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Lime Rock Porsche Rennsport
This was a weekend to remember for a lot of Porsche lovers and just plain car enthusiasts. It was filled with cars and drivers that made each other legends. I was in awe as I saw drivers such as George Folmer, Milt Mintor, Vic Elford, Brian Redman, and many more as incredible as the last. The cars were cars that had won Daytona, Le Mans, and even Steve McQueens car. My favorite car in history was there, in double. It was Mark Donohue's 917-30 Sunoco Can Am car. There are only 3 true 917-30's running. Chassis 002 belongs to the Porsche factory, 003 is owned by a Frenchman, and 004 was just acquired by my co-driver at G&W in Grand Am, Matt Drendel who brought his to Lime Rock. That's why I say it was there in double. I don't know of anytime two 917-30's were on the track at the same time. Roger Penske, who's team ran the car in the early 70's was scheduled to drive the car. It was to be a great spectacle. My job was to drive the car first to be sure everything was ok for Roger. I can't tell you how excited I was to drive my dream car. I got myself fitted to the car which meant adjusting the seatbelts. I noticed there was no boost knob or gauge in the 5.4 liter turbo car. I asked the German engineers about it and they said they had taken them out and the boost was preset at 1.2 bar. My next question was how much horsepower that meant I would have. I was astonished when they told me it was 1200 HP. The car only weighs 1500 pounds. Yes, it was as fast as it sounded. It was only a four speed and I got wheel spin in 3rd gear at over 120 mph, while I was straight!There was a 962 GTP car in front of me going full throttle and I closed in on him like he was driving a VW bug! It was incredible. It was much more docile than I expected though. The car was very predictable. When the boost came on it was a lot of power. It would take some time to get used to when and how hard it came on but I'm sure Mark Donohue is still smiling. It was great to share my experience with the handful of other drivers that have ever driven this awesome car such as Vic Elford, Brian Redman, Derek Bell, and Milt Mintor. They were all here this weekend! After I drove the car Roger Penske came over and asked me about it. He was doing his homework before he drove. I told him a few things such as third gear was almost straight up and not too much to the right, the power came on about 5500 and he could shift at 8000. I also told him to be careful of the concrete patches on the track as they had much less grip than the asphalt. He did wonderful as he drove the car. Matt Drendel drove his car while Roger drove the factory car. Then Rogers car had a misfire. Matt loaned Roger his 917-30 to drive. I thought that was a great offer by Matt. Roger drove Matt's car and really went well. Roger signed Matt's 004 chassis on the windshield. Not too bad to have had Roger Penske drive your 917-30 and sign it too. I asked Roger to sign a model of the car which was all I could afford. Roger was a true gentleman to all that I saw this weekend. I was truly impressed. Matt did offer to let me drive his car too if something happened and I wouldn't be able to drive the factory car. That is a true friend, thanks Matt. Roger drove the factory car again the next day and it ran fine. Now it was Saturday and to the racing at hand. I was to drive Lloyd Hawkins 1980 Daytona winning 935 in the 917/956/962/935 race. It was great. I started second in the 935 group and moved into the lead in my group in turn 1. It was a 15 lap race and I had the number 0 Ongais 935 on my tail the entire race, the same one that I had a great race with at Daytona in the HSR race. I won the 835 class and finished sixth overall. Dennis Boada and Harold McCloud did an outstanding job of prep work on the car. When Dennis brings his cars to the track they are always immaculate. I get so used to it that I just expect it from him. I have never seen his cars less than gorgeous. I only wish that Lloyd could have make it to the event to enjoy the weekend. He unfortunately couldn't make this one but I have a feeling he will be at the next one. We did keep him up to date all weekend by phone. I hope all of you that read this get to experience the next Porsche Rennsport, it is incredible. David Murry
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