 2006 Track Events
Ahvenisto Racing Cirquit in Hämeenlinna, Finland. (Saturday 5th August) - The track bug bites.
Rubber not power is king here. |
What a day! The sun was shining hot, and Hämeenlinna was about to share with us what must be the best tarmac racing circuit Finland has to offer.
Words can not express the perfection of this little secret hidden in down town Hämeenlinna. Driving through the town streets you can be forgiven for not noticing the highs and lows of this complex circuit, hidden in a valley surrounded by trees and countryside. But after driving through the small but purposeful entrance to Ahvenisto, you are in no dought - you have indeed arrived, and the driving will be good!
Lets be honest, how can you not help but feel honored and excited when you know you are about to put your R-rated rubber down on the very same track where Formula One champion Mika Häkkinen broke the lap record for the Carrera Cup class on May 29, 2004, recording a time of 1:19.905 with his Porsche Carrera.
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The Ahvenisto Race Circuit (Ahveniston moottorirata), is 3,040 metres long with a 280 metres home straight. The difference in altitude along the track is 32 metres, and the width varies from 9 to 17 metres.
Finished in 1967 the track has hosted several international races. In the 60's and 70's, the track hosted Formula Two and road racing, along with the FIA European Championships for Rallycross. Currently, several national and Nordic championships, such as the Finnish Formula Three and Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia, races at Ahvenisto
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Dream line-up and heavy competition for a 30 year old 911SC. |
Nice hot rubber - sticks like glue
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But enough of the history lesson, and back to the main event of the day - driving our Porsche 911SC to it's limits!
We were honored and humbled to be one of only two impact-bumper 911s lined up between modern horsepower throbbing GT3s, but Ahvenisto was quick to demonstrate that on this track it was driving skill and good rubber that counts and not brute power.
By early afternoon, we were confident that our replacement rocker cover gasket was holding up and the passe was increased. Whilst we were not even close to the lap times recorded by Häkkinen, we were making good use of the now heated Toyo rubber.
The car performed outstandingly, and even with the hot sun poring down on us, she continued to rip up the track. But with all things mechanical which is pushed to the limit, something had to give - after all she is 30 |
years old. By late afternoon, we started to get oil pressure problems, and that formidable green warning light came on.
Like sulking children who have just had their toy taken away from them we retreated back to the pit lain, and of the track. At least this time, we had a good inclination what the problem could be. We still had a full oil tank and the engine was not overheating - which was amassing given the hot day we were having. Our main problem was that we did not have the spares or tools required to fix the problem at the track. The day was over for us, and we resigned ourselves to a cool drink beside the track admiring the grace and power of the GT3s still running round the track.
The following week, we ordered the replacement parts (upgrade to new version cam oil line fittings) to fix our oil pressure problems, and 20 minutes later we were set to go again. But the racing bug had bitten us hard, and we were about to blindly dive head first down the slippery slope of never ending track related upgrades and modifications - the road to classic air-colled perfection was within our sights, and we were on auto pilot....
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Gelleråsen, Sweden. (Sunday 9th July) - The madden voyage.
Our first trip out on the track was at the small but excellent Gelleråsen circuit. The day started with rain and a bitter cold wind. Giving us some concerns that the Toyo R888's would give us problems with grip on the track. But the weather did quickly turn, and we were blessed with some good warming sunshine, which dried up the track before we started.
The first session was taken relatively slowly. This was the cars madden voyage onto a track, and we were not sure how this 29 year old girl would take to the experience - even after all the preparation and work we had done to date.
As the day progressed, she relished in demonstrating what she was made for - driving hard and fast on a racing track! And we progressed to push her further with each lap to see what she could handle.
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Pushing it hard and overtaking a 933 in the process. |
Unfortunately, our day was prematurely ended when on the third session our 911 preceded to spray the contents of her oil tank all over the engine, which in turn drowned the cars behind in a dark cloud of burning oil. As can be expected, we were marshaled off the track and into the pits. |
Problems with oil forced us into early retirement. |
On first looks, it was not possible to identify where the oil was coming from, as most of the left hand side of the engine was coated in a thick layer of fresh oil. Also with a number of common culprits located on that side, we decide to call it a day and limp back home with the car.
With our next track session booked and quickly approaching, we spared no time in trying to identify and rectify our new oil problems. Not wanting to drop the engine, we practiced our contortionist impressions and inventive ways for investigating the hidden-out-off-view regions of the 911 engine, something that anyone who has worked on a 911 engine in situ will emphasize with!
Never the less, we did manage to track the problem down to a bad gasket on the left side top valve cover, which was allowing oil to spray out under heavy load. What a pain that one was to identify, but luckily easy to fix.
This also gave us the excuse to give the engine a long overdue clean and polish before our next track event scheduled for August 5th in Finland.
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