Photo Collin Fat & Ken Shahoian

 Rik Larson, SVR President

·      Things are opening up. We had three events in April; two of them chaired by Jerry Alter, our first Saturday Breakfast Chair.

·      Eight people attended the breakfast on Thursday, April 1st at Brookfields in Rancho Cordova. (We can't do a first Saturday breakfast yet due to restaurant restrictions and scheduling).

·      Then John Leet put his AX team to work on the first AX of the season at Thunderhill Raceway on April 17th. The event also counted as the first event for the Zone 7 AX Series.

·      Jerry Alter and Kim Nelson (President of the 356CAR group) presented the Caffeine and Porsches event at Fat's Asia Bistro in Folsom on April 24th. Approximately 90 cars came out for this Saturday morning event. Check out Collin Fat's article elsewhere. And then there was the opportunity to go on a short tour put together by Rich Walker and Dan Rowland that finished in Placerville for lunch.

·      Breakfast on the first Wednesday, May 5th (the day after the SVR board meeting). This will be at the normal place; Brookfields in Rancho Cordova at 8 am. Contact Jerry to register at 530.344.0475

·      Cookie Anderson is chairing a favorite SVR dinner at Fat's Asia Bistro in Folsom on Tuesday, May 18th. Due to COVID restrictions, we are limited to 50 people. Get your reservation in now. Pre-registration is required……https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/svr-fats-dinner-asia-bistro-pca-sacramento-valley-events-454422  ---- also can be found at the SVR website by going to the event calendar.

·      AX School ---- just a couple of spots left…….May 23rd and May 30th. Registration is at   MotorsportReg.com or you can go to the SVR website and click on the info in the event calendar (much easier).

·      The second SVR AX of the season will be held on Sunday, May 30th. Registration for this event should open about 30 days before the event.

·      The Fourth of July Pocket Parade is still on the schedule even though it is not a SVR event.

·      PCA.ORG went live with an updated look and feel on April 22nd.

·      The biggest things that I noticed included the use of larger fonts, and a better search engine.

·      A number of items were moved around under different tabs but I was able to find them with the help of the improved search engine.

·      We continue to seek volunteers to fill various positions. Our interim webmaster, Bill Fargo, continues to react quickly to our updates regarding events. And he is serving on an interim basis. We appreciate all of his support. Interested in serving as our webmaster? You can contact me anytime if you are interested in discussing any of the vacant positions.

·      Vice President Sally Boeck (see her article elsewhere) is looking for people to present events in 2021. Stay tuned for a "Planning Meeting".

·      There are 7 AX's remaining on the schedule for the 2021 Zone 7 series. You can see the schedule at  zone7.pca.org

·      And the Zone 7 Concours schedule is just out with 7 events planned. They run from July to November. The schedule is at  zone7.pca.org

·      Also just announced is a Zone 7 Concours Judges School. There are two parts --- the first being a session via ZOOM on May 16th with a choice of three locations and dates for a 'hands on' session. Check out the registration at   zone7.pca.org

·      The SVR Facebook page was started 10 years ago (March 16, 2011) by Mike Willis.

o You will typically see the "Share The Wealth" wording on dinner announcements.

o Seems that the region back in the old days (decades ago) needed a way to help pay for the printing and mailing of the DRIFTER to its members. So at the monthly dinners they had the members bring items (wine, desserts, flowers, etc.) for a raffle. You received a raffle ticket if you brought an item, a ticket if you had your name badge on, and you could also buy extra raffle tickets. The $$$ take for the evening went to support the DRIFTER. And that is the short story.

·      The fifth race (also held in Spain) goes down to who had any energy left in their batteries. Only 9 cars (out of 24) were classified as finishing the event. The fact that the safety car came out 5 times (remember these races are only 45 minutes long plus 1 lap) caused many of the teams to make some erroneous decisions as it relates to energy consumption. No surprise that you might have problems when the race officials threw in an extra lap. The winner:    Mercedes EQ

·      Next race is on May 8th at Monaco (on CBSSN).

·      It is a 15 race series. There will be 2 races in New York City in July.

·      You can check things out at    www.fiaformulae.com

May SVR Dinner - go to MotorsportReg to reserve.

Many thanks to John Leet, Jerry Alter, Kim Nelson, Richard Walker and Dan Rowland who have already chaired events for us this year. While I was unable to attend, I’ve heard nothing but glowing reports about the good times had by all at the breakfast, autocross, and the Caffeine and Porsches get together and the tour following. These events are just a sign of good events yet to come.

In May, Cookie Anderson is hosting a dinner meeting at Fat’s Asia Bistro in Folsom. There’s high demand for this dinner, so pre-register as soon as possible. And, for those competitive types, there’s an autocross school with both classroom instruction and track time.

I plan to be at the dinner meeting, so if you have any ideas about fun things to do this year, let’s talk! I’m all ears!

Let’s be thinking about more fun things to do to fill our event calendar for 2021. I’m available via email at sallybsvr@currently.com, or via my cell phone at 916-769-6529 to hear about your ideas if you just can’t wait until the planning meeting.

SVR Membership Report

Ken Shahoian, Membership Director

This month we’ll be talking statistics—how do we get “here” and a bit about who we are in SVR.

Our National Membership Chair, Jim Hemig, maintains a Facebook Group for all things PCA Membership. A weekly report lists from where our approximately 300 new members arrive. Overwhelmingly, it’s current member referrals, a full one-third. We’re proud of our club! Next up is online, whether a search engine, social media, or Porsche web forum. Dealer referrals still rank highly, too. The PCA Test Drive program for prospective owners successfully converts about 20 a week into full PCA members. Rounding out the sources, before we just classify things as “other,” are printed publications, such as non-PCA Porsche specialty magazines or our ads in other marque publications. Here in SVR, we get a monthly update, and per that report we average 10 new members a month.

Moving onto who we are, per the statistics, I manipulated the file and came up with some observations. The median join date in SVR is 2014. Our most tenured member, Keith McMahan, joined in 1959. Ten are from the 1960s, 35 from the 1970’s, 40 the 1980s, 90 the 1990s, 180 the 2000s, and just over 400 during the last decade. About 140 have joined since the beginning of 2020.

On to cars, the data gets a little fuzzy since I can only see what’s reported. Only one car is listed on that report, and as I mentioned in a previous month’s column, it might not be an up-to-date listing. And it doesn’t list multiple Porsche ownership. But here we go. The median year car of SVR members is a 2003. And it’s likely a 911. Fully over half of our members list some 911 as their Porsche. (Understand that without getting into the weeds, this means everything from 1965 to 2021.) Next up, we have over 200 Boxster/Cayman. In third are almost 50 356. That surprised me. Around 20 each are 912, 914, 944/968, Macan, and Cayenne. 10 Panameras, and a single Taycan comprise the sedans. And what brings up the rear, though hardly a car you can say is at the rear, is the most recent Porsche Supercar, the 918.

One last thing about PCA Membership—you need to own or lease a Porsche to join, but you don’t have to leave the club if you sell. Once you’re in, you’re in!

Since we use e-mail for most of our communications, it is necessary to keep our e-mail address current with SVR and PCA. To update your information, go to www.pca.org and login. You can then make any updates (address, car, e-mail etc.). Also, even though we receive the information from PCA monthly, you can send the same updates to: membership@svr-pca.org. New Member badges will now come with a removable colored sticker to encourage introductions at club events. They can be removed at any time. Welcome to the Sacramento Valley Region of the Porsche Club of America.

How do you join the Porsche Club? Go to: https://www.pca.org/user/join/membership -This is an online system that will request a credit card for payment. If you would rather fill out a paper form, contact 2021 SVR Membership Director, Ken Shahoian, at membership@svr-pca.org

Not a Porsche owner but interested in the PCA? Try the PCA Test Drive program. For information, go to: www.pca.org/pca-test-drive Need to update your PCA information? Update your PCA record at www.pca.org

Do you have 2 e-mail addresses? Want Club info sent to a second email, work, home, spouse, friend...? It’s as easy as e-mailing your second e-mail address to the Membership Director, Ken Shahoian at: membership@svr-pca.org

The following SVR Board minutes are subject to board approval, so changes may occur.

Location:   ZOOM VIDEO CONFERENCE (Due to Restrictions levied by the governor of California and COVID-19) . Specific invites sent by Bill Fargo to BOARDPLUS and any members who so requested.  

X Webmaster - Bill Fargo    

e.      PCA Treffen Registration opens February 24th at 12 noon Pacific time……treffen.pca.org

i.     Deadline for articles and reports by 25^th of each month

Location:   ZOOM VIDEO CONFERENCE (Due to Restrictions levied by the governor of California and COVID-19) . Specific invites sent by Bill Fargo to BOARDPLUS and any members who so requested.

 

   

·        4^th of July Pocket Parade. An event of interest not a SVR event

·        1^st Wednesday Breakfast at Brookfields will be added to the Event Calendar.

·        Deadline for articles and reports by 25^th of each month

Photos, Collin Fat & Ken Shahoian

More than 90 Porsches gathered in the parking lot at Fat’s Asia Bistro in Folsom for the first SVR event of the year.

With the pandemic largely shutting down any type of event since March 2020, it was a welcome reprieve from the lock down as case rates have slowed while vaccination rates among adults 55 years and older have reached more than 64% of eligible adults. With vaccines now being offered to all those 16 years and older, I think many of us share the hope that the worse is behind us and that better times are ahead. It is hard to believe that the Sacramento Kings as well as the San Francisco Giants recently held games with real fans in the stands. However, as things open in the greater Sacramento area let’s not forgot how we got where we are and to remember to wear our masks, social distance and of course get vaccinated if you have not already.

The group of nearly 134 members from both SVR as well as the 356CAR group of Sacramento started assembling at 8:00 am and by 9:00 am the lot was nearly full. All attendees enjoyed hot coffee and fresh doughnuts that were provided by the clubs. Event chairs Jerry Alter of SVR and Kim Nelson of 356CAR did a masterful job of assembling a crack team of volunteers to handle waiver signing, check-in, and traffic direction. SVR member Dick MacFarlane provided music as the event DJ. Following the conclusion of the event, a tour was organized by Rich Walker and Dan Rowland for short tour up the Sierra Nevada foothills with a lunch stop at a local restaurant in Placerville. I believe there were some 34 cars on the tour. The 356CAR folks also did a separate tour.

The energy of all in attendance was infectious as this was the first time many of our members have seen their friends from the club in well over a year. Smiling faces were to be seen on everyone! Board members in attendance included Rik Larson, Mike Willis, Ken Shahoian, Nancy Olson as well as Ax chair John Leet, and Concours chair Al Price.

I was also excited to see that some members brought along their children and grandchildren along for the event. Let’s hope your club leadership can keep up the momentum and plan more events soon! Better yet, if you have a favorite restaurant and would like to host a dinner or have some favorite back roads you would like to share with your fellow members don’t hesitate to contact club president Rik Larson who will be happy to put your event on the calendar and recommend a veteran club member who can show you the ropes on how to organize your event.

Collin Fat with his granddaughter, Charlotte

Attending her first Porsche Club event.

Registration is open for our annual Autocross School,

as well as Autocross #2.

5/30 - AX #2 - Registration Open!!

Hi SVR members and veteran parade goers,

The city has the website up and running for this year’s 4^th of July Pocket Parade, which is very encouraging. https://pocketparadejuly4th.com/

There are a few “glitches” that I have pinged them about for clarification, forms reference 2020.  It is looking promising for this year, much more so than last year. The event has been on the SVR calendar for a while and might just actually happen.

This is just a quick shout out to past participants to see how your throwing arm is doing and something to think about.  As life slowly moves back to some degree of normalcy, the 4^th might have heightened meaning this year. Start it with a parade???

Our 2021 track season is shaping up along these lines:

• April 2-3-4: Thunderhill Raceway DE and Club Race (3 mile)

• May 22-23: Buttonwillow Raceway DE and Club Race

(CCCR will host its DE on Friday, May 21)

• July 3-4: Sonoma Raceway DE and Club Race (1ST GGR hosted weekend at Sonoma since 2008)

• August 28-29: Sonoma Raceway Club Race only (with NASA)

• September 25-26: Thunderhill DE and Club Race (3 mile)

(Diablo Region will host its DE on Friday, September 24)

• October 9-10: Sonoma Raceway Club Race only (with NASA)

Yes, there is no Laguna weekend for GGR as of this writing. However, to get your “PCA Laguna” fix, our friends at Diablo Region will be hosting a one-day DE at Laguna on Friday, March 19, and our friends at Central Coast Region will be at Laguna on Monday, October 18.

New helmet requirements, the Snell 2010 helmets will expire on December 31. (2015 helmets are good for another 5 years.) Snell 2020 helmets are now available at your favorite racer supply stores.

With the Covid vaccine being available for all persons 16 years of age and older and a plentiful supply of two vaccines, case rates in the State of California have held steady in Zone 7 at approximately 5-12 cases per 100K with the positivity rate falling to 1.3% in the state. Four counties in Zone 7 have gone to the orange tier including Mono, Fresno, and Kings while most other counties in Zone 7 remain in the more restrictive red tier.

At the monthly Zone Rep meeting held with the PCA executive council, it was informative to hear that many Zones and states are opening while just a few like Michigan are experiencing a significant uptick in cases. PCA National president, Tom Gorsuch reminded us all to continue to be vigilant and to continue to social distance, where a face mask, get your vaccine and wash your hands. Parade in French Lick is sold out and phase two of registration went smoothly, apart from a website glitch that caused some delay early in the registration process.

Treffen Scottsdale is scheduled for May 6-9^th and is on schedule with over 140 cars registered. Werks Reunion Monterey will likely open registration in June and chair Tom Provasi is very encouraged with the Monterey County and in dealing with the Covid pandemic. No restrictions other than social distancing, face masks, and handwashing are being anticipated. This is a big change since Tom reported to the Zone Reps last month when everything was dependent on the conditions in Monterey. They have improved significantly and the fact that Governor Newsom wants to open all the state up by June 15^th is a huge indication of the positive direction the entire state is going in relation to containing the Covid virus.

PCA is updating its website for a new and improved image and functionality. It was down on April 21^st and 22^nd for updates and by the time you read this article should be up and running. The main emphasis of the update is to hide most of the administrative functions used by national staff and make it more forward facing for anyone who has an interest in learning more about the Porsche Club of America.

Map Courtesy of ABCNews.com

Roy Schauben and Simone Kopitzki have been working diligently since last month on getting dates for the annual Concours school as well as confirmed dates for 6 events this year. Thank you to the region concours chairs and for the several dealerships that have stepped up to provide the site to hold several of these events. The concours school will be held in two parts with the first being a virtual judging school while the second part will focus on hands on judging. The judging school part 1 will be held on May 16^th while the dates and locations of the part two school will be announced shortly. Regions hosting a Concours event now include Monterey Bay, Sierra Nevada, Sacramento Valley, Redwood, Diablo, and Golden Gate regions. The dates are list below:

Sacramento Valley hosted Event #1 of the 9-event series at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, Ca. With 59 drivers competing for championship points the autocross team of SVR led by chair John Leet and his crew did an outstanding job of running the event with drivers getting a total of 10 runs. The course for the two- day event was designed by Redwood Region’s Drew Powers and was both challenging, technical, and fun! Top time of the day honors went to Monty Pack with a blistering time of 43.562 followed closed by Drew Powers, 43.780, Dave Dunwoodie, 44.151, Chris Boynton, 44.334, and Steve Forshay with a 44.370.

Redwood Region hosted Event #2 of the 2-day weekend with 47 drivers participating. The course was run in the reverse direction and it seemed to take the drivers a few runs to figure out the course. Top time of day for the Porsche contingent went to Monty Pack with a time of 43.596 followed closely by Drew Powers, 43.700, Steve Forshay, 43.785,

Chris Boynton, 44.127, and David Borden, 44.658.

I organized a dinner buffet at the Thunderhill Café that was well attended and a great time to share some stories about the day’s activities and do some off the course bench racing.

The weather conditions were mostly ideal with temperatures in the mid 80’s on Saturday and getting up to the 90’s on Sunday. All in all, all the drivers had a great time and I assume they will be back at our next Zone AX weekend at the Cow Palace on June 12-13th.

Zone 7 Autocross Chair, Grady Carter

1)     Loma Prieta Region 50th (plus 1) Anniversary Gala, June 19

2)    Monterey Bay Region 60^th Anniversary, TBD

4)     Porsche Parade at French Lick, Indiana, July 11-17; porscheparade.org, Wait list

5)     PCA Werks Reunion, August 13; Monterey; werksreunion.com, Registration opens in June

6)    Monterey Historic, Porsche Platz Corral August 14-15^th.Tickets at weathertechraceway.com

7)     PCA Fall Treffen at the American Club, Kohler, Wisconsin, October 13-17; treffen.pca.org

8)     PCA Spring Treffen at the BRO^ADMOOR, Colorado Springs, Colorado, April 27-May 1, 2022

9)    Sacramento Valley Region 60th Anniversary Celebration, May 7, 2022

With Federal and State directives pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Club Racing schedule is very fluid and subject to change on a day-to-day basis. The racing schedule shown below will be frequently updated with the latest official status of each of our races.

We are 7 months away for our Charity Auction, but if your have any cool auctions items you would like to donate, I can get them now and store them until the event.

You may be moving, organizing, downsizing or just have an auction items you want to find a new home for.

Also, if you would like to join Lois and me on this not many meetings fun committee let me know.

Thank you,

PCA Members may place non-commercial classified ads for no charge. Photos will be published on this web page at no charge. Non-PCA members may place ads on our webpage, on a space available basis, as follows: Ads without photos $20.00; Ads with photos $35.00. All ads run for two months unless canceled. There will be no refunds for paid ads.

Ads must be submitted electronically with attachment to classified@svr-pca.org. PCA members must include your PCA membership number on all submissions as proof of membership.

Paid ads will not be published until payment has been received. Checks must be made payable to PCA-SVR, and mailed to: Porsche Club of America; Sacramento Valley Region; PO Box 254651; Sacramento, CA 95865-4651

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The Drifter is Produced online monthly for its members. Written contributions are welcome and should be e-mailed to the editor. The deadline for submissions is the 15th of the month prior to the month of publication. Submissions in WORD or TEXT are preferred.

Photos are always welcome. Photos should be sent separately from the text. (You may also use a downloadable link to the photos.)

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However, newsletter editors of other Porsche Club of America regions may reprint any article provided that credit is given to the author and Sacramento Valley Region and also The Drifter is cited as the source.