Get Ready For Summer And Just About Any Recreational Activity

German tuning company Lumma Design has introduced a brilliant concept for those with the active lifestyle. A custom sports trailer.

Shown here being towed by the new Lumma Design CLR 558 GT Cayenne, the trailer is like no other and is the ultimate in luxury items. To accommodate the trailer hitch, Lumma has designed an alternative sport exhaust system which eliminates the centrally mounted tail pipes and places the tailpipes towards the corners of the bumper.

The trailer, which is built to order, is constructed from aluminum and carbon fiber and can be made to accommodate many different lifestyle items including motorcycles, wet bikes, quads, or snowmobiles.

Options include integrated electric winches, retractable ramps and a unique, fully customized exterior design.

Source/Photos: Lumma Design

The Road America race is the inaugural event of the 2012 Pirelli Triple Crown Championship which also includes this year’s Cayman races at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) and Sebring International Raceway.  Among the prizes for the winner of this exclusive “championship within a championship” will be a VIP trip for two to the 2012 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, November 16 – 18, at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, courtesy of Pirelli Tire North America and Napleton Porsche of Westmont.

Pirelli Cayman Interseries race cars from Porsche Napleton Racing (PNR), Chris Smith Racing (CSR) and RaceLink are all fielding entries that are more than capable of winning in the mix of sprint and endurance races on the weekend’s schedule.
 
Bob Schneider, in his white No. 40 Cayman S modeled after the famous Martini & Rossi “Baby” Porsche 935, podiumed in both sprint races at the Mitty.  Schneider is teammates with Chuck Smithee and both race Caymans prepared by Chris Smith Racing, one of the premier race shops in the Southeast located near Road Atlanta.  The Mitty was the first Cayman Interseries race weekend for CSR and the team had at least one competitor on the podium in every race.

Smithee also had a strong weekend with CSR at Road Atlanta in his white No. 25 Cayman S that pays tribute to the Le Mans-winning Mobil 1 Porsche GT-1, finishing third in both Sunday races.

Bill Riddell is a multiple race winner and champion in Cayman Interseries competition racing under the banner of his own Jacksonville, Florida-based Racelink shop.  Riddell competes in his green and white striped No. 80 Cayman S themed after a David Piper Racing Porsche 917K.

Chicago-based PNR is showing up in full force at Road America with a lineup of veteran Cayman competitors and some new-for-2012 drivers.  One PNR driver who has already scored multiple wins this season is Ron Rashinski, who earned back-to-back sportsman class races at the season-opening race weekend at Palm Beach International Raceway (PBIR).  Rashinski races his popular blue and yellow No. 6 Cayman S that pays tribute to the mighty Sunoco/Penske Racing Porsche 917-30.

Another experienced driver from PNR is Wayne Nykyforchyn who drives his No. 11 white and red Cayman S that runs the livery of a Marlboro/Joest Racing Porsche 956.  He picked up a sportsman division podium on Sunday at Road Atlanta and should be in the hunt again at Road America.

Ed Napleton will be making his first Cayman Interseries start at Road America but has been one of the most improved drivers in the series since debuting near the end of last season.  Napleton races a special No. 1 Cayman S that features a unique carbon-fiber gray “prototype” livery.

Chris Gleason made his Cayman Interseries debut at the Palm Beach opener and returns for his second start of the year along with his son Kevin Gleason. Both drivers have winning experience in GRAND-AM Road Racing competition and Kevin Gleason put that to good use with a victory in his very first Cayman Interseries race start at Palm Beach in a featured Friday night enduro.  The Gleasons will be sharing a PNR-prepared red and white No. 14 Cayman S that pays tribute to a Richard Lloyd Racing Canon Porsche 956.

David Gronke is making his first Cayman Interseries race start at Road America since last October’s Rennsport Reunion.  He will once again be at the wheel of the No. 8 white and light-blue striped Cayman S modeled after a Blaupunkt/Joest Racing Porsche 962.

Two notables not competing this weekend include two-time reigning Cayman Interseries Champion Lee Davis and his friendly main rival Mark Sandridge. The traditional Cayman Interseries points structure allows for each competitor to have a “throw out” weekend and Davis and Sandridge both plan to return this summer for the balance of the season.

Source: Cayman Interseries

With all the recent hype surrounding the Porsche 918 Spyder prototype photos released this week from Porsche, we thought it would be good to take a closer look at this engineering marvel. With more than half of its development time completed, one thing is very clear: the Porsche 918 Spyder is firmly on course to become the super sports car of tomorrow.

As a plug-in hybrid vehicle, it logically combines a high-performance combustion engine with cutting-edge electric motors to deliver performance that is beyond extraordinary: the best of both worlds endows the 918 with the dynamics of a racing car packing more than 770 hp of power accompanied by fuel consumption, which at approximately three liters per 100 kilometers, is less than that of most modern compact cars.

Porsche is breaking yet more new ground with the technology demonstrator with spectacular solutions such as the full carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) body, fully adaptive aerodynamics, adaptive rear-axle steering and the upward-venting “top pipes” exhaust system. In the process, the 918 Spyder is offering a glimpse of what Porsche Intelligent Performance may be capable of in future.

The 918 Spyder has been designed as a super sports car and the legitimate successor to the Carrera GT. As such, the first goal was obvious: improving yet again on the Carrera GT’s performance. As far as is currently known, the 918 Spyder will be significantly faster – both in terms of acceleration and also performance on the racing circuit: less than three seconds from zero to 100 km/h (Carrera GT: 3.9 seconds) and less than 7:22 minutes on the Nürburgring Nordschleife (Carrera GT: 7:32 minutes) is an unmistakable statement. The uniqueness of the 918 Spyder is best represented by the union of outstanding performance with a level of efficiency never seen before in the super sports car sector. Fuel consumption of approximately three liters per 100 kilometers and an electric range in excess of 25 kilometers are unprecedented.

Source/Photos: Porsche

Beginning as a Porsche/Audi joint dealer, the Cascade group has since brought on the Subaru and Mazda brands.  While Cascade will continue to sell Audi models, Porsche has fallen by the wayside.  The Cascade Porsche franchise has recently been sold off to the Penske Automotive Group based in Michigan.  The Penske Group has consolidated the Cascade stock into inventory at their existing Beachwood Porsche dealer only about thirty minutes north.

With Cascade gone, only Beachwood and Porsche of North Olmstead remain to keep Northern Ohio supplied with Zuffenhausen’s best.

“It was time. Sometimes you have to trim the tree to make it grow,” said Michelle Primm, managing sibling of the family owned Cascade Group.  She, with brothers Pat and Michael, are three equal partners in the dealership founded by their father, Don.

“The timing was right…It’s been a great relationship. It’s been a great ride,” Michelle Primm said. “The day has come where it’s time to move along. We’re going to miss it.”

Fourth Place in Race #2 of Laguna Seca IMSA GT3 Challenge Doubleheader

David Calvert-Jones had a lot of confidence heading into last weekend’s IMSA GT3 Challenge by Yokohama doubleheader at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in support of the American Le Mans Monterey presented by Patron.

That confidence was rewarded with extremely quick times in practice and qualifying in the No. 12 PC Tools Porsche. At the end of the weekend, however, CJ had to use the term uttered by racers so many times over the years when things don’t go as well as one would like on the racetrack.

“That’s racing,” said CJ after a DNF (Did Not Finish) in Race #1 and a fourth-place Gold Cup class result in Race #2 after being spun out of second in the final turn on the final lap.

Having competed previously in other events at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, CJ had a good handle on the racetrack, as evidenced by the fact that he was quickest in class in Thursday’s opening practice of the weekend and clocked the third-best time in the day’s second practice.

He qualified the No. 12 PC Tools machine third for Race #1 and ran the first half of the 45-minute race well within sight of at least a podium result. Unfortunately, disaster struck on Lap 15 as he attempted to make his way around a slower, Platinum Cup car.

“The first race was a difficult one; I made a mistake overtaking a Platinum car,” explained CJ, who wound up 10th in the final class standings. “I got a good run out of [Turn] 6 and I went to take him in the Corkscrew, but I just got a little too far on the inside and couldn’t pull the car out, so I gave him a little love tap, which damaged the radiator, and that put me out. I was coming third then, right behind Melanie [Snow, who went on to finish second behind Angel Benitez Jr.].”

CJ started fourth in the Gold class for Race #2 owing to the fact that he posted the fourth quickest Gold time in Race #1. He once again quickly worked his way up into podium contention before a full-course caution late in the race shuffled the deck.

“I started fourth and got up to third, and I was a couple seconds behind Melanie, just pacing myself,” CJ described. “Then we had a double yellow for a couple incidents around the track, so the pace car came out. With a few seconds left on the clock, they went green. It was one last lap under green, which just caused total chaos. The field was all bunched up and jockeying for position.

“Benitez, who was coming second, was taken out, and so I was coming second, a couple of cars behind Melanie [the eventual race winner]. I got into Turn 11, the last turn coming onto the main straight for the finish, and a lapped Gold car that locked it up and went sideways going into the turn took me out. It ended up spinning me around. I got the car going again and got in for fourth, but it was very frustrating.”

Despite the disappointing results, CJ came away from the weekend knowing he had a strong racecar throughout. He was also pleased with the opportunity to entertain a number of special guests from PC Tools, which has a base of operations in nearby Silicon Valley.

“At least I got some points in the second race,” CJ said. “The cars all ran really well, everyone on the whole team. [Competition Motorsports owner] Bob [Faieta] had all the cars just running perfectly. We ran them pretty hard all weekend. We did one little setup change after the promoter test day, which I think got us hooked up a little more, and it all ran really well. A couple seconds here or a couple seconds there of misjudgment or someone making a bad move and, bang, your weekend’s gone out the window.

“It was good to be able to show the guys at PC Tools around the car and how the car works and the racing works. We got them up on the hill and they were on the radios listening to our communication during the race and they hung out in the pits for a while and got amongst us. I think they went away really happy with the day and seeing the car up there and getting really excited when it was in second place for a while. It was a worthwhile experience for them.”

CJ was also pleased with the performance of Competition Motorsports in the six-hour ALMS race on Saturday afternoon. Co-drivers Faieta, Michael Avenatti and Cort Wagner placed third in the GTC class sharing the No. 24 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

Next up for CJ will be the IMSA GT3 Challenge by Yokohama doubleheader at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport International Raceway). The pair of races will once again run in conjunction with the American Le Mans Series event weekend on July 20-22.

Source: PC Tools
Photos: Bob Chapman / Autosport Images

Have you always wanted a Janis Joplin style 356?

This car recently posted for sale on E-Bay is probably one of the most bizarre 356′s you will see. The car was finished with a custom vinyl wrap inspired by Janis Joplin’s 356 SC Cabriolet. The owner claims that the graphics are not exact, but very similar to Janis’ car. I’ll take his word on that one…

Not only is this car bizarre, the owner claims to have a facebook page for the car appropriately named “Seamor.”

Underneath it all, the car appears to be a very nice solid car and worth a look for anyone in the market for a matching numbers 356 SC. And since it’s only a vinyl wrap, take it off when you are tired of looking totally ridiculous.

Source/Photos: E-Bay

Development of the Porsche super sports car enters next phase

The Porsche 918 Spyder is on the road: Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, has taken the driving trials of the super sports car of the future a step further with completion of the initial prototypes. The 918 Spyder is planned for production at the end of September 2013, with the first customer deliveries currently scheduled for the United States late in 2013. “What we are doing with the 918 Spyder is redefining driving fun, efficiency and performance,” said Wolfgang Hatz, Member of the Executive Board Research and Development of Porsche AG.

The prototypes, their camouflage harking back to historical Porsche 917 racing cars, signal the final touches to the 918 Spyder. The focus is on the interplay between the highly sophisticated individual drive components. The combination of combustion engine and two independent electric motors – one on the front axle and one in the drive line, acting on the rear wheels – poses completely new demands on the development of the operating strategies. “They are therefore a critical component in this vehicle into which we have put all of our expertise and capacity for innovation,” said Wolfgang Hatz. These operating strategies and the development of the software to go with them are one of Porsche’s core competences. Both of them have a major influence on the extreme driving fun to be had with the 918 Spyder and they make possible a unique combination of minimal fuel consumption and maximum performance. The initial results of the driving trials are in line with the high expectations placed on the 918 Spyder.

The super sports car is designed as a plug-in hybrid vehicle combining a high-performance combustion engine with cutting-edge electric motors for extraordinary performance: on the one hand, the dynamics of a racing machine boasting more than 770 hp, on the other hand, fuel consumption in the region of three litres per 100 kilometres. Moreover, Porsche is breaking yet more new ground with the technology demonstrator with spectacular solutions such as the full carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) monocoque with unit carrier, fully adaptive aerodynamics, adaptive rear-axle steering and the upward-venting “top pipes” exhaust system. In the process, the 918 Spyder is offering a glimpse of what Porsche Intelligent Performance may be capable of in future.

FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THE 918 SPYDER PROTOTYPE PLEASE VISIT US ON FACEBOOK

Source: Porsche

Just a couple of weeks ago, a wager was placed.  Lally’s team members from either side of the Grand Am paddock placed bets upon which car Lally would be driving when he finally took his 100th career podium.  The consequences for the poor soul to place the incorrect bet: Arriving to the grid of the proceeding event wearing the “KIA Hamster” costume. 

The time has come to don the hamster apparel.

Lally was hired earlier this year to drive for the Magnus Racing Porsche team in the Grand Am Rolex Series GT class.  Concurrently, Lally has returned to the cockpit of the KIA Forte Koup in the Grand Am Continental Tire Street Touring class.  At the 4th round of the season, Lally scored a third place after a late race mistake by the Sahlens Mazda team handed him the position, moving his Pink Magnus Porsche from fourth with only a handful of laps remaining in the event.  Lally managed to hold off the opposition in order to take podium number one-hundred.

9Magazine would like to congratulate Andy Lally on his 100^th career podium.  Also, congratulations to Nic Jonsson, who is the lucky winner of an afternoon in a KIA hamster costume.

Photos: Porsche / KIA

Armed with a new aerodynamic package for Round #3 of the 2012 American Le Mans Series race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, a six-hour endure.  the four Porsche 911 GT3 RSR entries improved their performance, but bad luck near the end of the race prevented them from improving their final finishing positions.

Wolf Henzler (Germany), driving the Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 GT3 RSR he shares with Bryan Sellers (USA), led the GT class for several laps in the last hour as a result of six positions picked up on the field when the team took only fuel – no tires or driver change – on the last pit stop. But a combination of tire wear and contact from the other competitors pushed him back to seventh place in the end.

“When we left the pits, the performance was good, but then I started to lose grip. One Corvette passed me and I couldn’t follow him. And then I had a BMW, a Corvette and a BMW behind me. I could stay ahead of them, but then the BMW dove a little later into Turn 11, and I don’t think he had position to do so. He hit me on the left rear, just on the edge. I went sideways and lost grip, and had a bad exit. He passed me, then the Corvette and the other BMW passed me. I continued and I lost grip more and more. By this time I had almost a stint on them. I was fighting hard and the Ferrari was coming with fresh tires and the Lizard Porsche behind him. I was hit again on the left in the last turn,” said Henzler.

The #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) also made it to the top three late in the race after beating their competition out of the pits, but a stop-and-go penalty for an errant air hose which clipped the rear wing as the car left its pit box put the team out of contention for the win and a sixth place finish in GT.

“The aero package certainly has us headed in the right direction, and we could have been on the podium if it wasn’t for our bad luck with the air hose. Our crew was quick to get us out of the pits all day, and we were fast in most parts of the track,” said Bergmeister.

The #44 Flying Lizard car, with Seth Neiman (USA) and Marco Holzer (Germany) at the helm, was running in the top three early in the race, and Holzer was satisfied with the car’s performance.

“Seth and I both felt the improvement in performance from the new package, and we had the car well-placed in the standings at different times during the race,” said Holzer. 

Holzer/Neiman finished ninth in class, while the Bryce Miller/Sascha Maassen Paul Miller Racing Porsche was tenth.

In the GTC class, all seven entries seemed to be in contention at one time or another during the event, but it was the TRG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car of Emilio Di Guida, Jeroen Bleekemolen, and Bret Curtis that took the win. All three drivers celebrated the emotional win:

Jeroen Bleekemolen (#66-GTC Porsche 911 GT3 Cup) – 9th ALMS Win. “It’s nice to get a win in a car with different colors. This is getting harder and harder to win. You are getting a lot more cars out there with experience and a lot of great drivers. We didn’t have a lot of mistakes from the drivers and the teams, so it was just a good win and just great. I wasn’t worried when the sister car had troubles, usually the Porsches are so reliable so when one has a problem the chances of your car having the same are very, very low.”

Emilio Di Guida (#66-GTC Porsche 911 GT3 Cup) – First ALMS Win. “Really for me, traffic is really tough. I don’t have as much experience as these guys. I am happy to have these two team mates. It was a new experience and challenge, I am so happy. This is just my 5th race so first place is amazing”

Brett Curtis (#66-GTC Porsche 911 GT3 Cup) – First ALMS Win. “I think we just drove a really hard race, but conservative. The thing about Kevin Buckler and TRG is he wants you to push, but he also paces out the car. The strategy was really good, everyone was putting in solid laps, and the crew did a super-super job. It was the strategy from the get-go. Some teams might have been struggling but we kept on and took the win.”

Results
GT class
1. Gavin/Milner (GB/USA), Chevrolet Corvette, 232 laps
2. Magnussen/Garcia (DK/E), Chevrolet Corvette, 232
3. Auberlen/Müller (USA/D), BMW E92 M3, 232
4. Hand/Müller (USA/D), BMW E92 M3, 232
5. Sharp/van Overbeek (USA/USA), Ferrari F458 Italia, 232
6. Bergmeister/Long (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 232
7. Henzler/Sellers (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 232
9. Holzer/Neiman /D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 230
10. Maassen/Miller (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 229

GTC class
1. Bleekemolen/Di Guida/Curtin (NL/VEN/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 219 laps
2. Sofronas/Welch/Villeneuve (USA/USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 219
3. Vaeta/Avenati/Wagner (USA/USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 219

Points’ standings
GT class
Drivers
1. Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, Chevrolet, 59 points
2. Joey Hand, Dirk Müller, BMW, 52
3. Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia, Chevrolet, 48
4. Scott Sharp, Johannes van Overbeek, Ferrari, 29
Bill Auberlen/Jörg Müller, BMW, 29
7. Wolf Henzler, Bryan Sellers, Porsche, 19
8. Sascha Maassen, Bryce Miller, Porsche, 18
9. Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Long, Porsche, 17
10. Seth Neiman, Porsche, 16

Manufacturers
1. Chevrolet, 62 points
2. BMW, 55
3. Porsche, 45

Teams
1. Corvette Racing, Chevrolet, 62 points
2. BMW Team RLL, BMW, 55
3. Extreme Speed Motorsports, Ferrari, 31
4. Flying Lizard Motorsports, Porsche, 22
5. Team Falken Tire, Porsche, 19
6. Paul Miller Racing, Porsche, 18

Source: Porsche