving program was launched in April 2002 by the BMW Car Club of America Foundation. The program was designed to teach teen drivers (ages 15-21) to avoid accidents by focusing on car control and hazard awareness, using their own vehicles for training. Since their auspicious start nearly 25 years ago, the program has hosted over 1,200 events and trained more than 25,000 students. There is a huge demand for this training with the TRSS national program maintaining a database of over 50,000 families looking for a school in their area.

The training emphasizes hands-on, in-car instruction to teach young drivers how to manage, rather than just avoid, emergency situations on the road. The exercises include a slalom course designed to teach weight transfer and the importance of keeping your eyes up and looking ahead. The straight line braking drill teaches the importance of braking consistency and familiarity with anti-lock braking systems (ABS). ABS is your friend – not some weird feeling in the brake pedal. An advanced version of the braking drill is braking while turning to avoid an obstacle. The skid pad exercise demonstrates the difference between understeer and oversteer, and how to correct using the steering wheel.

When the class starts early on a Saturday morning it is obvious that most of the teenagers would rather be somewhere else. They are staring at their feet, wondering what their parents have signed them up for. But after lunch they are attacking the course and grinning ear to ear. The teens acknowledge they learned valuable lessons that were not taught in their drivers’ education classes. Our plan is to start off small with this first event. However, our hope is that this teen drivers’ safety program catches on and becomes an annual, or semiannual event designed to save lives.

Thank you to the following online resources for contributing photos to this edition.

MEET TRACK HEROES--FIRST SETTLERS REGION ’S NEWEST CHARITY

Photos and Content by Scott Hoffman

I’d like to introduce our members to First Settlers Region’s newest charity. —Track Heroes. This is an organization I strongly encouraged the Charity Committee to adopt because I am extremely passionate about their work and have been supporting them since their inception.

The Track Heroes slogan is “High Speed Mental Health”. Their goal is to provide Veterans and First Responders no-cost registration slots so they can enjoy driving in High Performance Driver Education (HPDE), racing simulator events, and after progressing through those programs, to fully participate in competitive racing events.

Participants in the Track Heroes program will also benefit from the camaraderie of being part of a “team” like the teams they served on while performing their past service.

You’re probably asking yourself, why would we donate money so other people can get a free track event? Who are these people? What makes them worthy? Why use track events?

Track Heroes provides these no-cost track events and activities to Veterans and First Responders (they use the acronym V1R), who have been diagnosed with, and treated for service-related post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), anxiety, depression, and other cognitive difficulties from their duties. Some of these Heroes have obvious visible physical injuries such as missing limbs or scars, while others have nonphysical conditions related to their service.

Many participants have discovered that conventional mental health therapies are not fully effective in mitigating their conditions, so they seek other treatment modalities. Other organizations have discovered that activities with high intensity stimulation can be part of the solution when mixed with specific targeted training.

The Track Heroes founders, Luke Ryker, a USAF veteran, and Wes Powers, a US Army veteran, define their science-based therapy as “High Speed Mental Health”. Both are military veterans; both are also track enthusiasts. Wes is also a student pursuing a Doctorate degree in Neuroscience and he has developed what they have named the Adaptive Control Program (ACP). The Track Heroes ACP is a process that contains Crawl, Walk, and Run stages with classroom sessions strategically inserted into the actual track experiences to help the individuals understand how their brains change through adaptation as they progress through these activities.

First Settlers has designated Track Heroes as our “at the track” charity. Fund raisers such as daily charity laps during lunch and other donations collected for them during evening happy hours at our HPDEs will help the organization with their fundraising efforts. Our members already have a reputation for generosity. One FSR member, Jay McArdle, donated his own track car to the organization for use by HPDE Track Heroes registrants who may not already have their own track-worthy car.

Anyone interested in donating to, volunteering for, or participating in Track Heroes activities can contact me or go to the trackheroes.org website for information. We’ll see you at the track so you can meet some Track Heroes in person!

Tech Tatics East 2026

Photos and article by Lisa Knust

Every February, Porsche enthusiasts from near and far travel to Easton, Pennsylvania to get nerdy about their beloved car brand. Tech Tactics East is a national PCA event held annually at the Porsche Service Training Center there. It’s an unassuming building situated among several other warehouses, but it acts as a beacon for those of us who want to dive deeper into the latest Porsche news and models, as well as get updates on the classics. The event is focused mainly on technical information but also touches on sales trends and other topics. The information is presented in a format that is friendly to both novices and more seasoned home mechanics. It is held over the course of 2 days, but both have the same agenda. With attendance limited to 125 people per day, it feels more intimate than some of the larger PCA events.

The Porsche Service Training Center is a facility used to train Porsche technicians on new and old Porsches. That mission is evident immediately when entering where you are greeted by two distinctly different vehicles – a classic 911 and a Taycan. Throughout the facility, the walls are decorated with cutaways and other images of varying models. I was, of course, partial to the one of the GT4RS. The classrooms where the lectures are held are spacious and have displays of various automotive components, as well as lifts with cars that are used over the course of the event as 3-D teaching tools.

After registration, where breakfast and coffee were available, the event started with an introduction of some of the upcoming speakers and the agenda for the day. The first topic was a “Deep Dive into the Manthey GT3RS” with Stewart McLaughlin, Manager of Porsche Accessories for Porsche Cars North America (PCNA). Following an overview of the history of Manthey in motorsport and their connection with Porsche, McLaughlin launched into the details of the Manthey kit available for the GT3RS. The best summary is: carbon fiber everywhere! We then moved from our seats to the next room where a live demonstration of the alignment system was presented on the Manthey GT3RS that was used as the safety car for the recent 24 Hours of Daytona. It almost felt like being in a room with a celebrity.

Next up was Nathan Merz from the PCA Technical Committee and Columbia Valley Luxury Cars discussing “Setting Realistic Expectations for Porsche Ownership.” This dynamic presentation provided a guide for looking for the Porsche that you truly want, which might not always be the first one that pops into your head. Fading memories of 1980s cars don’t always translate into the best purchase in 2026.

Wrapping up the morning was PCNA Technician Rolf Kittlitz who provided an in-depth tutorial on the “Care and Feeding of Porsche Center Lock Wheels,” complete with examples of the various iterations of the center locks and the tools required to maintain them. I think we managed to avoid getting silver anti-seize handprints all over, which is always a plus.

After a boxed lunch, I took the tour offered of the Porsche Distribution Center that is attached to the training center. It is a massive warehouse facility responsible for delivery of Porsche parts small and large to Porsche dealerships in the Eastern US, sharing that responsibility with another center in Atlanta. Lunch and the breaks throughout the day also afforded the opportunity to browse the static displays in the classrooms and vote for the winners of the Die-Cast Model Concours, where participants polished and displayed their beloved die-cast models on a mini outdoor diorama.

The afternoon sessions offered choices of lectures presented simultaneously in two classrooms. It was tough choosing between them, and I almost wish there would’ve been an opportunity to attend both. I guess that is what YouTube is for. Tom Anderson from PCNA presented “Understanding the T-Hybrid System” as seen on the 911 GTS lifted in the back of the classroom. It was an especially relevant topic as Porsche continues to use the system increasingly in their cars. This was followed by a representative from Pirelli Tires discussing “The Latest in Tire Technology.”

The classic Porsche portion of the day came when two members of the PCA Technical Committee, George Beuselinck and John Paterek, presented lectures on “944 Common Issues and Solutions – 2026 Update” and “A Rare 1958 Speedster that is Kardex Correct.”

To finish a full day of information saturation, David Whitlock of the Stuttgart Market Letter discussed the “Current State of the Porsche Market.” It was an engaging look into the world of Porsche auctions with trends in specific models as well as an overview of the online marketplace.

As a first-time attendee, I can definitely say I would recommend Tech Tactics East to any Porsche owner who is looking to begin or enhance their journey into the technical side of Porsche.

Porsche Parade 101

Porsche Parade is a week-long immersion into everything Porsche. Is your favorite part of the Porsche Club driving tours, concours, autocross, gimmick rallies, time and distance challenges, tech sessions, dinner with friends, fun with your kids, visiting new parts of the country, seeing one-of-a kind Porsches, wine tasting or even running a 5K footrace? As the name implies, there is even a Parade-ofPorsches through town. You can do all these things at Porsche Parade!

Last year the party was in downtown Oklahoma City, OK and the year before brought Porsches to Birmingham, AL. This year the dates are June 14-20, 2026 in Lake Placid, NY. The idyllic location in beautiful, upstate New York will have a different country feel and a shorter drive to some great roads. Although Lake Placid isn’t exactly in our backyard, it will be a shorter drive than to Boise, ID in 2027.

You can find out everything you need at this link: https://www.porscheparade. org. Phase I registration opened in January and allowed members to select a hotel room. Unique to this Parade, the lodging will be in several smaller hotels around town. Phase II registration opens on April 15th and lets you sign up for the multitude of events during the week.

The party kicks off on Sunday, June 14 with the always well attended Welcome Party. Monday is my favorite day of the week – the Concours! The venue this year will be the historic outdoor speed skating oval from the 1980 Olympics. Every Parade Concours brings out some very special cars that you won’t see anywhere else. The driving tours start on Tuesday and continue through the week. Autocross is mid-week, the Gimmick Rally is on Thursday. The Parade of Porsches is on Saturday, the last day of Parade. The banquets, tech sessions, ice cream social, art show, and Porsche Juniors events are scattered throughout the week.