Mid Summer Report

Mid summer sees us head into Europe to enjoy alternative pursuits until early autumn. This year launching new brands and sorting out supply chains means we have been delayed by four weeks. This has allowed us to attend events we hadn’t bargained on requiring us to scramble around for last minute tickets for three top drawer events.

First up was Porsche by the the lake which saw 750 Porsches descend on Little Easton Manor from all corners of the UK and beyond. Jeremy kindly proffered his spare ticket and after dusting off camera we were whizzing round the M25 to premeet the 9Werks crew to convoy the last few miles.

Guy and the chaps put on a very thoughtfully curated event with themed areas around the grounds with some truly top draw vehicles from a selection of GT products through to air cooled models and everything in between. I am not sure why, maybe it is its location, but it also serves as a road trip reunion with it becoming increasingly difficult as the day passes to wander around without bumping into another fellow serial roadtripper you have had the fortune of chasing across the landscape of some distant B road. The weather was a bit changeable which required sporadic huddling under the nearest horizontal vaguely non porous surface.

With hardly time to wipe the grass off the wheels we were then off to Flat 6 at Goodwood. Again tickets kindly supplied by Steve from the 9Werks collective who had to cancel last minute.

With another early start we hack diagonally down from past Gatwick on a selection of winding country roads as they pass over the South Downs to Chichester not dissimilar to my old backroad commuter route to Guildford. Quintessential English country parishes nestle sporadically along the hour and half drive making up for the lack of pace limited by random farm vehicles. We had actually passed along a variation of this route a few days previously to attend a barbeque laid on by Phil Raby, ex Total 911 founder and Editor, with the current Editor and cheif 9Werk’er Lee.

Flat 6 has a completely different pace from other Porsche specific events with a track day happening around you, a good smattering of heavily modded 911s to break up the usual sea of grey, black and silver. I must admit I did get caught with my head stuck in the wheel arch of a Cayenne snooping on exactly how the suspension had been raised (aluminium spacers it turns out) and what all terrain tyres they were running so as not to shred the wheel arches. We have a 2005 V8 Cayenne as a delivery vehicle but I think I would struggle to justify such mods for the periodic traversing of the M23 it is mainly used for.

With the struggles to find a specialist to service and MOT the fleet in a way that fits our busy schedule, I have all but given up and have gathered up the filters and fluids to undertake the servicing myself. This is not my preference as I am time pressed already and adding servicing of four Porsches is unwelcome, butt I have to put their well being first as they all work pretty hard and very seldom let us down thanks to the rigorous maintenance provided to date. The 996 is still waiting to have its Ohlins and Spyder Performance suspension parts fitted and I expect this will become a late autumn project. While not overly difficult, the possibility of a 20 year old bolt having seized solid is ever present and risks making a quick job into a long slog. The next road trip is in September but is a non challenging rip up the autobahn which shouldn’t be too taxing.