About this event
Porsche Santa Barbara presents the
California Central Coast Region - Porsche Club of America
Teststrecke XV
The CCCR-PCA will hold its first auto-cross event of 2016, Teststrecke XV, on January 23, 2016. We are celebrating our 5th year of auto-crossing at the Central Coast Jet Center on the south side of Santa Maria Airport. The first one was in March of 2012 and was named Teststrecke I by Jon Milledge. Many thanks to Jon and Bruce Bero, past president, for their hard work in getting the CCCR-PCA back into auto-crossing, after several years without a track. We have had over 700 participants at 14 events since then.
In addition to Jon and Bruce’s and hard work, we would also like to thank Porsche’s corporate executives for deciding to make California, namely Santa Maria Airport, the place where they would introduce the new 911 to hundreds of journalists from around the world in 2011. Many of them got to test drive the new Porsche on this test track to help make their evaluations.
As you all know the southwest end of the airport is also used by the Santa Maria Karting Association. They had lost their lease due to some FAA concerns, but was able to get it back a couple of years ago. Apparently, the SMKA insurance or the FAA felt the test track was too close to their track and that it posed a safety issue, so they installed a fence across the hairpin turn at the west end of the track, as shown in the photo below. We completely agree with them that this was the right thing to do for the safety of, not only the kids, but of all concerned who use this area for racing.
A few months ago, our president Chuck Jennings, approached me to check into re-paving a connector of the two portions of good track, thereby reinstating the turn. With Tom Dobyns effort working with Chris Hastert, the airport manager, we have managed to get permission to replace a section of old deteriorated runway to again re-connect the good asphalt a hundred or so feet away from the fence. We hope to have this done by our first event in January. Scott Ramsey of Ramsey Asphalt, who installed the original track, will do the work, so we know that it will be built with the same quality as the first construction. The track has performed well over the past few years.
In addition, we want to thank Vapor Trail Vettes, who also uses the track, with their generous contribution to the asphalt project.
The photo below is the proposed new track addition. It will give us more options for new track layouts.
Warren White - Auto-Cross Chair
Here are a couple of links to the Santa Maria Times articles regarding the history of the track.
Fast Times at Santa Maria Airport
Event requirements
Below are several bits of information that will make it easier for you to register, and enjoy the day with us!
First, some logistics:
Our events are held at the Santa Maria Airport, which is a Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) controlled facility with strictly enforced security. PCA-CCCR must conduct this event according to airport rules. Participants must enter and leave via only one secure gate monitored by a TSA guard we provide. All persons entering the airport will be required to sign an event waiver and be issued a wristband that must be worn at all times within the TSA boundaries. Make sure you have enough fuel for all runs before entering.
All persons granted entry must be a driver or a volunteer event worker. If you have adult persons accompanying you, they must complete a work assignment, just as you must complete your work assignment when you are not driving. PLEASE NOTE: MINORS ARE NOT ALLOWED AT THIS EVENT. THIS IS DONE FOR INSURANCE REASONS, AS WELL AS TO BE IN COMPLIANCE WITH AIRPORT RESTRICTIONS. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR COMPLYING WITH THIS REQUIREMENT. Non-driving volunteer workers must be approved in advance by the Auto-Cross Chair, Warren White.
The gate will open at 7:00 a.m. and will be locked at 8:45 a.m. until lunch when it is opened for 30 minutes only, then locked again until the conclusion of the event. We strongly urge you to arrive no later than 7:15 a.m. to be sure you get checked in, get your car through the technical inspection, and walk the course before the driver's meeting at 8:30 a.m. Tech Inspection will close promptly at 8:00 a.m. to allow time for the inspectors to walk the course, so get to the track early. There will be no exceptions to this, so if you cannot get to the track by then, you will need to have your car "teched" by a qualified station ahead of time and bring a copy of the inspection sheet. Click HERE for Tech Sheet. You will still have to be signed off to receive your green tech sticker. The first run session begins promptly at 9:00 a.m. No one will be allowed to enter after 8:45 a.m. Click HERE for a map to the Santa Maria Airport.
Entry for this event is open to:
PCA members Please Note: All Porsche Automobiles need to be correctly classified. We will use the PCA Zone 8 classifications, less the Street Stock classes for all Porsches.
- It is necessary that you classify your Porsche before registering for the event. To go to the Zone 8 classification system, click HERE
- Each entrant is responsible for correctly classifying his/her own car. All cars are subject to further scrutiny and reclassification at the discretion of the AX Chair at any time during an event. If a car is found to be misclassified, after timed runs begin, the event may be scored as if the car did not compete.
- Car classification serves two purposes. The first is fairness in competition through grouping together cars with similar performance characteristics. Second is to determine the safety equipment required by the vehicle. Classifying a car is a multi-step process. First the entrant must determine which classes from the list in the Zone 8 Rules they are qualified to run in. If running in classes CC01 - CC16, the entrant then must check for Tire Size & Performance Equipment Points and add that point total to their Base Points to calculate the correct class.
- If there is only one entrant in a given Porsche class, that entrant will be moved to the next higher class for trophy eligibility.
- If you normally compete in a Street Stock class in other Regions, you will need to classify your car in one of the Point Classes for this event. Your times will be sent to the Zone 8 AX Chairman for entry into the Zone 8 Final Results page for your Street Stock class.
PCA Members may register on December 8, 2015, for $50.
Non-PCA members (18 or older) may register on December 29, 2015, for $60.
Non-PCA members will need to provide their tires UTQG treadwear rating. You will then be divided into one of two classes.
Open "A" Class: Those vehicles that utilize 200 Treadwear or less tires.
Open "B" Class: Those vehicles that utilize greater than 200 Treadwear tires.
For All Competitors: Standard or better safety belts, Snell 2005 (Until June 20, 2016) 2010 or 2015 M, K or SA helmet. Recommend long sleeve cotton shirt, long cotton pants, thin rubber or leather soled shoes without lugs on the sole, cotton socks. Some shared rental helmets will be available for $5/day. (What this means is after the conclusion of your run group, you must return the helmet to the rental table for someone else to use for their run group. For your next run group you may re-select the helmet.) WE URGE ALL REGULAR COMPETITORS TO OBTAIN THEIR OWN HELMET.
Check brakes, add tire pressure, check oil, etc. before arriving at facility. No air will be available. It would be a good idea if you would run through our tech checklist before you arrive the track to speed up the tech process.
All entrants are assigned to work in groups when they are not running. Depending on run sequence, this will include working after your run group has completed for the day. Failure to complete your work assignment will result in omission from the results and possible forfeiture of future events.
If you are sharing a car with another driver, please let us know when you sign up.
A Food caterer and Port-a-Potty’s will be on site.
All auto-cross events are Rain or Shine events.