March meeting
With Karl managing to persuade Steve Walker, our good friend from Porsche cars, to again travel to Dorset to give us a presentation on a subject close to all our hearts, Porsches, it was with bated breath that 40 members and guests sat down to listen to a talk on the 919 LMP1 programme, the 718 Boxster engine and Mission E. In addition, it was a pleasure to welcome the editor of Total 911 magazine, Lee Sibley, to the meeting. Lee was hoping to get a feel for what his local PCGB region get up to and to take the opportunity to do a spot of networking. I think his attendance was a success on both counts and there could be many opportunities for us to work together in the future.
As per usual, Steve’s presentation was fascinating and candidly honest – which of course, when the audience is made up of passionate Porsche enthusiasts, it has to be. See the full report in Porsche Post.
R15 Karting Challenge
With an invite from R15 to participate in a kart endurance race, six of us stepped up to the plate to form two teams to defend the Dorset reputation for competitive spirit. Held at the excellent indoor circuit at Raceworld near Exeter, the R26 team consisting of the Owens brothers, Neil and Darren and (to even the odds a bit), yours truly as third man were victorious on the day and thanks must go to Alan and Keith for organising the event. In a moment of madness, I did promise to organise return match so watch out for details soon.
‘Kartability’ and the Right Angle Trust
Mark Owens invited R26 to visit the home of the Kartability charity, which gives the opportunity for people with varying levels of disability to enjoy the thrill of karting and is very close to Marks heart. With much of the engineering work carried out by Mark and Loop Walsh, variations on conventional karts include fitting of hand controls, twin seats, remote speed control, etc. all designed to help and inspire people to take part who otherwise wouldn’t be able to enjoy the unique thrill of motorsport. Mark and Loop have spoken about the charity at club meetings, but few of us realised that, based at an old secondary school in Bovington, Kartability is but a small part of the Right Angle Trust, a charity who’s aim is to help people get involved in activities designed to enhance their lives, whether they be disabled, bereaved, lacking in social skills or perhaps just lonely. Right Angle Trust CEO Marcus Frith gave us an inspiring introduction to the charity and it is something that the committee believe would be worthy of R26 support in the future.
Beaulieu behind the scenes 2
Having missed the opportunity to attend the event last year, I have just returned from the second R26 visit to Beaulieu and a full report is included in Porsche Post. For now, suffice to say that it was every bit as good as we had hoped.
April meeting
Questions were asked regarding PCGB parking at the Simply Porsche event at Beaulieu so please note that there is no group parking allocated and even if we arrive in a convoy, we will be in the hands of the attendants who will direct us into position in order to keep things flowing. Best plan is to arrive, park and then meet up with friends, enemies etc.
Paul Butcher reiterated that as a thank you for our support of Weymouth with WeyPoP, Transport of Yesteryear (TOYS) will be inviting PCGB members to join them on Sunday, June 11th when pre-1990 cars will be allowed to park along Weymouth sea-front from 10am to 4pm for just £3.
The much anticipated Crosthwaite & Gardiner visit is now planned for June 22nd. At time of writing this it is fully subscribed but if you are interested, email region we'll let you know if any spaces become available.