The 12th of February, 2012, was a glorious day of masterful motorkhanaing for Graeme Evans, who took the overall victory in the Porsche Club of New South Wales’ first competitive outing for the year.
The first event of the year is always an exciting time; catching up with mates, checking out the competition and getting back in to the swing of things. Sydney turned on a beautiful day and the PCNSW responded with an excellent turnout of drivers, who took to the skidpan in a collection of Porsches that included GT3 RSs, GT3s, 997s, Carrera 4s and Boxter & Cayman Ss.
Fresh from the first of its bi-yearly check-ups with the Autohaus team and shod with a new set of tyres, Graeme’s lovely 1970 911T was running and handling beautifully; “I couldn’t believe how much harder you could drive the car and still have so much more control.”
Graeme put it to good use, producing the fastest split for each of the first three patterns with very consistent times and taking a healthy lead in to the last pattern of the day.
It’s very easy to knock over a cone or take a wrong turn when you’ve got several handfuls of rear-engined 911 loop de looping as fast as possible around a nondescript skidpan, and such mistakes carry heavy time penalties in motorkhanas, where consistency and clean driving is key.
With a handful of hard-fought seconds in his pocket, Graeme took the smooth, consistent and calm approach into the final pattern of the day, going in to protect his lead rather than extend it. And protect it he did, his more cautious approach still producing top times and securing the overall win; “I honestly couldn’t have gone for better day.”
He is full of praise for his car and for motorkhanas in general. The low-speed, first gear, nature of motorkhanas does a lot to democratize things, emphasizing car control, skill and mental alacrity. Graeme’s overall victory ahead of modern cars with larger collections of younger horses shows how good all of these cars are at their core, as well as how much fun you can have in them.
And that means a great day with your mates and the best cars in the world, wherever you end up in the pack!
“When I joined the club, I really didn’t think I would enjoy the motorkhanas as much as I do. They’re an absolute blast. The perfect way for heaps of guys and girls from the club to be getting out and having some fun with their cars.”
The Porsche Club will be out adventuring again this weekend, heading to the Sydney German Autofest at Five Dock. Hit this link for the details.
Thanks to Graeme Evans for chatting with us, and Rob Scheeren for the photos – check out his excellent gallery on the PCNSW website here.
