| Sunday on a Monday I got jammed yesterday with a pre-tour drive to Boerne and breakfast at Boerne Grille…then had rest of the day and evening set aside for family. Speaking of jammed, that’s how our May calendar of activities looks. So here’s your Sunday news on Monday! ALL MEMBER SPRING FLING Our inaugural Spring Fling, presented by XPEL Austin, was held Saturday night and was a huge hit, based on all the positive feedback received from the attendees. We had about 90 members and guests at The Hill of Lakeway Country Club…the food was excellent (my filet mignon was very nice). I met lots of new members, and people for whom this was their first event to attend in the club. Again, big thanks to our evening sponsors: EXPEL Austin, Porsche Austin, and GT International for their donations to our raffle and silent auction. We also had last minute donations to our raffle and silent auction by 1821 Manmade and All Stars Auto Spa! Also, a big shout out to our outstanding event organizers: Bruce Harris and Amber Ashy. They had an army of minions helping them, including Jan Adams, and Barbara and Gordie Robbins. Tuffy and Sheri took care of the silent auction table, too. IDEA: Let’s do this again in December and call it a “Holiday Party”! Porsche Austin Open House! The first Open House last week was a big hit. Attendance was maxxed out and everyone was sufficiently “wowed” by the new digs at Porsche Austin. As usual, the team as Porsche Austin put on a wonderful event, and we will do it again this Tuesday with the second of the scheduled open house events. As a reminder to registered attendees, we have a unique format…be sure to park in marked spaced that are reserved for HCR members attending the Open House. That’s the orange cone area. And when your tour is over, scoot out of the dealership because we need to help the next group coming in secure their own parking spaces. Remember, Porsche Austin is providing a Covid-safe environment, and please bring your mask. The event is being held during normal business hours at the dealership and we need to respect that other customers may be in the dealership. Everyone who attends is a recruiter for HCR! SPECIAL NOTE: Our event tomorrow, Tuesday, May 4 is again sold out. Hopefully we can come up with a 3rd date, to help satisfy demand from HCR members…watch for future announcements. Autocross is Back…Again! On May 8, 2021, after many years of absence, we will host our Spring Autocross at the HEB Center in Cedar Park, on Hwy 183A Tollroad. As most HCR members are novices at AX, this first event will be focused on safety, fun and timing…in that order. HERE’S A SPECIAL INVITATION: Any and all HCR members are welcome to come out and just watch the event…you don’t have to be participating in the Autocross. However, you will need to sign an event waiver if you come out. Paper forms will be available for you to sign on-site. There are a lot of great places to safely and easily observe the event from outside the cone course. That way you can see how much fun everyone is having, and jump in on the next AX as a registrant! The course is made out of cones in the parking lot at the facility, speeds rarely exceed 60 mph, and once you get into 2nd gear you are unlikely to need to change gears. Vehicles are placed into classes, so there’s no big advantanges between cars in classes. And, best news of all, we have about 60 drivers registered, so it’s going to be a full and busy day! The cost of this event is only $40 for PCA members, $45 for non-members. No special modifications, wheels, tires, roll bars, spoilers or parachutes are required, but you will need a mask and a helmet (HCR has a few loaner helmets that will be available first come first served). Several very experienced members will be available to act as instructors and accompany anyone that requests a ride-along. Everyone should get, at minimum, 1 practice run and 5 timed runs, but the hope is that we can get another set of up to 5 runs for everyone during the second half of the day. As assistant chair Alan Neiman puts it, “this is the most fun that you can have in second gear.” Registration is open now at https://clubregistration.net/events/signUp.cfm/event/11197. If you want more information, contact AX Chair Alfred Freudenberger or Alan Neiman at ax@hcrpca.org. Porsche Swap Meet On Saturday, May 15, Julian Avent at Werks11 hosts his first annual Werks 11 Swap Meet at his facility from 9:00am-3:00pm. The address is 302 W. Adams Ave, in Temple. IDK about all of you, but I’ve never been to a swap meet. Sounds interesting…but I don’t think you get to swap your car, it’s swapping or buying Porsche parts and memorabilia. Vendor spots are available for $20 if you want to take your extra Porsche stuff up there to sell. I’ll be headed up there and plan to arrive around 10am to check it all out. Should be fun! For more information, contact: Julian@werks11.com. Mark it on your calendars and let’s go check it out! Distinguished Speaker Series: Bruce Canepa is next up! We already have our next DSS guest lined up for May 18th at 7pm, and it’s Bruce Canepa! For those who don’t know Bruce, he’s a former American race car driver, competing in IMSA and the 24 Hours of Daytona, plus Pikes Peak Hill Climb in a tandem axle big rig (yes, they have classes for just about everything at PPHC). These days he does some fantastic auto designs and restorations as CEO of his own companies. His attention to detail has garnered him a “worldwide reputation of quality, performance, and style”. This will again be a Zoom broadcast. Registration is here: Bruce Canepa DSS For questions or more information contact HCR PCA DSS Coordinator Carl Rossi at carl@hcrpca.org. German Motor Gathering in Boerne ACHTUNG! All roads lead to Boerne and the 2nd annual German Motor Gathering! The event is Saturday, May 22. Cost is $10 per car, and your $10 will go entirely to the charity for this event: Autism Speaks, Austin & San Antonio. For your registration and fee payment, we will leave at 8:00am from a soon-to-be-disclosed location in Oak Hill. We will caravan to the Main Square in Boerne for the event, which begins at 10:00am. This will be an official PCA drive down to Boerne, and at that point the PCA portion of the event will conclude. When we arrive, we will all park in a designated HCR Porsche Corral, just for our group. The corral can handle up to 60 cars, so we can bring a large group. There will be food trucks on hand, as well as several restaurants in the downtown square available for lunch. Once we arrive and park, we will sign liability waivers for the event onsite, then you are free to stroll around the venue, gawk at the Concours entries, grab lunch, stroll some more, drink great German beer, etc. The event officially concludes at 3pm and our Tourmaster will bring us back to Austin via some spirited, non-PCA backroad drives. Registration is now open on ClubRegistration.net, which is also where you will make your $10 donation and it gets you access to the HCR Porsche Corral at the event. Additional event-specific details are here, as well as information and a separate fee registration if you want to show your car in the Concours event: https://germanmotorgathering.com/ The event organizers expect 100 motor entries for the Concours, and I’m told it’s a simple 5-question Concours judging format. I’m also told their awards are very cool and unique, so jump in there and show off your car in the Concours! Summer SchnellFest / Intro to HPDE Summer SchnellFest comes up on June 4-6 out at COTA. This date will also include the new Intro to DE Program only on Friday, June 4. As a recent participant of the program, I give it Charlie’s “thumb’s up” recommendation. This Intro to DE is a one-day event open to licensed drivers at least 18 years of age. No track driving experience is required. (Experienced HPDE Drivers: this Introduction event is not for you! It is designed for those new to HPDE so sign up for the HPDE and tell your friends about the “Intro” event!). It is designed to be educational, safe, fast and fun! The morning features an instructed Car Control Clinic including Slalom, Braking Exercise, Emergency Lane Change, and Skid Pad Exercise, followed by an included box lunch. The afternoon consists of High Performance Driver Education three on-track sessions in which you will drive your car on the 3.4 mile Formula 1 Circuit in the HPDE Novice Run Group accompanied by a Porsche Club of America driving instructor. Classrooms are sprinkled in for debriefing and technical tips. At around 6:00 p.m. the Track goes “cold” and everyone enjoys a “Socially-Distanced Social” for all attendees and HCR members. Your car must pass a road-worthiness tech inspection – tires, brakes, seat belts, no leaks, etc. The Tech Inspection Form is linked here: Tech Form A helmet is required for on-track sessions – Snell Foundation M or SA 2015 or 2020 rated helmets are acceptable. A limited number of loaner helmets will be available. Please plan on joining us at Circuit of the Americas June 4-6 for Summer Schnell Fest HPDE, and for drivers new to HPDE, please plan on joining us for the New “Introduction to High Performance Driving” Event. Anyone can come out and watch the event…you will just need to sign waiver forms at the entrance to the Track, which is at Gate 2. For more information, and to register for the regular HPDE or the Intro program, visit: https://austinschnellfest.clubregistration.net/index.cfm Boxster 101 Maintenance Tech Session Chris McChesney is scheming again on a date and topic for his hugely-popular Boxster 101 Maintenance tech session. This is basic Boxster DIY maintenance, and will be simple things you can do to your car that DOESN’T require being hooked up to a computer. Air filters, accessory belt, brakes, headlights, spark plugs, oil changes….all these are specific to a 987.2 Boxster but there is enough design carryover so owners of older models will be able to get the point. Boxster owners ONLY! And the session will be limited to about 10 people as it’s conducted in Chris’ garage at his house. You MUST arrive in your Boxster! Watch for event details coming soon. New LinkedIn Group Richard Pankhurst (Driving Standing Committee Chair) has created a new group on Linkedin, just for HCR professionals. It’s called “Hill Country Region Porsche Club of America”. Search for it on Linkedin, and follow us! It’s all about business and career networking for members of HCR. The work you do as volunteers for HCR should be something you can leverage and share, and this Linkedin group can get you started! New HCR site within PCA Store With the recent update to the PCA website, we have a brand new site for securing those highly-sought after HCR apparel items. You can find brand apparel at: https://www.pcawebstore.org/regions/HCT New HCRPCA YouTube account Bill Plein has established an HCR presence on YouTube for us to post future videos, like tech session videos and DSS webinar recordings. The site is under development, but you can see it here at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyNkTBpmi-VHRjPlaYg8zJQ Steve White Memorial Fund Many of you who have driven in an HCR DE in the past, or elsewhere in Texas, may have run across Steve White. “Mr. Pink” was a DE instructor “par excellence”. His passion was true Texan: Houston Astros, Farming & Ranching, Hunting, and of course, Race Track events. Steve had the need for speed, and he shared his passion with others as their instructor on the track, and terrific friend off-track. Steve’s family and friends recently created a Memorial Fund which specifically supports track safety, and proceeds will be used to assist with the purchase of Hybrid S Hans Devices and Helmets for use by those who take part in events held by Hill Country Region PCA. The Hybrid Hans device allows high-performance driving instructors and their students with 3-point harnesses access to the advantages of head restraint safety. Prior to the advent of this device, Hans devices could only be used in vehicles with 5-7 point seatbelt harness systems. The Memorial Fund is now active and open to contributions. To donate in Steve’s memory, go to: https://gofund.me/48a48125 WE ARE BLOOD We want to urge all members to remember We Are Blood. The pandemic/endemic is still with us and they need blood and plasma, especially if you became infected and have recovered. We Are Blood added a new service that should be useful: everyone who donates blood will have their blood tested for COVID antibodies. It takes about one week to get the results. This is NOT a test to see if you’re infected, only to see if you have the antibodies from having had past exposure. Read more at: https://weareblood.org/blog/we-are-blood-covid-19-antibody-testing/ If you choose to donate, give them the group code of D103 or indicate that you are donating on behalf of “Hill Country Region Porsche Club of America.” Open Positions HCR has multiple volunteer opportunities in all aspects of our club. In the past, we’ve all come to rely on “a person” delivering events like tours, tech sessions, happy hours, DE, picnics, dinners, etc. That leaves our club woefully under-supported, and puts all the responsibility on a core group of about 10-15 volunteers. For an organization of 1500 members, that’s not a sustainable model. So our club is moving in a new direction to create opportunities and roles that are smaller and more numerous, so that no one person has to carry a heavy load. We need volunteers. “Many hands makes for light work.” If you desire to help out, and can only give a 1-2 hours a week, then we have plenty of opportunities where you can help. Our desire is to find out what you like to do, and align you with that group within our club. Again, small commitments of time that can fit the schedules of not just retirees, but members still in the workforce. We will present a way for these volunteer opportunities to be “reference-able”, so that your volunteerism and skillset can be called out on your professional resume. Contact me if you would like to help your club. My information is below. Our objective continues to be to keep our membership up to date on what is going on in HCR, as well as PCA nationally. Please remember, our goal is to deliver events that allow you to participate safely, and to ensure you have fun! If any questions or comments, please let me know. Charlie Sparks President – Hill Country Region Porsche Club of America |