the Streets Time Trial & PDS

STEVE EISLER

June 2, 3, and 4 marked my ninth visit to the Streets of Willow track, located at Willow Springs International Raceway, just north of Lancaster CA. On my last visit to Streets, there was snow on the ground, and it rained all day, but I had a great day learning to drive on a wet track. My first visit to Streets was in January of 2013. When I was in my 20’s, I attended a Porsche Club Track Day in Northern California and did very well. I thought, since I had learned so much on my first track day, my return to the track, in 2013, would be very easy.

I was sorely mistaken!

In 2013 I was driving a new to me, 2011 Boxster Spyder with three times the horsepower of the ’68 912 Targa that I drove in Northern California. I was older, no longer fearless, and not used to the speed. I struggled to keep up in the Ducks in a Row session, got motion sickness riding with my instructor, and was exhausted after three sessions. During the lunch break, I wrapped up in my warmest coat, tried to relax, and contemplated my future in racing! After a short nap, I decided to try to finish the weekend, which I did, without any more rides with instructors.

It took two years to find a solution to my motion sickness, two more years to decide to retire the Spyder from Time Trials and build a track car, and another 3 years to join POC to get more track time. To maximize the value of a trip to Lancaster, I enrolled in the DK Racing School’s Precision Driving School on June 2. Since POC was driving the course counterclockwise on Saturday and clockwise on Sunday, the school modified their schedule. After our track walk Friday morning we practiced in the clockwise direction and after lunch, the cones were reset, and we drove counter-clockwise so we would be prepared to drive in that direction on Saturday morning.

If this is your first time on any track, you are a PDS driver still working on car control, or an experienced driver who has not been on this track before, I highly recommend the DK program. The track walks are led by Dwain Dement who has years of experience on the Streets and on the Big Willow track. He explains the difference in the line for a high-powered car and a low powered car, points out dangerous areas on the track and sets a series of cones to help you focus on the correct, fastest, and safest way to improve your lap times. Students are split into groups based on their car and level of experience, which keeps the student to instruction ratio low. First sessions are always slow, Ducks in a Row format with the instructor rotating to each student’s car. As you become familiar with the track, the speeds increase dramatically, but never faster than the individual students’ ability and comfort level. There are debriefing sessions after each track session, and a great dinner is included at the end of the day.

Dwain Dement and Martina Kwan, the K in DK Racing, are great hosts and instructors. They are dedicated to helping each student learn proper car control first, and then improving their best lap times in the races and timed events on Saturday and Sunday.

The June event was unique for POC. There were no race events, just a lot of track time for the TT and PDS drivers. It was nice to see so many of the racers come out to support the event, drive with the Time Trialers, and volunteer to be instructors. Driving counter-clockwise was challenging since we normally drive the Streets in the opposite direction. Going up the Waterfall was much less threatening than going down the blind section at 100+ miles per hour. The Bowl, however, was much more technical going CCW, and had several different lines to try to get your best time. The 180-degree sweeper that is turn 3 going CW required a down shift to second to accelerate to the top of turn 2 (CW). The exit of turn 2 then becomes a long straight all the way passed start finish and into the Skid pad. We were encouraged to experiment with entry speeds into the Skid pad (Turn 1 when going CCW), because if you enter too fast there is a huge, paved area to regain control or safely spin. Results showed that most people that drove both days were faster going counterclockwise than they were going in the more familiar clockwise direction.

On Saturday, the Open Passing group was led by Brett Gaviglio, GT3, 1:17.881; Bob Gartland, GT3, 1:20.801; and Dwain Dement, who set a GT5 track record of 1:21.330. They were followed by 4 Modified 2 cars, Jimmy Lorimer,1:22.646; Tristan Zafra, 1:22.736; Nathan Apelbaum, 1:23.297; and Robert Chang, 1:23.562. Rounding out the top ten were Vivek Hazari, M4, 1:25.276; John Momeyer, Boxster Spec, 1:26.079; and Ryan Fisher, Boxster Spec,1:26.286.

Colin Benade in a GT3 had the fastest time, 1:17.947, in the Point by Passing group which also was the 2nd fastest counter-clockwise time of the day. Kelly Tribolet’s best time in her GT3 was 1:21.375, 2nd in Point By and 5th overall. Mark Barry ‘s M3 was 3rd with a time of 1:25.33; followed by Phil Ross, S4, 1:30.090; and Charles Allen, M5, 1:30.482.

Driving clockwise on Sunday, Dwain Dement set another GT5 track record with a time of 1:21.283, 0.047 seconds faster than his time on Saturday. Arnulf Graf also set a Stock 5 record of 1:35.878.

Brett Gaviglio was again the leader in the Open Passing group at 1:18.305, followed by Seth Hodosh, GT3, 1:18.666. Other Sunday top ten drivers, who were not in Saturday’s top ten included, Hambis Charalambous, GT5, 5th place time of 1:24.779; 7th fastest, John Krylow, Boxster Spec-1:25.597.

In Point by Passing, Kelly Tribolet moved up to first, 1:22.236, and Mark Barry was 2nd at 1:27.616. Rounding out the top 5 were Joe La Croix, Stock 3, 1:31.149; Steve Eisler, GT5, 1:32.272; and Glen Orton, M3, 1:33.952.

Following are the class winners for the weekend:

BOXSTER SPEC PDS Georgio Adams

BOXSTER SPEC TT John Momeyer

GT3 PDS Bobby Litchfield

GT3 Brett Gaviglio

Georgio Adams

John Krylow

Bobby Litchfield

Brett Gaviglio

GT5 Dwain Dement Dwain Dement

GTC-7 Seth Hodosh

MODIFIED 2 Jimmy Lorimer

MODIFIED 3 PDS

Jaime Ramirez

MODIFIED 3 Mark Barry

MODIFIED 4 Vivek Hazari

MODIFIED 5 Charles Allen

STOCK 3

STOCK 4 PDS

Christophe Lindstrom

STOCK 4 Phil Ross

STOCK 5 Arnulf Graf

Nathan Apelbaum

Mark Barry

Vivek Hazari

Joe La Croix

Scott Schomer

Arnulf Graf

In conclusion, Kathy and I had a great weekend. The weather, for Willow Springs, was quite pleasant. Warm in the morning, not too hot in the afternoon, and best of all, the winds stayed calm until late in the afternoon. Joe Wiederholt “bought” us lunch both days, and we had a great dinner with Kelly Tribolet Saturday night. DK training helped me get off to a good start both mornings, and the support from Vision Motorsports was excellent. Even when the PDS and Point By groups were combined, the car counts were low, leading to many clean laps. Usually, we stay overnight in Lancaster and drive home on Monday, but, with the early finish time, we left Sunday and were home by 6:45! Corner workers and starters did a great job, and Nels, in the timing shed, and John Momeyer got me a copy of the timing data to help compile the results for this article. Luis Vivar took some great photos of us in the pits and Stan (the Boxster) on the track. POC provided one of our best track weekends. I wish I had not waited 3 years before joining the POC family!

Photo: Luis Vivar