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Yesterday was our first toe-in-the-water taster of a track day organised with Twin Spark involvement for early and aircooled 911s.

21 classic Porsche cars from the UK joined 6 of us from the Netherlands to attend an open pit lane day at Spa Francorchamps, overseen by RSR Nurburg. After a dry but overcast start, the sun broke through the clouds, giving us beautifully warm weather in which to enjoy one of the greatest tracks in Europe. In short – it was FANTASTIC.

RSR Porsche in the sun at Spa

We attended the day in Woodstock: our 911 RSR 3.0, liveried especially for the event. The yellow 911 was wearing its usual Michelin TB5 rubber and running with enriched fuel pump settings, while we wait for our next-stage experimental MFI pump cam to be installed.

Following an interesting briefing and track walk with RSR’s Ron Simons, we were delighted to pass the 107 dB noise test and to join the legendary circuit from our home for the day: garage 27 in the Formula 1 pit lane. After some initial laps to settle the car in and remind us of the track’s nuances (also taking time to check the repair work covering the recently-collapsed Blanchimont Tunnel), we began to build up some pace.

Porsche 911 RSR in Spa pit lane

It was very interesting to see the lap times Woodstock was capable of compared to The Hulk: our Viper Green RSR, which we raced here in the 2009 Spa Summer Classic. Despite a taller fifth gear than would have been ideal for the steep climb up from Eau Rouge into Radillon, the car crested the hill carrying an incredible amount of energy. Woodstock’s beautifully smooth 3.0 RSR engine was worth more than 12 seconds a lap versus the stopgap 3-litre 911 SC engine fitted to the Viper Green car during our last visit, thanks to its additional grunt up the hill and down the long Kemmel Straight, and along the challenging second half of the circuit also. We have some video to upload that should illustrate the point.

Porsche Carrera: GT watches RS 911

The WEVO shifter and SL-Lite handle fitted to Woodstock made light work of swapping gears over the hundreds of kilometres covered during the day. The precise shift action and delicate shift knob feel from the TwinSpark-supplied, US-engineered equipment played a huge part in a very entertaining track tussle with an immaculate beautiful white 997 GT3, also from the Netherlands.

Some of the UK Porsche 911 contingent

Despite the GT3’s ample horsepower, and a very capable driver behind the wheel, the two generations of 911 swapped track position for lap after hard-driven lap. Both cars revelled in the full enjoyment of their design capabilities and, though I can’t speak for those in the other car, they were some of the most entertaining track laps I have enjoyed in a very long time.

Thanks to all who attended the day and made it such a memorable occasion. Plans are already in progress to make it a regular event, so we hope we can entice a few more of you out on track with us next year. Watch this space!