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Please note: Anything beyond November 22 is recorded in my new blog. Please see the link to it on my homepage or CLICK HERE
Nov 22, 2009 Richmond, BC In-door Karting event (Bullet Racing) to raise funds for the BC Children's Hospital Okay, so we had a blast!!! In door karting is so much fun!!!! After leaving the house at 6 am and battling the snow and ice on the Coquihalla, I arrived at the Bullet Racing head quarters ( M B Euromotors) downtown Vancouver Saturday morning around 11 am. Steve and the crew were already there and we got on with business right away. Sort out team clothing and start practicing pit stops with the car. We set up tables to mimic the pit wall and the guys did a great job changing tires at speed without tripping over each other. Ross Bentley showed up also and then we did the quick driver change practice also. Ross will be a great team mate, we always knew each other , we just never got to work together on the same team. I am really looking forward to working with him. Between us we have around 40+ years racing experience which included many Daytona races. Steve and his crew are great to work with also, Bernie, Al, Matt, Lou, Bob, Chris, Jeff and....... they all work well together as a team. That is exactly what we need TEAMWORK! That is what wins 24 hr races! Sunday we went to TBC (the in door karting place in Richmond). Bullet racing placed Porsche race cars on display and of course also our Porsche Cup car for the race. It is quite a site to see all the Porsches lined up! Inside we had a silent auction going on, there was a place
to pledge your "per lap" contribution to the Children's Hospital and
we had Bullet Racing clothing for sale. Of course there was lots of food and
coffee. Oh, and then there was karting....... We had some challenges put towards us from several people. Nor Ross nor I flinched. We are simply fast! OK, Chris who weighs next to nothing and practically lives at TBC, was quick also. (fastest actually......) Ross and I were second and third fastest for the day! Ross and I were about 1 to 2 tenth of a second apart. He just had a faster kart, I know it. Daryl Martini and Chris Gailus (Global BC) challenged us..........naahhhh, no match!!!! Daytona....HERE WE COME! The entire event (The silent auction, karting, pledging)
was a success, we raised approx $20,000 for the Children's Hospital. Let's keep
up the drive for more money per lap, we want to support the Children's Hospital
to its full potential. Thanks for everybody that helped us out by attending this
fantastic event. Thanks to Steve, Tom, Daryl and all that were involved. Kees
Tour de Porsche 2009 It's almost over. I'm actually a little sad that we are on the last leg of our 3 month tour. The only ones left are Prestige (Montreal) and Porsche Halifax (Dec 1 & 2). We started the Tour de Porsche back in August in Toronto. Our team (Jonathan Urlin and Alice Jensen) and our 6 Porsche Canada cars (Boxster, Cayman, 2 911's and 2 Cayennes) went to every Canadian dealer and we did a 2, 3 or 4 day presentation to potential customers. We did a street drive and paid a visit to the local racetrack or large parking lot where we did some driving exercises. We made the potential customers drive 'm like they stole 'm! Jonathan and I did the presentations and instructing and Alice did all the logistics and reporting back to the office.....Thank you Alice! We all had a great time working together and had about 400 fantastic people go through the program. We met so many nice and interesting people, I really hope some of them will join the fantastic Porsche family soon.
Last week of September - First week of Oct. 2009 Spending the last two weeks with the new Porsche Panamera has been totally awesome! The car has so much Porsche DNA, it is so wonderful to drive and I just love my job! Although this was not a two week race, it certainly had its exciting moments. Driving fast and instructing the media around Road America with the new Panamera on a wet track makes for exciting times from the passenger seat especially. The Panamera is a wonderful Porsche. A four door sport sedan that is like no other. Its wider, lower, bigger, lighter, faster, has more interior room and it totally creates excitement for ALL passengers. The back seat is like a limo. The "S" is fun, the 4S is stable and the Turbo is just totally awesome. Next time you see me, just ask about the Panamera and I'll tell you all about how much I love this machine!!! CCGP
Time goes by so fast. I almost forgot to write about my wonderful weekend at the CCGP with Bullet Racing and the Turbo 911. Friday we had a full day as it was a testing day, so we had open track pretty much all day. Instead of using up my racecar for the weekend, I spend more time coaching the new drivers we had on our team in the Koni cars. Bullet Racing had rented out their Koni cars and so we had a full stable of racecars. 3 Koni cars, my Turbo and Steve’s Cup car. It looked pretty impressive! Saturday morning we woke up to rain, so with very little to gain and a lot to loose, we opted to keep the cars in the tent. In the afternoon it became better and I went out to qualify my car. Not having been in the car for a while and then going out on a green track with sticker tires was not the ideal situation for qualifying. Once the tires came in after a few laps, I did get one “ok” lap in and qualified 5th in my group. I was of course disappointed, but it was impossible to beat the machinery that was out there. No matter what, 650 hp doesn’t beat 850+ hp. I got out gunned…… Sunday morning was dry again and we went out for the warm up. I was second fasted and felt a little more comfortable in the car. After all was said and done, I would be in 7th starting position and Steve was in 8th position with his Cup car. Our plan was to let everybody sort things out a little before turn 1, it’s too easy to over-cook it and do damage that we don’t need. So, an easy start…..although at the start I got good acceleration, I couldn’t go past the car in front of me on the left so had to go to the right ride. This is not good and so instead of damaging the car, I backed off and this allowed 2 cars to go around the outside of us. The next couple of laps I got going pretty good and caught up all the spots I had given up before. From there it was difficult to catch the next car, I was getting him by about ˝ second a lap, but then something would happen ( traffic or cars spinning in front of me) and I would fall back again. I tried, but without success. I ended up finishing in 5th place, right where I started. Steve’s car was too loud and he had to pull into the pits, so he didn’t finish. I
had a great time even though I would have liked to do better. In the end, the
car came home in one piece, we all had smiles and we raised some money for the From
here I go back on the “Tour de Porsche” in And of course……sooner or later I will be testing the Cup car for Daytona 2010. Talk soon, Kees ************************************************************************ Well, I decided I should get back to writing about my adventures. In the spring of 2007 I got the invite to do the TransSyberia Rally which got me started on keeping a story going. What a story it was……2007 and again in 2008. Now here we are in 2009 and it looks like I am going to have more stories to tell you about. First
of all I met up with Ken. Ken is from We
have become great friends and Ken wanted to know more about my 280Z Datsun
racecar I had stored away in my garage. The result from wanting to know more is
that he got his hands dirty helping me getting the car ready to race again. He
then ended up driving it at the Westwood50 reunion this last July at While
Ken drove my Datsun, I was invited to drive for Steve Paquette and his Bullet
Racing Team. Bullet Racing is a Then there is the much anticipated new Porsche Panamera. I was invited to join Porsche North America at Laguna Seca for the Monterey Historics weekend to be part of the introduction of the car to the international journalists and also to the public. I
arrived on Wednesday afternoon at Upon arrival at the hotel I saw the new Panamera for the first time. What a great looking car! Never mind the pictures, you have to see this car for real with your own eyes!! It’s a real looker!!!! The next morning I joined Hurley Haywood and David Donohue. The three of us were the pro-driver team for this launch at Laguna Seca racetrack. The cars were so new, they just got unloaded from the truck on Wednesday afternoon, there were NO miles on the cars and NO miles on the brake pads…..first job, bed brake pads! PCNA had brought three Panameras to the track, a “S”, a “4S” and a Turbo. The cars are unbelievable, a true 4 door SPORT sedan. Porsche got it right with this car, my first feel of the car was that it is so forgiving, you can make it understeer or oversteer, it has very little body roll and it sounds GREAT! One of the things that is very apparent is that Porsche went through great lengths to keep the Center of Gravity very low. It is not only very noticeable when you drive the car, it is also very noticeable when you sit in the very roomy back seat. The people up front seem to be sitting very low! On the all wheel drive cars the front axle actually goes through the bottom part of the engine, thus lowering the entire engine in the car and getting a lower CG. Okay, enough about the Panamera, you now know that I am VERY impressed with this car already. So that was Thursday, now it is Friday and I am just hanging around the Porsche display at the track. Part of my job is to be there and answer any questions and generally spread my excitement for the brand. Klaus Bishof from the Porsche museum had brought several cars from the museum and had them on display. Klaus is very proud of his cars, he makes sure they are all in perfect shape and ready to be driven at any time. The three cars that were under the tent I was at (aside from the LMP2 car, 1998 GT1 LeMans wining car, LeMans winning 917, a 908 and several others) were the Porsche F1 car , the Porsche F2 car and the 1962 718 W-RS GroSSmutter Spyder. There is only ONE 718 W-RS Spyder in existence. It’s powered by a 2 liter flat 8 cyl. and has a 6 speed transmission. Klaus asked me to drive the car in the “free Porsche parade” laps. Heck Yes! Was my answer. So I did 8 laps in the Spyder with Hurley Haywood following me closely in the F2 car and Klaus completing our group with the F1 car. What an honour to be part of this display. Thusday drive a newest of the newest Panamera (at speed!!!) and Friday drive a one of a kind Spyder straight out of the museum (at speed!!!!) ……It doesn’t get any better then that …..or does it? As I am out walking around I meet up with Jim Edwards, Jim owns the Bob Akin 935 I drove at Daytona in 1985. This 935 was a specially engineered and built car to stay with the GTP cars. A FAST (very fast!!!) 935. The last of the 935’s actually, and I drove it to a 5th place finish at the Daytona 24 hr. (right behind 4 Porsche 962s). Jim was all excited to see me there and invited me to drive the car tomorrow (Saturday) during the Porsche parade laps in honour and memory of the Bobs (Bob Snodgrass and Bob Carlson). All of you know how much Bob Carlson meant to me. It is Bob Carlson whom I am so thankful to to put me back in the Porsche family the way I am today. I
can add to this that Bob Akin was the owner of the car when I drove it in 1985,
Bob Akin was a great influence also on my career. He trusted me with his 935s
and even with his 962 (Road So when Jim asked my response was an emotional YES!, YES! When I did the laps with the 935, I had some passengers with me for the first lap, then I was on my own and I felt like I never left the car, I was totally at home in it. This is what my career was all about. This is why I still love Porsche and this is why I will continue to do whatever I can to promote the product. The 2009 Monterey Historics were an historic moment (weekend) for me. Thursday Panarama, Friday 718/8 Spyder, Saturday 935 It doesn’t get any better then that, or does it? We’ll see….to be continued. Next
is the CCGP at Kees ************************************************************************ Westwood50
Race weekend July 17, 18 and 19, 2009 Some time last year when I was at Mission Raceway, I was told about the plans for a Westwood reunion at the track. I suggested at that time that since my Datsun 280Z was an old Westwood car and I had won the Canadian Championship in it there back in 1978, I should bring it down and if nothing else it could be “on display” Fast
forward to this spring and the thought came up to perhaps run my car at the CCGP
in September. Since we were dragging it down to So, Ken and I worked on the car. Cleaned it up, changed oil, nut and bolt check, redo the safety items like brake calipers etc. and we installed the fire suppression system to get the car up to current specs. After all, it hadn’t been at the track since 1999. Fast forward to two weeks before the Westwood50 weekend and just as we finished my 280Z and looked at this shiny ready to go car, the opportunity arose to drive for Bullet Racing. Steve asked me to drive his 911 TT and to see if I liked it. Of course, when it rains….it pours. Now I have two cars to drive and I promised Morrisport to help out with some duties and perhaps I could do some VIP rides…. As it turned out, I put Ken Whittall in my car to do the Westwood50 track sessions and I committed to Steve and Bullet Racing. I helped Tony Jr. a few times and there was no need for me to do VIP rides. An easy weekend after all. Bullet Racing donates money to the BC Children’s Hospital. I like that a lot. It’s a team that ran at the Daytona 24hr in ’08 and ’09. I had followed them on the internet and to see them finish the 24 hr race in ’08 (and again in ’09) impressed me a lot. It is VERY difficult to finish a Daytona 24 hr race. To
run with them at So it was a VERY successful weekend, and yes, I liked working with Bullet Racing and I enjoyed driving the 911 TT. Ken Whittall meanwhile drove my 280Z 9 track sessions that weekend. He never had any mechanical problems and brought the car home in one piece. He did a great job! Let’s see where it all goes from here. Till next time. Kees |