Diego Gabathuler
Switzerland
Model 3.0 CARRERA SC
Year 1982
Acquired JANUARY 2018
Model 997.1 TURBO
Year 2008
Acquired AUGUST 2011
Model 997 GT2
Year 2008
Acquired FEBRUARY 2013
Model 997.2 GT3 RS
Year 2010
Acquired MAY 2016
Model 991 GT3 TOURING
Year 2018
Acquired FEBRUARY 2020
Model 992 GT3 TOURING
Year 2022
Acquired MAY 2022
The first months of a new year, when temperatures in Switzerland are low and the roads are wet and salty, is the best time for planning the driving season ahead. Daydreaming and planning some great motoring adventures keeps the winter blues in check.
We’ll kick things off with a two-day track event in Mugello in March, driving on the legendary F1 and Moto GP track north of Florence with GT3 Cup and GT4 Clubsport race cars. Meeting with likeminded petrolheads, enjoying the Italian cuisine and mastering the challenging turns of the Mugello racetrack… what could be a better start into a hopefully eventful motoring season?
Most of the great European alpine passes won’t be accessible before late April to early May, and a few are only going to be opened after the beginning of June. This means we’ll need some inspiring activities to undertake in April and May to bridge the time until we can embark on our usual adventures on the passes. The plan is to visit some of the most distinguished car museums in Europe: the Porsche Museum and the Mercedes-benz Museum in Stuttgart, and the Museo Mille Miglia and the MAUTO, the Museo Nazionale dell’automobile – both in the north of Italy. Some other great options for May are a long weekend’s drive to Tuscany or the Emilia-romagna with a visit to the Ferrari and Enzo Museum, or a drive to the Côte d’azur, including a visit of the extraordinary car collection of the Prince of Monaco. The cars of choice are the 992 Turbo S for heading north on the German Autobahn and the 991 GT3 Touring with a stick for the many curves on the southbound drive to Italy.
At the end of May and the beginning of June, the alpine roads season will finally kick in. Driving some of the great French alpine crossings is our plan this year. From a total of 13 alpine crossings exceeding 2,000m, we have the following five on the menu: the Col de l’iseran at 2,764m; the Col Agnel at 2,744m; the Col de la Bonette at 2,715m; the Col du Galibier at 2,642m; and the Col d’izoard at 2,360m. The scenery in the French Alps is unique and at the start of the season there won’t be an excessive amount of traffic. The cars of choice for this undertaking will be the 997 GT3 RS for myself and the manual 997 GTS for my best friend.
School holidays start at the beginning of July in Switzerland. Around this time the majority of people leave for popular holiday destinations and traffic diminishes greatly. This provides an excellent occasion to get up at 4am a handful of times and to fire up the engines for some spirited alpine driving. We’re fortunate to have more than a dozen amazing alpine passes in Italy and Austria within three hours of our homes. With higher temperatures it’s the right time to take out the widowmaker – my 997 GT2.
In July two friends and I are going to visit Goodwood again. We’ve decided to go by car this time and make it an exciting roadtrip with our G-series 911. The feeling of being surrounded by thousands of different petrolheads and all different kinds of petrol-powered vehicles is unparalleled. The cars at Goodwood come in all shapes and forms, from old to new, from one to 16 cylinders, from rally to F1 cars, from all original classics to restomods.
In August and September there’ll be some great car enthusiast events in Switzerland. We have the Passione Engadina with different race categories, auctions and get-togethers in one of the most beautiful areas of the country. At the beginning of September, a plethora of enthusiasts gather for the Arosa Classic hillclimb race, during which five different categories race against the clock. Covering 7.3km with 76 turns, drivers compete for the fastest hillclimb. The chosen ride to get there is my 992 GT3 with a manual gearbox.
October will be the final month for racing in the countries in the vicinity of Switzerland. Our options are Dijon, Anneau du Rhin, Hockenheim, Monza and Salzburgring. October is also the best time to start preparing the cars for winter storage. This includes cleaning the outside, treating the leather on the inside, filling up the tank and pumping the tyres with an additional “bar” before driving them onto cradles. The final act is going to be connecting them to the battery maintainer for a few months.
The end of the year is also the beginning of a new year full of ideas concerning motoring-related activities. Everything starts anew.