Tom Provasi Membership Director

Welcome to our new members this month, Andrew Fisher & Caroline Pomeroy from Santa Cruz, Gil & Aprille Lucero from Mountain View, Brian Schwarz from Scotts Valley, and Scott Wong from Fremont. Transferring in is Dean Maragos from San Jose, Randall Nacamuli from La Selva Beach, and Jimmy Upton from Ben Lomand.

 

As I said last month, many of us were headed to Salt Lake City to attend the Porsche Parade. LPR was there in force with almost 30 members in attendance. Check out all the stories and recaps elsewhere in the Post. We all had a great time with the Good Times Region at the national Parade.

 

Summer is flying by fast. Don't miss out on the great events coming soon. Hope to see you there. 

   

New members from PCA:  4    

Transfers in:  3       

Transfers out:  0     

Memberships that expired June 2012:  7     

Total renewals June 2012:  19   

   

LPR Membership as of 07/01/12                                                  

  

Total = 520 (Primary = 299 , Affiliates = 221)

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Tom Provasi

Membership Director     

Anne Roth AX Co-chair

It is hard to believe that LPR's autocross season is so close to coming to an end, with only two events left on the calendar for the season. Ahh, but those two events are something that you won't want to miss!

Sunday, Sept. 9th will be LPR's turn to host day two of our 2-day Zone 7 Event. Our neighboring region, GGR, will be hosting on Saturday, Sept 8th. You will get to see amazing Porsches and enjoy two full days of autocrossing with a whole bunch of fun people!

Sunday, Oct 14th will be the last AX of the 2012 Season. This year, LPR has designated this last autocross "7ROC". A takeoff on the IROC's that were run in years past within the professional racing communities. By invitation, the best drivers within Zone 7 will be driving the same car for a lap or two for the title of Zone 7 Champ.

These two events are classified as "do not miss" on my calendar! Make sure to put 'em on yours!

Speaking of the 'do not miss' events, I am trying my hand at organizing a social event for LPR. I have arranged for an evening at Roaring Camp in the Santa Cruz Mountains, on Saturday, August 25th. A steak dinner, train ride, live music and Porsche friends make for a 'do not miss' combination.

More information and registration can be found by clicking here:  Register today! 

See ya in Marina and at Roaring Camp!!

Anne

===================================================

Larry Sharp  AX Co-chair

OK so the numbers are BIG.

Salt Lake City PCA National Parade Autocross

250 drivers from 139 regions

65 Men's and Ladies' Classes for any Porsche

5 runs each

Two days

Each cone is a 2-second penalty if you hit one

50 volunteer workers each day

29 drivers From PCA Zone 7

9 drivers from Loma Prieta

Whew...

Thanks to the hard work of PCA AutoX Chair Henry Hoe, this Parade AX went off almost without a hitch. The hitches had nothing to do with Henry's fine planning. One oil spill (dang old Porsches), one coolant spill (dang new Porsches), and one broken stub axle was all that prevented a nonstop affair of racing Porsches. The course was laid out in the Mavericks Center hockey center where the 2002 Olympics were held. The lot provided some very cool elevation changes that Henry used with great cunning and skill. Lap times averaged around the mid 50 second range so the course was a decent length. The one odd part about this lot's surface was that all the tires would scream like bloody murder, even the race slicks of the modified cars. Weather on Wednesday was tolerable with an overcast sky and a few sprinkles. The rain hardly hit the ground so times weren't affected at all for the Showroom Stock cars. Trophy winners from Loma Prieta in Showroom Stock were:

Mike Lommatzsch Class S01 first place

Barry Pangrle Class S05 second place

Ex LPR Member Liz Shaw S05L first place

Thursday the drivers weren't so lucky with the weather. Bright and sunny with a high of 105 and no breeze. Ugh. It was a tough day. The second day of the Parade autocross was for the more serious drivers and cars. The Production classes allow for a few suspension modifications and little else, plus they can use R compound Dot race tires. Trophy winners for Loma Prieta in the Production classes were:

Terry Zaccone class P05 first place

Larry Sharp class P09 first place

Next up were the improved classes. These cars are classed by engine displacement and are allowed many changes but must have the same number of seats still in the car they were delivered with. This is where the big guys start showing up. We will talk about these guys at the end

The last group to run was the Modifieds; the all-out race cars. They only have a few safety rules and are classed by engine sizes. They are loud, wild, and fun to watch. LPR had three drivers to watch in this group. Tom and Sandy Provasi in the Orange crate 914-6, and Peter Smith in the screaming 911 GT track car. Tom has won top time of day at Parade multiple times and Sandy has done TTOD Ladies a few times as well. Peter on the other hand barely knows what an AX is. This is where the drama begins. Remember those two guys I mentioned who ran in the Improved classes? Well Steve Lau and Monty Pack of Golden Gate Region had posted some very fast times. Steve did a 48.9 and Monty had posted a 49.4. Tom and Peter both knew that the bar had been set very very high. Peter had one more goal, he had to beat my time or he would have to face shame and ridicule on Facebook from me for a long time. Peter took four runs to go faster than I did but ended up third in class with a 51.1. Tom had added pressures since the heat had made Sandy out of sorts and she had to take a time out in the air-conditioned comfort of the Michelin trailer. Tom's judgment was affected as well and on his third run he did as he was told and didn't wait for the mandatory five minutes between runs. Of course, his time was good enough for the class win and TTOD but his run was disallowed because of grid personnel not making him sit for five minutes. Tom ended up with a second in class trophy. Sandy, even though she didn't take all of her runs, took first in class in M05L.

Hopefully the rest of the drivers in Zone 7 who attended Parade will have their regions point out what a fine group showing we all had. And if you were counting, 8 of our 9 region drivers won trophies at this year's Parade. Congrats to all!

Larry

Click here to see Photos from AX #4   

and to see photos from AX #5 click here 

Contributed by Steve & Jackie Mitchell

Tour to Parade participants met early at Mimi's in Dublin on Friday, July 6 to enjoy breakfast, a long two day drive and camaraderie on the way to the 2012 PCA event in Salt Lake City. Joining the tour this year were Chuck Bloom (Cayenne S), Efren & Cindy Casamina (Boxster S, Design Edition 2), George & Carol Grialou (Boxster S), Rick Jiloty and Mary Wollesen (Boxster), John & Angie Reed (996 Carrera), Vince and daughter Christina Vincent (996 Carrera), Mary Watanabe (Honda 2000) and me & Jackie (recently renovated 996 Carrera 4S). Along the way we picked up Rik Larson of Sacramento Valley Region in his Turbo Coupe.

This group anxiously finished breakfast by 8 am with the 8:15 am departure time in mind. We covered all the details of an LPR tour, full fuel, empty bladder, lights on, and CB tuned to channel 15. With the LPR loaner radios handed out, everyone had "ears".

After a short fuel and bio stop somewhere around Sacramento, the group looked forward to a photo opportunity arranged by Carol Grialou. Carol's daughter planned to be on an overpass in Auburn to photograph our little convoy on the road below. Carol's daughter held a colorful umbrella on the overpass so we knew when to smile and wave.

Most folks were ready for lunch around Reno and the thought was that there are a variety of places just East of town...well we found out that you needed to think fast because it doesn't take long on the East side of Reno to leave civilization completely. Luckily we found an outpost with a new BBQ. Guy's was open for business next door to a soon to be opened Subway. Guy and his wife left the Bay Area to build their business in an area of Nevada that they say is surrounded by 6,000 people working at nearby distribution centers for Lowe's, Tire Rack, and a couple of other major retailers. As Guy was finishing out the decorating of his BBQ joint, he couldn't let us go without a Porsche photo opportunity with all the cars in front for his wall.

Elko was our first night destination at the Best Western with dinner for our group arranged at Luciano's. We arrived in Elko at about 5 pm with plenty of time to freshen up before dinner. Luciano's, owned by another Bay Area transplant, made dinner easy by offering us a family style meal that included a variety of appetizers and entrees. No one was complaining and everyone was pleased with the service and quality of the food. If you're ever in Elko and crave Italian, you won't go wrong at Luciano's.

With tanks refilled and a Best Western full breakfast finished, our Parade tour was off again. Shortly after leaving we were in Utah and with Exit 4 marking the edge of the Bonneville Salt Flats it was time to stop for another group photo.

We spent the rest of the day driving across Utah with a lunch stop along Interstate 80 near the Great Salt Lake. The salt air and seagulls in the parking lot make us crave shrimp but salad buffet and cheese steaks were on the menu.

The last few miles were only eventful because our Porsche navigation system has a 2003 disk...no update is available. As a result I can only follow roads that were around 10 years ago. Salt Lake City has done a great deal of freeway renovation and as a consequence we flew by our exit. About half of our posse followed their newer add-on nav units and arrived at Little America about 20 minutes before the rest of us. I was warmly greeted by other LPR members with a "hey, I heard you made a wrong turn"...notwithstanding, I think our tour group enjoyed the trip, enough so that some decided to join our little ad hoc tour back home.

Sunday morning after Parade we met at yet again another Mimi's in Murray, Utah a short distance South of Little America. Angie & John, Vince & Christine and Mary joined us for a drive through Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks and on through Las Vegas for our return. The only stipulation was that we had to make a short trip down to Cedar City to see Clint our nephew who is there at college. We spent the week taking Kimberly, our 15 year-old niece to Parade, so now we sort of had the obligation to see Clint. I had told the group that we would meet them at the Bryce Canyon resort but they insisted that we stay together and joined us for lunch in Cedar City with Clint. His favorite place was Mexican fast food, but that is expected when you're in college.

The rains came on the journey to Cedar City and on to Bryce...and I mean torrential rain. Jackie asked Mary if she would like to stop to put the top up on her car but the response was "don't slow down" as with the speed, the windshield was defecting all the rain over the car.

The consensus of the group was that Bryce was amazing and even better than the Grand Canyon. We all took some great photos from the several vantage points in the park. As the rain left us, the rainbows formed, painting a spectacular portrait. Bryce Canyon is the only place geologically like it on earth.

Our night at the Bryce Canyon Resort and Restaurant gives new meaning to "two stars"...but we survived the night.

Off to Zion with a stop for lunch in Soup Town, otherwise known as Orderville...yep you got it, a religious town based on an order of the Mormon Church. Orderville is very historic with a history book at every table. The soup was incredible. We can now add Soup Town to our list of "food towns", the last was when we went to Porsche Escape in Albuquerque and visited Pie Town, New Mexico on the continental divide. The town consisted of two pie restaurants.

Zion is an easy drive through the park. Without many turnouts there were not many photo opportunities but again the views were amazing. The Western entrance to Zion (our exit) has a great little village with many shops, restaurants and lodging...much better than Bryce Canyon.

We arrived in Las Vegas later that afternoon with the Reeds staying with us at the Cosmopolitan, Mary at Paris and Vince and Christina with family. The Cosmopolitan had only lower floor rooms available at the time we were checking in and our receptionist said we probably wouldn't like the noise from the night clubs...so, we both received a very nice upgrade to a condominium suite on one of the top floors. My 25 year loyalty to Marriott and all those points finally paid off. With two nights in Las Vegas we had time to relax.

Monday night we gathered for dinner at the Cosmopolitan for dinner at Jaleo, the Spanish Tapas restaurant. The food and fun reflected the spirit of the "good times region".

The next morning we headed off to see Hoover Dam and the new Mike O'Callaghan, Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. At 840 feet above the Colorado River, it is the second-highest bridge in the United States, following the Royal Gorge Bridge.

Tuesday night was show night. John, Angie, Vince, and Christina went across the street to see old time Vegas with "Las Vegas the Show", Jackie and I were off to the Rio to see Penn & Teller.

The next morning for us was the uneventful 500 mile drive back home with stops in Baker for breakfast and Harris Ranch for a late lunch.

Parade was great but the journey there and back was more than half the fun.

To see the tour photo album,

click on the Flickr icon below.

Story by Bill & Emilie Highley

Photos by John Reed

It's 9:00 a.m. and the Bennetts roll into our driveway ready to pack the vehicles up with all the "stuff" for the Family Picnic. Personally, I was a little (okay, a lot) cranky not having that cup of mojo to start my morning. Debbie looked at me and said, "Suck it up Buttercup and get over it!" Whatever you say Deb!

The drive to Blackberry Farm was smooth; Kevin and Bill led the way while Debbie and I followed, catching up on whatever girls need to catch up on. Once again, we reserved the Sycamore Picnic site-nicely shaded, lots of tables, big BBQ, and close to the pool. Within minutes, the Vanacores and Iles arrived ready to pitch in for set-up.

Chef Tony and Chef Kevin quickly took over the BBQ area, preparing it for the feast that we would soon have. Chef Tony had sautéed onions the night before, perfect for the day's juicy hamburgers. The rest of us spread out tablecloths, prepared the appetizer table and chilled the wine, beer, soda and water. Of course, Kris Vanacore was quick to convince us that it must be wine drinking time somewhere in the world, so we broke open one of the bottles. Aah... so much for missing that cup of coffee!

The site looked pretty festive with red and white tablecloths and napkins, the LPR Banner strung between the trees (thank you John Reed for bringing it) and black and white checked flags marking the spot for everyone to find us.Kris organized "Kids Korner" for the beanbag toss and various other games.

By 11:00 a.m. folks began to arrive: Steve and Jackie Mitchell and their daughter Melissa; the rest of the Bennett Clan - son Chris, wife Kelly and Emily and Alex; John and Angie Reed and their family; Anne Roth; Barry and Suzette Pangrle; Janet AuKrug; Bob Morgan minus wife Karen, who was vacationing in Ohio; Hal and Diana Hallock; Tom and Sandy Provasi; the Weagers; the Wallaces; Dick and Cal Graham; the Vincents; the Schaefers with their children Kayla and Parker; Matt and Kathy Lord, and 4-year-old Austin (once again, Roycott Way was well represented); Dave Dunwoodie; Clemson and Mable Chan; Larry and KC Sharp; Rosie and Ed Tavares; Doug and Pam Ryder with daughter Kristen; Kurt and Laurie Delimon; Mary Wantanobe, and many more (really tried to mention everyone's names).  

Some families headed off for the pool, while others enjoyed the appetizers and "liquid" refreshments - everyone eating and drinking in usual LPR style!

Our chefs had the BBQ "lump coal" red hot and ready for those big, juicy hamburgers and sausages. The food table was laid out with salads galore, corn on the cob, and every condiment one could think of! Everyone lined up and anxiously awaited their burgers or sausages, cooked to perfection by Chef Tony and Chef Kevin. The lines were a little long, so some of us just stayed behind and poured another glass of wine! After awhile, it was pretty quiet as everyone enjoyed their lunches.

Kris and I had a few "VP" announcements to make; we thanked everyone for coming, and our Chefs Tony and Kevin for their culinary expertise making this the best picnic ever.

At the height of the celebration, chilled champagne was brought out and corks popped as we made the announcement that LPR had a lot to celebrate:  At the recent PCA National Parade in Salt Lake City, LPR was a star, a real winner, walking off with the many awards including Steve Mitchell's 1st place award for the Prieta Post. Loma Prieta took 2nd place for the Public Service Award (which included a $1,000 check!) and 3rd place as Region of the Year, thanks to Tom Provasi's excellent submission. And Greg and Pam Ryder received a 3rd place award for the fabulous new website. Our eight autocrossers had fantastic finishes and Larry Sharp won 1st place in his class and 1st place overall for the Tech Quiz! A toast went to all the winners and those that made these wins possible, as well as the 58th wedding anniversary of Charter Members Ken and June Iles...because, after all...LPR is the Good Time Region - it's all about the people, our friendship and those fabulous cars we drive!

A picnic isn't a picnic without a game or two. For the kids, it was the beanbag toss and a dice game organized by Kris, all with fabulous prizes because everyone is a winner!

But fun and games isn't reserved for the kids. The adults indulged in their own form of play--the Beer Drinking Contest! Participants included Tony Vanacore, Bob Morgan, Steve Mitchell, Rosie and Ed Tavares, Sandy Provasi, and June (never drank a beer in her life) Iles. Wasn't Ken Iles surprised to see his June getting ready to "suck it up"; of course, June blamed it all on Sandy Provasi who "made" her do it. On the count of three, everyone filled their vials with beer and proceeded to drink, fill, drink, fill, until their bottles of beer were empty and consumed, even though some of it was spilled in all the excitement. After endless cheering, the winner was Sandy Provasi! Again, everyone was a winner and had a choice of great prizes!

Dessert time meant pies, cakes, cookies and Debbie's homemade brownies! Yummy! Talk about being stuffed!

As the afternoon came to an end, everyone agreed it was a perfect day--a fun old-fashioned Family Picnic in true LPR Style! Thank you everyone for making this a special event! So, same time next year?   

To see the event photo album,  

click on the Flickr icon below.

Sponsored by Porsche of Fremont

It's not too late to join in the fun!         

Lost Coast Tour

August 10-12, 2012

Join us for a fabulous weekend tour to the Lost Coast and through the forests of Northern California. Friday's drive up will include a lunch stop in Geyserville followed by dinner at the Scotia Inn, our hotel for the tour. A complimentary continental breakfast will

SOLD OUT

Blue Lakes Tour 

Oct 6 - 7, 2012 

Join the Reeds and Bennetts for this Blue Lakes Special. Mark your calendars now for this exciting tour on October 6-7. Enjoy a leisurely drive through the Napa-Sonoma vineyard-laced backroads. We will lunch in eclectic downtown Calistoga before challenging more back roads
as we wend our way into the Upper Clear Lake area. The day's activities will culminate at the Lodge at Blue Lakes with a relaxing cruise on the placid waters of Blue Lakes followed by the usual good-times party. 

On Sunday we will visit the Francis Ford Coppola Winery, near Healdsburg, for shopping, tasting, food, movie memorabilia and more. The cost will be $260 per couple, $195 single. Included in this package is your lake front or mountain view room, dinner and breakfast overlooking the lake, the LPR tour fee and an electric-glide boat ride on the Blue Lakes.  

This tour is currently sold out. To get on the waiting list, please contact Debbie Bennett at 408-926-1788 or lajeanbenet@yahoo.com.

Click here 

to download a PDF of the Blue Lakes Tour flyer

Contributed by Peter Ridgway

After canceling the Really Cheesy Rallye due to cheesy issues, I quickly substituted a Photo Rallye through the Santa Cruz Mountains to Pescadero for lunch. Easy ride, nice scenery and a few new roads. It wasn't until lunch that Ken Iles told me I did the photo rallye wrong. I politely disagreed. My rallye, my rules. I think the results speak for themselves. It was an eight-car rallye with Ken and June teaming up with Kevin and Debbie Bennett in an SUV. Bob and Deb Frostholm joined the rallye in their Jag along with John and Angie Reed, and Steve and Jackie Mitchell in their Carreras. We also had newcomers Seth and Ally Mills in their Boxster, Mike Zampencini in his 944 and Tim Harris in his beautiful Turbo.

Since we were following one another, I gave each car a list of the photos I was looking for and noted that judging would be for both quality and quantity with special credit for creativity. We got that in spades!  The winning photos by category are as follows:

Fire stations or fire trucks: Kevin and Ken. They went inside and did some recruiting!

Restaurants: John and Angie for quantity and tenacity   

Bonus: Looking for a blue bird: Jackie Mitchell for the cute hand drawn picture of the Blue Pheasant restaurant's sign

Restrooms, Port-a-Potties or other "outdoor facilities": The Ken and Kevin team captured Angie Reed in what I considered a quality photo. But I did like the drive-by port-a-potty shots.

Live Animals: Ken and Kevin. Also in contention for strangest pic and Moons.

Dead animals (road kill): Very close decision goes to Ally Mills for taking a photo of Bob Frostholm staging a road kill photo. Ally didn't realize Bob was fooling around and decided to get the pic BEFORE checking to see if he was OK! That's competitive. Welcome to LPR Ally!   Honorable mention to Bob and Deb for their staged shot.

Lakes: No one took any lake pictures, but to be honest, they were hard to see from the road.

Open Space Park Signs: A tie between John and Angie, and Ken and Kevin.

Moons: Definitely the Ken and Kevin team for quantity and creativity. The quality is questionable!  

Strangest Picture: Another close one but it goes to all the pics of the Alice's Restaurant sculpture which was what I was thinking when I included this category.

Overall winners were Ken and Kevin, mostly because I'm still laughing at their pictures.

See for yourself by clicking on the Flickr icon below.

And to see the photo album of the Rallye tour click here  

We are a lucky bunch. We drive Porsches and have access to some of the best driving roads in the country. From our beautiful coastline and winding mountain roads to the desert and ritzy city boulevards, no place offers the driver diversity of California. In fact, California's roads are often used for new car testing. Death Valley is the favorite spot for hot weather tests. In Southern California the Angele's Crest Highway is often used to test new vehicles because of its frequent and dramatic changes in elevation.

So where to go on that early morning when you just have to hit the road? Our LPR members know the best roads in the area. So tell us, what's your favorite drive? Send your faves to lprpca@gmail.com. This month's submission is from Porsche Personen Editor, Don Orlando.

Hitting the Road with Don

There are too many great roads to choose from, but these three are certainly at, or near, the top of my list.

The Big Sur Hwy midweek (Hwy 1 between Monterey & San Luis Obispo) headed south so we enjoy an unobstructed view of the coast. A sunny day with the top down, of course! It's Hwy 1; need I say more? Yes! See below for more!

Head south on Hwy 25 between Hollister and Coalinga to Hwy 198 - a great and exciting road with a variety of curves, whoops, straights, etc.   Portions of this road are a genuine "E" ticket! On the other side of King City, catch Carmel Valley Rd into Carmel/Monterey for wine tasting and lunch then Hwy 1/Hwy 17 home.

Saturday morning cruise (with my Porsche buddies - wives optional). From Saratoga, go up Big Basin Way (Hwy 9) then turn right onto Skyline Rd. for a brisk run to breakfast at Alice's Restaurant. Sit on the deck for a view of the cars, bikes and people. A good option for the way home -- from Alice's, turn right onto La Honda Rd. (Hwy 84) west (towards Santa Cruz) then left onto Pescadero Rd., turn left again onto Alpine Road. Alpine is a great "second gear" twisty, which takes you back up to Skyline Rd. Cross Skyline Rd. to Page Mill Rd. down towards Palo Alto then onto Hwy 280 south.  

I paraphrase from a Road & Track article I read many years ago:

• Car to drive: Porsche 911
• Road to drive: The Big Sur Hwy (Hwy 1)
• Who to bring: Your favorite sweetheart
• Tools to bring along: Simichrome (Do you remember this polish? Get it? It's to polish your tools.)
• Music: None - listen to that sweet engine sound

Last month we looked at the Worrier who frets constantly over every aesthetic or technical issue on their beloved Porsche. This month focuses on the vigilant Garage Queen.

GARAGE QUEENS

These are the guys that will only drive their Porsches if they are going to a Concours - and only if they absolutely have to. Even if a Concours requires that a car be driven rather than trailered, a Garage Queen will try to figure how to trailer it surreptitiously within a few blocks of the show, then push it to the event so he doesn't stir up any dirt in the engine compartment. If you are unlucky enough to have a car that he perceives as competition, be forewarned. The Queen will carefully scrutinize your car while wearing a facial expression like he is examining a turd. The Queen often has very good knowledge of the historical details of his car because that knowledge relates directly to how the car can be scored in a Concours. This knowledge also allows him to lose first place with dignity: "I guess John deserved to win first place, although I am surprised that the judges ignored the fact that he didn't have original tread-pattern Continentals on his car". Garage Queens wouldn't think of driving their cars "hard" because they didn't buy them to drive, they bought them to collect trophies. The best thing about Queens is that you probably won't see them at any events other than Concours or shows unless they also own a "driver" Porsche. The only exception to all of this drivel is the Queen that owns, shows and actually drives his car (even the Porsche factory pulls out the 917's once in awhile so they can flog them on a race track).

Cherry's Jubilee 2012 Driving Event