[BW911]

Dorkis were ably represented by a small but enthusiastic band of NoVa trackheads at VIR this weekend. Tony, Charlie and myself joined the Tar Heel Sports Car Club and Triangle Z Car Club for two days of winter fun on the full VIR track. It was the first event of the season for the VIR track. We had two great days, although approaching bad weather from the south sent everyone scurrying home early, forcing us to miss the final run session of the weekend.

Tony's new Ath-ol 944 Turbo made a spectacular debut. It looked great on the track and kept a smile on Tony's face all weekend. Tony hadn't even driven the car until Saturday morning; when Charlie and I got there around 7am, Tony was tooling around the paddock in his new ride.

Charlie got a right-seat ticket with Tony for one session and came back, um, impressed. Unfortunately my promised ride was cancelled by the weather. Charlie's own car looked and sounded great in its first track outing since the rebuild, although a loose spark plug wire caused some momentary excitement. The big news, though, is Charlie can honestly brag he was repeatedly passing a 12-cylinder Lambo Countach! I'll leave aside the detail that its driver was a 0/0 greenie. Damn impressive anyway.

My Carrera with upgraded brakes and rebuilt engine performed flawlessly too. We all had a blast. And the Tar Heel club really put on a well-organized, well-run event. My instructor really knew his stuff. And it was a lot of fun running with all sorts of other makes. There was everything from Honda Civics to radical prototypes not much bigger than a go-cart; Corvettes, Alfas, a 2002, M3s and an M5; even a Chevy Impala, and lots of small front-wheel drive cars. I can tell you from experience that those WRX STIs can move. And even those Miatas can fly with the right driver behind the wheel.

Oh, and a nice selection of Porsches.

Anyway, it was a great tune-up for the season on a fabulous track. Only thing missing was more Dorkis -- and we could have used your trailer too Jase, as shelter from the wind.

Marc and Smackpipes, bring it on.

Bill