marcusLondon
New member
Greetings all,
My first post to this forum under Boxster as I previously owned a 993 Turbo - but now run a 2005 987 S which is a sheer delight. I digress. As some of you who follow the PCGB race scene may know I'm supposed to be racing a '99 model year 2.7 in this year's Club Championship. I say "supposed" as the little bundle of delight went bang coming out of Russell on lap 3 of timed practice of the series opener at Snetterton 10 days ago. More of that in my next post (keeping threads separate to keep the moderators happy!).
The donor car is a 70,000 mile (full OPC service record) 99 2.7 220bhp variant and it is being prepared by Harvey Racing of Nazeing who have enjoyed significant success at the club level of Porsche Motorsport over the last few years (several 924 and Porsche Club GB "club" series champions). Hats off to them for getting the car out, immaculately prepared, in record time from purchase to race 1 but sadly we didn't get chance to rebuild the engine or test (saving the embarrassment of 3rd lap failure - but hey, we can't have everything!). I'm running Bilstein PSS9 suspension, with M030 anti-roll bars and with a Harvey cage providing what now feels like go-kart like chassis stiffness.
Initial indications from the pilot seat suggest this will be one sweet handling motorcar. I am personally unsure whether the slight bhp/tonne loading against us (compared to the 911s and 968s) will be offset by the handling. More importantly, our 220bhp belies a relative lack of upper-mid-range torque compared particularly to the 3.2 Carrera and 964s. We are also quite highly geared - I doubt I will ever get near 5th under race conditions, unlike the 3.2 Carrera I raced the last 2 years which hit 5th at most tracks at some point. See how this is mounting up against us? Getting to minimum weight will also be a significant issue - on the scales at Snett we were 1,300kgs (against a target of 1,160kg) and with most of the easy wins in this department exhausted. Careful scruitiny suggests we may get another 10kgs from surplus catches, etc. 15kgs from the exhaust and cats. Up to 10kgs from my homemade Kevlar bonnet (may start selling these as a sideline! the only company who I could find supplying off the shelf wanted £900 + VAT....). Wheels might gain us 1-2kgs/corner, at substantial expense. The driver has committed to 5kgs (it all adds up!). We could well be chatting with the nice Mr Kevlin about other options - the minimum weight is chosen to give an approx power:weight ratio balance in the classes, but we haven't tested the thinking if the weight is simply not achievable within the existing rules.
A few thoughts as at the moment I seem to be to the fore of those of us intent on proving that a well put together Box can take take on the might of the 911s and 968s:
Marcus Holden, no. 42
My first post to this forum under Boxster as I previously owned a 993 Turbo - but now run a 2005 987 S which is a sheer delight. I digress. As some of you who follow the PCGB race scene may know I'm supposed to be racing a '99 model year 2.7 in this year's Club Championship. I say "supposed" as the little bundle of delight went bang coming out of Russell on lap 3 of timed practice of the series opener at Snetterton 10 days ago. More of that in my next post (keeping threads separate to keep the moderators happy!).
The donor car is a 70,000 mile (full OPC service record) 99 2.7 220bhp variant and it is being prepared by Harvey Racing of Nazeing who have enjoyed significant success at the club level of Porsche Motorsport over the last few years (several 924 and Porsche Club GB "club" series champions). Hats off to them for getting the car out, immaculately prepared, in record time from purchase to race 1 but sadly we didn't get chance to rebuild the engine or test (saving the embarrassment of 3rd lap failure - but hey, we can't have everything!). I'm running Bilstein PSS9 suspension, with M030 anti-roll bars and with a Harvey cage providing what now feels like go-kart like chassis stiffness.
Initial indications from the pilot seat suggest this will be one sweet handling motorcar. I am personally unsure whether the slight bhp/tonne loading against us (compared to the 911s and 968s) will be offset by the handling. More importantly, our 220bhp belies a relative lack of upper-mid-range torque compared particularly to the 3.2 Carrera and 964s. We are also quite highly geared - I doubt I will ever get near 5th under race conditions, unlike the 3.2 Carrera I raced the last 2 years which hit 5th at most tracks at some point. See how this is mounting up against us? Getting to minimum weight will also be a significant issue - on the scales at Snett we were 1,300kgs (against a target of 1,160kg) and with most of the easy wins in this department exhausted. Careful scruitiny suggests we may get another 10kgs from surplus catches, etc. 15kgs from the exhaust and cats. Up to 10kgs from my homemade Kevlar bonnet (may start selling these as a sideline! the only company who I could find supplying off the shelf wanted £900 + VAT....). Wheels might gain us 1-2kgs/corner, at substantial expense. The driver has committed to 5kgs (it all adds up!). We could well be chatting with the nice Mr Kevlin about other options - the minimum weight is chosen to give an approx power:weight ratio balance in the classes, but we haven't tested the thinking if the weight is simply not achievable within the existing rules.
A few thoughts as at the moment I seem to be to the fore of those of us intent on proving that a well put together Box can take take on the might of the 911s and 968s:
- if anyone fancies saying hi if you're at a meeting, please feel free; dates can be found at the Motorsport section of the PCGB website http://www.msdpcgb.co.uk/pages/cla04/cla04main.asp [next one is Castle Combe this coming Bank Holiday Monday 1st May (but I may well not be there..... Unless I push it onto the grid...)]
- any hints, tips or ideas gratefully received - especially on the weight front!
- shameless appeal: if anybody knows of any potential sponsors of what is now the latest Porsche model eligible for the Club Championship, please get in touch (marcus.holden1@btinternet.com) or via this thread. This will be expensive for me and I'd like to think that the exposure is good news for Boxsters everywhere....
Marcus Holden, no. 42
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