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I spent the weekend in Paris, meeting Porsche 356 racer Steven Harris and WEVO top man Hayden Burvill at the finish of the 2010 Peking to Paris Motor Challenge. The weather was cold but sunny, and the streets were lined with spectators, all eager to see these magnificent machines arrive after their gruelling 14,000 kilometre drive across Mongolia, Russia, Iran and into Europe via Turkey and Greece.

On the 10th of September, ninety eight cars left China. Despite the incredible torture doled out on these vehicles, as they crossed the Gobi desert and used worn-out rock tracks to cover thousands of miles, only twelve retirements are recorded on the official time sheets. I’d call that the best result.

Standing next to cars like the 1903 Itala and the 1914 La France fire engine (“converted into a sports fire [...]

As I write this post, a fantastic event is taking place to raise funds for a fellow R Gruppe member in California. The benefit is in aid of long-serving Gruppe member Roger Grago, who is currently recovering from brain surgery.

At the time he was diagnosed, Roger was in the middle of switching from one job to another, and one health insurer to another, so when he suddenly needed emergency surgery to take a tennis ball-sized tumour out of his head, he was uninsured. Though the surgeon donated his services, there were still hospital bills and follow up treatments to pay for, running into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Roger’s R Gruppe and Der Kleiner Panzer networks swung into action, quickly organising hospital [...]

The story of our June track day, where twenty-five air-cooled Porsche 911s came to Spa Francorchamps race track, features in this month’s Total 911 magazine. The mag has done a superb job on layout and design, and the piece really captures the positive atmosphere that surrounds an upbeat gathering of classic Porsche fans, at an equally classic circuit.

The piece talks the reader around a lap of Spa, as experienced from the front seat of Woodstock, TwinSpark’s 3.0 RSR. With Leonard driving, we chased, passed, got repassed and then rehunted a brilliant white 997 GT3 around the circuit for 5 or 6 laps, before coming in to get our breath back and stop laughing. Too much fun really.

My article encompasses the passenger sensations, as well as guidance on the perfect lap here from Ron Simons. Ron was our track day partner via his company RSR Nurburg, and has done a [...]