PCA National Staff Meeting
I attended the PCA Naitonal Staff meeting at French Lick during Parade and had a great opportunity to hear updates from the national staff’s cadre of volunteers as well as from PCA executive director, Vu Nguyen, Panamera editor Rob Sass, National Treffen chair, Alex Ching, Social Media chair, Maggie Goodman, and several other volunteer national event chairs. It seems that participation in events around the country are on the upswing and upcoming national events like Werks Reunion Monterey are expecting record turnout. Our social media chair again advised the national staff and particularly the 14 Zone Reps in attendance to watch for inappropriate posting to region Facebook pages such as photos of a speedometer while driving on a tour with one hand on the wheel or posting photos of an incident at last week’s driver education event. Don’t forget that these postings and photos can be easily circulated among the public and do not represent PCA in the most positive manner. The summer national staff meeting was the first since the summer of 2019 and is also held in conjunction with a winter staff meeting in February of each year. The meeting was a great opportunity to hear from national staff about things going on in their areas, both good and not so good.
Parade 2021 at French Lick
More than 20 members from Zone 7 attended this years Parade in French Lick, Indiana with 11 members making the 2,000-mile one-way trip by driving. My hat is off to these members for undertaking such an arduous journey! The weather forecast for the week leading up to Parade was predicted to be rain almost every day with temperatures in the mid 80’s and high humidity. Though it did rain at the concours, which was fortunately moved indoors at the last minute, the weather was not as balmy as I had thought but was rather pleasant and with low humidity. Below left to Right, Tom Gorsuch, PCA president and recipient Craig Steele.
This years Parade was attended by just over 2,000 members at the fabulous French Lick Resort which encompasses two hotel properties, the French Lick Resort as well as the West Baden Resort. Both hotels have a long history and been in existence since the early 1920’s. Parade attendance surpassed initial estimates and initially every room at both resorts were booked with some 300 members without accommodations. Due to the persistence of the Parade committee additional rooms were secured in and around French Lick so that all of those on the wait list for a hotel room could be accommodated.
Zone 7 attendees distinguished themselves in many ways while attending this year’s Parade with members scoring trophies in some of the national as well as competitive awards. This year’s Parade Long Distance award was given to Craig Steele, past president of Redwood Region who drove the 2,000 some miles from his home in Santa Rosa, and just outdistanced his caravan partner, Mike Hinton, also a past president of Redwood Region. By the way, Craig not only received a trophy to take home with him but also a new set of Michelin tires! In the website competition, Yosemite Region captured first place in class II, membership of 99-199 members, after finishing 3rd last year. Congratulations to their webmaster, Don Chaisson, for a job well done! Diablo Region was an honorable mention in the Community Service Award category and was among 8 finalists for recognition.
In the competitive events, Jessica Toney placed a solid 2nd in class R01 for the TSD rally while Tom Provasi, garnered a respectable 3rd place finish in class R03. Mike Hinton clearly knew his stuff about early 911’s while competing in the tech quiz finishing 1st in Q02. Tom Provasi and wife Sandy Provasi competed in the Gimmick Rally and finished 1st in class in the more than 2 passenger class. In the 5K Run competition, Craig Steele finished 3rd in class for runners 70 years plus while Mike Hinton finished 3rd in class for runners in the 60-69 age group. Complete up to date Parade results can be found at: https://www.porscheparade.org.
If you have never attended a Porsche Parade, it should be on your bucket list. It is a complete over-exposure of everything Porsche from the opportunity to share a wonderful week with more than 2,000 like minded enthusiasts, a wonderful venue, lots of tours, tech sessions, sponsor giveaways and door prizes, showing off your favorite Porsche in the concours, testing your autocross skills against others from around the country, and visiting some unique sights and great roads.
Next year’s Parade is scheduled for June 12-18, 2022 at the Kalahari Resort, Poconos in Pennsylvania while the 2023 Parade is scheduled to return to the La Quinta Resort in Palm Desert.
Zone 7 Concours Series Update
The first concours event of the season is scheduled for August 1st at Porsche Rocklin and will be hosted by the Sacramento Valley Region. Two other Zone events hosted by Monterey Bay Region on August 22nd and the following weekend on August 29th hosted by Sierra Nevada Region. Due to covid restrictions in place during the planning of these events, we will have 3 events in August. For information on these events go to the Zone 7 website at https://zone7.pca.org. or go to each region’s website for registration information and details.
Volunteers Needed
Part of the Rolex Monterey Historic races is the PCA Hospitality Tent and car corral at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. If you are planning to attend and would like to donate a few hours of your time assisting at the hospitality tent, send an email to Collin Fat at cfat1952@gmail.com to let me know your interest in helping. The hospitality tent will also be open on Friday, which is new for this year. Corral Parking is only available through the raceway and no longer can be purchased through PCA. I am specifically looking for volunteers to help on Friday, August 13th as well as afternoon shifts for Saturday and Sunday August 14th and 15th.
Zone 7 Autocross Series Update
The latest news on the autocross competition is that the Cow Palace has decided not to issue a use permit for the previously scheduled Zone events in August. These events are now scheduled for September 4th and 5th with Golden Gate Region hosting the event on the 4th and Redwood Region hosting the event on the 5th.
2021 PCA West Coast Race Series Schedule
With Federal and State directives pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Club Racing schedule is very fluid and subject to change on a day-to-day basis. The racing schedule shown below will be frequently updated with the latest official status of each of our races.
Events of Interest:
- Monterey Bay Region 60th Anniversary, TBD
- PCA Werks Reunion, August 13; Monterey; werksreunion.com, Registration is closed (Corral and Judged Field are SOLD OUT. Paid Spectator parking available the day of the event. ($40 cash at the gate)). The event is at a new location, Bayonet Golf Course overlooking Monterey Bay in Seaside.
- Monterey Historic, Porsche Platz Corral August 14-15th.Tickets at weathertechraceway.com
- PCA Fall Treffen at the American Club, Kohler, Wisconsin, October 13-17; treffen.pca.org. Registration opens August 4th.
- PCA Spring Treffen at the BROADMOOR, Colorado Springs, Colorado, April 27-May 1, 2022
- Parade 2022 at Kahalari Resort Poconos, Pennsylvania June 12-18th
Note that past Treffens have sold out in as little as one hour due to their popularity.
Registration for the Treffens typically opens 3-4 months prior to the event.