Porsche Rennsport Reunion
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca ~ Monterey, California
2011-10-14 00:00:00
From our home in Nanaimo, British Columbia, we drove to Monterey, California in our fully restored 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa, No. 23 of 232 cars produced for the North American Market. Destination: Monterey, California, to take part in the Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV 2011 at the Mazda Raceway in Laguna Seca.
We drive down the island and leave Victoria aboard the Black Ball Ferry to Port Angeles Washington, where we continued our drive down the coastal road on Highway 101. This route is considered to be a ``better driving experience`` and it lessens the chance of getting hit by rocks shooting off the road from highway travelling trucks.
Down the Hood Canal side of the Olympic Peninsula we then crossed over to one of our favorite spots on the coast, Astoria in Oregon. Our Porsche with gps assistance took us to a wonderful eatery we were very fortunate to find called "Clemente's Seafood" on the main street of Astoria. That day was the season’s final Astoria Farmers' Market. The offerings at the market were almost as enticing as the dishes described on the restaurant menu. It was a late lunch at 3pm but the fast service was exceptional. We were revived by free wine and beer tastings. Soon after, wholesome, fresh, inventive dishes arrived. Our experience was so good that we would return just to repeat that meal.
Further on in Cannon Beach our Carrera Targa was hosed down nicely! The rain didn’t let up for several days. We found North Coast Brewing Co. A great brew pub eatery in Fort Bragg. Their brewery is across the street. They offer a retail store in the restaurant where you buy their apparel. They offer clothes embroidered with their unique and entertaining brew names.
We got back on the road and started on our first trip down the Mendocino Coast. Wow what a view. It was enhanced by the clear blue sky and sunshine. A great start to our California vacation! We found a beautiful beach for lunch just south of Fort Bragg, must remember to book a camping trip there! Only about 6 amazingly campsites right on the beach with trees and shrubs between for privacy.
We had to get to Mazda Raceway pretty quick, spending a lot of time sightseeing we now had to catch up on our schedule. Over Hwy 101 through San Francisco. We finally get to travel over the Golden Gate Bridge during the day without fog! We drove straight through to Monterey slowly passing accidents and following commuters on their way home.
At long last we arrived, albeit hot, tired and thirsty to our high priced budget motel. All around us the motels and hotels have priced themselves according to the popularity of the calendar of events. Monterey hosting the Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV is a big revenue generator.
We unpacked and decided that we would just get dinner at Whole Foods. Fast, inexpensive and ``good for you food`` at the hot food bar. We ended up having dinner for many of the nights that we were here. Excellent coffee too, so we ended up buying their Allegro coffee for our room. As is usually the case, the coffee in our room tasted like dishwater. Mornings were going to be early so we bought breakfast and snack fixings to ensure a smooth exit in the morning (and a bit of midnight snacking too!)
Thursday was just for washing, detailing and showing off the fine curves of our 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa. In the afternoon we presented our car at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to properly introduce ourselves to Tom Provasi who was heading up the Historic Display. Introductions were made and we met and mingled with other participants and Porsche groupies until it was almost dark. These enthusiasts just couldn't pull themselves away from being involved behind the scenes. Eventually we made all the arrangements for the next morning's set-up in the official display and left for the day.
We took off to the Baja Cantina which is over Laurel's Grade in the Carmel Valley. Hazel hadn't seen anything like it. Shiny collectible cars of all sorts everywhere and their just as colourful owners, many wine glasses in hands, huddled all around them. We drove right through on the "runway of adulation" like all the others had before us. We drove the full circle and parked where we could. This happened on the street right beside Quail Lodge in Carmel which would be another big venue for a secondary Rennsport Event on Sunday hosted by Jerry Seinfeld.
We wiggled our way through the noisy outdoor bar and into the restaurant and were seated right away. Obviously more people wanted to be outside enjoying the warm evening and wine that eating inside. After our meal and viewing the sights, we danced to a live band playing some great popular rock music. We needed to stay focused on the reason we were here... so we called it a night
I got up at 5.30am Friday so as to be at the track by 7. Things are buzzing there already. Our display position is properly assigned. Cars are shuffled around, but some are not where they should be. The problem seems to be that the cars were left there the night before, and the owners are still in bed! Clearly those drivers were not focusing the night before!
We dust off and shine up our unusual bitter chocolate example of a 1974 Carrera Targa. Now we can explore the paddock and track. The retail vendors at this event were after market Porsche parts suppliers, OEM stuff, upmarket posh accessories and anything for the Porschephiles. Past the eye candy including the young tanned Californian frauleins with their bustiers and petticoats and over the track bridge to the paddock. Porsches of all ages and ilk covered the entire property.
Here at the Paddock are owners, drivers and managers who are just as enthusiastic as the gobsmacked admirers. There are big and small teams from one or two cars to teams with many cars. Some big teams showed up with a 550 Spyder, a 906, 962, 917, Carrera Cup and 935. Well known and famous racing drivers of winning Porsche cars past and present were walking among us. More enthralling sights at the fantastic Porsche Museum Marquee. We wanted to take it all in at once so we went over to the track and watched some practice runs from the timing tower on the pit straight. Suddenly the day draws to a close so we get packed up and make arrangements for dinner.
Soon enough we are back at the track in the fog on Saturday. We can hear motor racing and can only hope the drivers can see where they're going. It is cold, so we the owners of the Historic Display cars are all looking for some coffee. The coffee shack is about a mile away and too far to go when the cold damp air is whistling by your shins so we stay huddled together chit chatting cars until the sun burns off the fog.
The day starts to warm up and we walk over to the race teams paddock to look at the Porsche Cars of America Display including the new mouthwatering Porsche 991. After drooling all over and being squashed by envious onlookers we needed refreshments. With a bottle of wine in our pack we took the Cayenne Corkscrew shuttle to the track. We find a grassy knoll to watch as much as we can of the cars qualifying. The vantage point gave us a good view of the drivers negotiating this exhilarating section of the track.
Back at the paddock we surprisingly meet up with some Vancouver Island Porsche club members. A group of husbands on a three day buddy escape. We shuffle along to the Flying Lizard team pit and display where the team members were pleased to sign autographs. Saturday has been a busy day. It was time to go back to our accommodation and relax a bit before dinner. Then an early night as Sunday is the last and biggest day.
Sunday morning up at 6:30am and out to the track to set up the car in the Porsche Historic display by 8:00am. A quick towel off and then mix and chat with the other participants. I crossed over into the other display area of the Newer Porsches 1990 - 964 (could be 904s) - 2011 997. Looked at the newest car and the center of the display. It had just been delivered - 2011 GT3 4.0
I head over to the paddock and track alone today as Hazel is to worn out to go. This is race day and I was told that the race official at the drivers meet was coming down on the drivers hard for too much paint swapping. The racing got underway before lunch. What great fields of cars there were, in most events, 50 cars. Great racing and a fantastic opportunity to see these cars really racing on the track. It was a real adrenaline rush day for me.
What a wonderful event and i can only hope that the rumour is true, that the Porsche Reinsport event will be coming back here to Monterey in three years. 2014.
It was time to wind down and get on the road back home. We did some touring around Carmel and stopped for lunch down on Ocean Boulevard. We started back on Highway 101 to San Jose where we checked out their historic downtown. We looked in on, but did not run the new indoor electric race car track K1 Speedway. There were No Porsches!!! We stayed overnight in Santa Clara at the Embassy Suites. The rooms housed in new buildings were clean and safe.
Then we headed up to Calistoga in the Napa Valley. On our drive we had a step ladder fly off a truck in front of us, and were barely able to maneuver around in it. We spent 2 nights in Calistoga at the Dr.Wilkinson’s Hot Springs Resort & Spa. We had a wonderful stay complete with fabulous, indulgent spa services (try their mud baths) and wine tasting. It was tough to leave after such a great experience. But drive we did, north to get on the I5 to cover some miles and get past Medford staying over at Seven Feathers Casino in Canyonville Oregon. They had clean nicely appointed rooms and good rates.
We were back on the road at 10:30am and drove up through Portland where we encountered heavy rain on the last hour of the drive to Olympia Washington. The next day we drove towards Port Angeles in order to catch our booked 2:30pm ferry to Victoria on Vancouver Island. From there, it is a short 100kms to our home in Nanaimo.
We`ve had a great road trip, met some terrific people and enjoyed being a part of such a great event. The highlights were the cars... no question! Although the mud bath had its moments.
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