James Samuel Poole, UK

997.1 Turbo Model 2008 Year April 2015 Acquired 996.1 GT3 Model 2000 Year January 2018 Acquired

Well, it’s certainly been a busy month in the Samuel household. Living between houses then finally getting the new place has meant the cars have been scattered about a bit, but fortunately it does mean I have been driving one or the other pretty much daily, so I cannot complain.

Surprisingly, for long-distance touring the GT3 isn’t actually that bad, although commuting across Bournemouth and Poole the heavy clutch and lightweight flywheel can get a bit tiresome.

I was lucky enough to get a hospitality ticket for the 70th year of Porsche festival at Brands Hatch.

The weather was amazing and some stunning vehicles turned up both on track and on the various stands. Even the car park looked very special! I loved seeing the race cars of new and old hammering round the Indy circuit and watching the final round of the

PCGB championship.

As I write this I am just getting ready for the final track day of the year, but

what a way to finish – two whole days at Spa, a track I have been desperate to drive since I can remember. With that in mind my new backboxes have arrived. The original ones have just started going at the seams so I decided to replace them with some lighter and more track friendly ones from FVD. Full report once they are on.

I also mentioned the other month I have been using a HANS or FHR device. With this in mind I picked up a bargain on ebay for a brand-new set of OEM harnesses which are FHR specific. I just need to get them fitted before I head off.

The Turbo has taken most of the daily duties and has been amazing. I love clocking up miles in it; it’s so fast, so capable and I just love looking at it when I have cleaned it… the only trouble is it just makes me want to jump in it and go for a blast.

I did do a quick test fit at the new house and found it fits snug in the current garage, so big thumbs up there.

This month I was also lucky enough to be invited on a driving day with OPC Guildford. As part of the day we were able to drive a whole selection of cars from the Porsche line-up. My personal highlight was the 991.2 GTS 4. Such a great all-rounder, plenty fast enough for every situation and the ride was simply amazing. I would like to try one of the manual versions, but for everyday use the PDK system is just so good.

Right, time to get tinkering on the GT3. Roll on Spa…