By Bob Michaelson

June 6-8 saw NNJR at Mid Ohio. We had great, but hot, weather and plenty of track time. Most importantly, I finally got to drive! Mid Ohio is one of my favorite tracks. It is unlike most tracks that we regularly attend, with some very technical sections, some fast turns, and two carousel turns. The facility is excellent and I can report the repaving that they did last year is holding up well (they have repaved a couple of sections). The attendance was a little lower than we would have liked. I think everyone that made the trip had a great time. Special thanks to our Ohio friends who support this event year after year. They are really a great bunch of people and it is great to see them every year. If you are a new driver, you need to consider these more distant tracks. We almost always have room for students (no waitlists) in these events.

If you are a reader of the monthly issues of Panorama, you are probably very familiar with the name Leonard Turner. As Chief Photographer for the magazine, you have seen and enjoyed the many photos and articles contributed by him.

Case in point, the July issue of Panorama has a great article (The Road to Gmund) by Leonard’s wife Betty Jo Turner (Editor in Chief) and some great photos by Leonard.

We are privileged to have Leonard as our guest speaker for the September 10th monthly meeting at The Villa. He will share with us stories, anecdotes and photos, all related to Porsche, PCA and his work with Panorama.

By Craig Mahon, PCA Club Race Chair

The annual Zone 1 “Clash at the Glen” was held May 30 – June 1. Although the field was not as large as some years in the past, the 2008 PCA race at Watkins Glen had four race groups for each of the two sprint races and three race groups for each of the 90-minute enduros. As compared to the ‘monsoon’ in 2007, rain was only a factor for the first Blue sprint Saturday morning. Everyone went to the grid with dry tires, only to be greeted by light rain on the warm-up lap. By the time the green flag dropped, the track was quite wet and those drivers with good rain skills were able to pass a number of the more cautious racers.

By Peter Moy

That is the central theme of the annual NNJR Car Control clinic. As I continue with my first year adventures with the NNJR region, this event was prominently marked on my calendar. I was told this clinic always fills up quickly so I made sure my payment was in the mail the first day it was allowed back in March. As the weather turned warmer, I was able to put more miles on my Cayman S, but I constantly wondered what are my car capability. The roads were definitely not a place to test the limits of a car like this! Soon enough, the big day arrived. After I quick tape job on the fenders, pumped the tires up a bit and I was ready to go!

By Jack Gerrard

First, let the reader understand that I did not volunteer to prepare this piece. I was importuned to “…write an article describing what a DE event is like for a pretty new member, a novice driver who is trying to complete a full three day event.” Or something like that. Those framing the request, four members of NNJR aristocracy, took widely different approaches toward their objective. Marlys Thovson was, of course, sweet supplication (which is, in her case, essentially unrefusable); Dave Brackman actually presented a well-reasoned argument as to why it made sense; Bob Michelson mirrored the Nike approach“- Just Do It!”; and Russ Struck went directly to naked extortion - “Never, ever another NNJR event of any type unless you do this.” I cleverly identified their request as an offer I could not refuse.