California Festival of Speed – Day 1, 04/05/13

The Porsche Club of America (PCA) and the Porsche Owners Club (POC) joined forces for the 12th Annual California Festival of Speed, which began today at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.  The first day was primarily a practice day as racers rolled out their cars for the first of three days on the track.  Saturday and Sunday promise warmer and sunnier weather as well as lots of activities – both on and off the track.  Saturday’s schedule features four races including a 60 minute enduro.

Here’s a few shots from todays action:

More here.

California Festival of Speed – Day 2, 04/06/13

Now this is what the SoCal sports car scene is supposed to be like!  The 12th Annual California Festival of Speed has to rank as one of the best – certainly the best in recent years.  Full grids, lots of vendors, great cars, and beautiful weather drew Porsche and sports car enthusiasts in the many hundreds from across the southwest.  In addition to Porsches, a couple of Audi R8s and Lotus Exiges also competed on track.  Auto Club Speedway was host to a big, happy, sports car celebration featuring the best amateur Porsche racers in the West.

Fifty Years of the Porsche 911

Aside from the racing, one of the most popular attractions was the Fifty Years of 911 parade and display.  Some of my favorites included:

Chiffonweiss 1978 930 Turbo

1980 911SC Coupe

1987 Sunroof Coupe

1998 TT S Coupe

California Festival of Speed – The Races

Three Sprint Races, a 60 minute Enduro, and Time Trial practice kept lots of people in the seats on top of the corporate boxes in the Auto Club Speedway infield.  In the Blue, Green, and Enduro races, the grid was composed of many classes of cars and drivers from both the PCA and POC.  Overall results:

Blue Sprint Race

1. Drake Kemper
2. Mike Monsalve
3. Roger Lai

Green Sprint Race

1. Craig Ames
2. Chip Romer
3. Daniel Davis

Pirelli GT3 Cup Race

1. Jim Walsh
2. Kevin Woods
3. Jesse Menczer

Enduro Race

1. Chip Romer
2. Tom Haacker
3. Frederick Chin / Elliott Skeer

Detailed results by class can be found on the PCA San Diego Region results web page.

Time Trial grid:

California Festival of Speed – Day 3, 04/07/13

Sunday brought warmer weather, four more races, and the Time Trial.

Blue & Green Combined Race start:

Blue Sprint Race

1. Drake Kemper
2. Bob Mueller
3. Roger Lai

Green Sprint Race

1. Craig Ames
2. Chip Romer
3. Bob Rodriguez

Blue & Green Combined Race

1. Chip Romer
2. Dan Aspesi
3. Jesse Menczer

Blue & Green Combined Race action:

 

What a great weekend of racing at a super facility!  Both PCA and POC will be back to Auto Club Speedway in the next month, and HSR West will have their Historic Sportscar Festival there in June.  Look for details on the Calendar.