KINETIC SPEED SHOP HOME FROM 48 HOURS AT SEBRING PCA EVENT
Buford, Ga.
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Kinetic Speed Shop returned from the world famous Sebring International Raceway this weekend after competing in the annual 48 Hours at Sebring Porsche Club of America event. Kinetic crew and clients were on hand to experience the perfect racing conditions with sunny skies and temperature hovering in the mid 70s. Racers included Kinetic owner Russell Smith, Hans Steiner, Dino Steiner, Ian James, Paul and Kim Gutowski, Derek Skea, Fred Wicks and Kevin Violette.
Several of the drivers also took part in the private test and tune day at Sebring on Thursday prior to the official start of the PCA weekend. The highly popular track day was completely filled as usual but allowed participants to practice and prepare their cars for the events during the weekend. Kinetic participants included Smith, Violette, Skea, James, Wicks and D. Steiner.
Hans Steiner flew in on Friday but had excellent help with preparing the car for the weekend during the test and tune through his son Dino as well as driving coach Ian James. The duo ran the test day and had the car perfectly dialed in prior to Hans' arrival at the track for competition. Hans felt right at home in his Porsche RS which showed as he managed to take both the win in his class as well as the win overall in his Sprint event. He was also awarded another trophy as he took home the Workers Choice Award. On Sunday, Dino and Ian competed in the RS for the Enduro event and led from Turn 1 until the one hour mark when they changed drivers and Ian jumped behind the wheel. Three laps later the transmission encountered an internal vibration that ended the weekend in order to avoid further damage.
"I'm absolutely happy the way Kinetic works at the track, totally professional," said Hans. "The guys are doing a great job in preparing the car for the next session. For me it is about just having fun and being relaxed, no worries because everything is taking care of. The car was very fast and I was able to be consistent all weekend long and win the Saturday race all thanks to Kinetic."
"During testing we accomplished a lot and the handling of the car was great," said Dino. Great to see that the team is top motivated and that's makes it much easier to have success. Like for my dad not racing for a couple month and walks away with a win on Saturdays race. Thanks to the whole team: Great Job."
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Paul Gutowski On His Way to a Class Victory
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Paul and Kim Gutowski joined Kinetic again this weekend at Sebring as their first race back since their season closer last year at the inaugural PCA event at Daytona International Raceway where Kim finished with a dominating win. Both Porsches started out incredibly well with Kim commenting on the extreme power she felt behind the wheel. Kim did encounter a small oil leak which was easily repaired by the Kinetic crew allowing her to compete in her Sprint event and finish in the 7th position. Paul's car ran fast as well and after making some minor changes, he was able to run a full two seconds faster than he had ever before at Sebring which led to a class victory in his Sprint event.
"I developed some kind of sputtering issue during the race but I was able to catch the guys in front of me which I am very happy with," said Paul. "During the first practice session Kim told me that she had never experienced that kind of power before. She had some issues but all in all the weekend was a great time. The guys at Kinetic were working hard the whole time and I have to say that Joe was awesome and very professional. Mike Kulig was great as well and a lot of fun."
Violette began his time in the car on Thursday. While taking measures out on track to get the feel of the Kinetic Porsche 996, he unfortunately was victim to the notoriously rough surface which resulted in a broken axel. The Kinetic crew managed to repair the damaged car making it available for the following day at Sebring. Violette entered the Porsche again running well until the engine blew due to an over-rev ending his weekend early.
Derek Skea competed in the Yellow Sprint race in his Porsche 996 GT3. Nic Jonsson was on sight to help with setup of the car on Thursday in preparation for Skea's event. Skea managed to log a best time ever at Sebring as the car ran well with no issues. On Saturday his warm up session went fine and he ended up qualifying with a solid 4th place spot. Starting up front, Skea finished 3rd in class ending his weekend at Sebring.
Russell Smith took to the track early as well for the test and tune in his GT3 Cup car. After he noticed the clutch slipping during the test, he entered the garage for the necessary repairs. Before leaving the track at the end of the day it was determined that the setup be altered a bit to balance it out for competition. Smith continued to run strong the following day during his practice sessions prior to the Sprint event which he finished in the top-10 in the 7th position. During the morning warm up on Sunday, he lost 1st 2nd and 3rd gears on the transmission due shifter mechanism failure. After removal of the transmission for repair, Smith competed in the Endurance event and finished 2nd in class.
Wicks whom was at Sebring with his Porsche 944 Turbo ran very well during his time on Thursday at the test and tune. With the car well prepared for the race weekend, Wicks continued to run strong in his practice sessions the following day. On Saturday during his morning warm up, he noticed a drop in power with the car. It was determined that the Porsche had suffered a blown head gasket which ended the weekend for him early.
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