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April 27, 2004 - Rennsport II Report - Amazing

Last fall when Porsche announced the Rennsport Reunion II it was a quick decision to make plans to ship the Automotion Roadster out to Daytona to participate in the racing and festivities.

I contacted Dick Barbour in advance to confirm that he would be at Rennsport. This would be his first opportunity to see his original Porsche race car in 36 years! We were both excited for the reunion.

The opening of the vintage racing season in the Northwest was April 17^th and I raced the Roadster in Seattle on that Saturday. Right after the race we loaded the Roadster and Skip Winfree’s 356 Speedster into a two car trailer (along with lots of spares and tools). Car hauler extraordinaire Chris Ridgeway hit the road for the cross country trek from Seattle to Daytona!

We (Jo, Rod & Amy Emory and I) flew to Orlando and drove to Daytona on the following Wednesday. We got in too late too go to the track, but we did get word that Chris had already arrived and parked in the pits (amazing). Thursday morning we were up bright and early (especially considering the time change) and headed over for our first view of Daytona International Speedway. On our way in we got a quick taste of what we would see inside, Gunnar Motorsports had off loaded several cars in the outer parking lot and, well, just left them unattended!

From the outside Daytona looks huge, from the inside it is even bigger. The NASCAR oval is so big you can't see much from one side to the other. We were immediately stunned by the amazing Porsches that were everywhere - and this was a day before the event was scheduled to start.

The next four days evolved into one of the most incredible weekends of my life. Too much happened to write all of the details, so a few highlights are below and then links to photo galleries and video clips.

Highlights

Driving at Daytona is like nothing else! Of course Daytona has more history and significance than any other racing facility in the U.S., so just racing here is something special. As is common, television and photos don't do justice to what it's really like. At 33 degrees the banking is so steep that you can't walk up it. The banks are also tall, I would say about like looking up at a 3-4 story building.

Driving here is fun and fast. Yes, the banking is intimidating at first - the turns aren't smooth, they have rolls and bumps that unsettle the car and cause it to float around up on the wall - that took a bit to get used to! By the end of the weekend I was flat out on the banks (about 125 mph). One other strange thing - when you're on the banks you can't see traffic coming up behind you, your mirrors just see asphalt banking. Holding your line is critical to allow overtaking cars safe passage.

We had two practices on Friday, one qualifying session on Saturday and a warm-up session then race on Sunday. We had 109 cars registered to run in our group - everything from Spyders to 2.5 liter 911's. For the race I ended gridded 77th and in the second starting group of two (staggered start). I had two Spyder's and an RS61 right next to me, so I was set for a good race with the four cam cars. If you download the video below note the top edge of my Lexan windshield on the high speed sections - we will be cutting it down shorter.

On Friday Dick Barbour came over to our pits and I was pleasantly surprised by his warmth and interest in the Roadster. He said that he had been up in the VIP suite and when I went by on the front straight it brought tears to his eyes to see the car back on the track. He was very friendly and spent an hour visiting and looking over the car. Then on Sunday, prior to my final race, he came over to pre grid and visited (and gave me some driving tips) until I went out to race. He was also gracious enough to give me his autographed VIP medallion as a good luck gift. Dick was just a great guy and his visits topped off an incredible weekend for me.

At Rennsport II a professional photo studio was set-up to document all of the historic cars in attendance (A book of photos will be released next fall). We were invited to bring the Roadster over for a photo shoot:

It goes without saying that the true stars at Rennsport were the 600+ Porsche race cars. Please visit the photo galleries below to get a taste of the action. It was an amazing weekend!

Rennsport Video & Photo Galleries

The Race Video - YouTube

356's and other early cars - photo gallery

911 based cars - photo gallery

Prototypes and Specials - photo gallery

My Automotion Roadster - photo gallery

Other Stuff - photo gallery