Rob Clarke
Bristol, UK @rob911_ltl @ROB996LTL
Model 996.1 Carrera 4 Year 1999 Acquired February 2014
One thing that’s common with all types of motorsport, whether it’s
Formula 1, the
World Endurance Championship or those local grassroots events held in car parks, is the amount of volunteers who are there to help keep it running smoothly and safely.
Since I enjoy watching motorsport and have done a few events – though not this year – I figured that once a year I would be one of those volunteers and help out. This year I was marshalling at the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club Sprint at Castle Combe circuit. The good thing about marshalling is that you will be there with like-minded petrolheads talking about cars of all shapes and sizes and get closer to the action.
On occasion you do have to do a little bit of flag waving and report any driver infringements, but that’s all part of the day. It makes a great day out and you feel like you’re putting something back into the world of motorsport. If people didn’t volunteer there would be no events, so I feel it’s a small price to pay to give back to the sport. This year there were three 911s on track; normally you are lucky to get one – we had two classics and a Turbo! I didn’t look at their times, but it’s always good to see and hear them on track.
My own fleet of cars is changing and the 911 is now my daily. My commute is dramatically shorter since I have changed jobs – actually it’s too short! The car is hardly warming up before I am parking. I am keeping revs below 4,000rpm as I was told by a 996 owner several years ago that when the engine’s cold you shouldn’t run them above 4,000 until the engine is fully warmed and the oil pressure has stabilised. Not sure how much truth there is in that but it does seem quite sensible not to stress the engine when it’s cold.
The downside is I am now ‘captain slow’ and there is no fun at the lights. On the plus side when there is a bit of traffic this adds enough time to the journey to warm the engine and unleash a bit more of the flat six!