Vaguely Porsche related newsHot off the press for 911virgin towers

A one hour single pit stop race - we do these in our sleep now. It doesn`t seem like yesterday when racing for a whole hour seemed a large mountain to climb! A bit of work during winter in the swimming pool, no really - you don`t get a body like this overnight (it takes decades of abuse), meant I was intrigued to see how I faired in the car. In the end a fairly uneventful race culminating in a 3rd in class. Certainly the winter`s hard work had paid off as I got out of the car at the end. There were people who looked like they`d just run a marathon!

The poor chap on the right looks a bit surprised and it`s not hard to see why. He woke up as usual feeling on top of the world, all be it a year older. He wife, being the lovely person she is had arranged for him to have a day`s use of a Porsche Boxster to make his day just that bit more special. They duly arrived, he got out of the car and in true "you`ve been framed" style the noble leader took his wife to one side (still in earshot of our birthday boy), to explain there had been a terrible mistake, the wrong sort of rain, a double booking - you know the sort of thing - and it wasn`t possible to let them have a Boxster. Never mind have a look round the yard. 

clearly a little disappointed the couple were given the grand tour at the end of which was a gleaming Boxster. Slowly the penny dropped as unbeknown to him his wife had secretly purchased a car as a birthday present. Not only could it be used on his birthday but every day thereafter! 

It`s not the first time this has happened but I think we get just as excited none the less.

Back on on of my old stomping grounds as a child I always enjoy the trip to Snetterton. I`ve even raced there at night so know the actual circuit very well. The only problem with it is that 2 long straights make it something of a power circuit and not being the most powerful car out there I often find all my hard work done under the bridge, through the bomb hole and round Corum is undone down the back straight. The start of the first race was exciting, as the pack of cars set off towards Riches we were door handle to door handle, obviously on cold tyres you need to find a balance between carrying enough speed and not spinning out. Unfortunately a couple of cars got the balance wrong at Sear, span and made contact. Luckily I`d seen the incident unfold & managed to avoid the carnage. A re-start was needed and the rest of the race was fairly straight forward finishing 2nd in class.

At 2.30 in the morning you think why the hell are doing this, only this year it was different - we were leading the race and on cloud nine! A 24 hour race is the ultimate challenge, no one person wins it - a team wins it and this year our team lead for a large part of the race against much faster competition. We were the better team. We had our moments of drama I had a fire in the re-fueling lane when dry grass picked up when avoiding a spinning car fell onto the brakes and caught alight, I had to drive with the door open to try and clear the acrid fumes from the extinguisher, oil spills on the track, fog, tiredness, other car`s mistakes and all the time you`re trying to preserve the car whilst staying on the pace. We had made our last driver change of the race and were set to pick up 2nd place overall when I had to make the heart wrenching decision to retire the car due to a fuel leak caused by a manufacturing defect on a newly installed unit. The hardest thing I had to do was fight back the tears and give an interview to the film crew. Words seem so limited in their ability to convey a sense of the occasion so click on the photo and let the pictures tell their story. Congratulations to the Red Bull / Duller Motorsport / BMW entry of Dieter Quester, Dirk Werner, Jamie Campbell-Walter and Tim Mullen who went on to win the event.

Our noble leader is currently unavailable to the general public as he has locked himself away in the office with only a telephone and a copy of Variety for company. He is currently negotiating with an agent and has taken to visiting the local tanning emporium. He seems convinced Hollywood will be on the phone any day and the feature length movie deal is but a moment away.

We haven`t the heart to tell the old boy that a spot on TV`s Used Car Roadshow is probably unlikely to reap the benefits he was hoping for. A face for radio were our thoughts !  Jason & Penny popped over for the afternoon trying to track down a Porsche for one of their viewers. Sadly the car had already sold by the time the chap made up his mind but the Noble leader will be floating round on satellite repeats for time immemorial now !

Donnington Park is a fabulous flowing circuit, the Craner curves are probably it`s signature a high speed entry into a fast right hand bend that drops away leading into a short but sharp braking zone as you turn into the old hairpin, (which is actually nothing like a hairpin and actually quite quick!). Testing went well and we were joined by Craig Wilkins doing his first test day since passing his ARDS licence. He was driving a 993 we had once supplied! We even managed to railroad him into entering his first race that weekend. In a strong field of cars we had our work cut out, by lap 30 we were running 4th overall. Pit stops put us back to around 6th with the race starting to come to us as slower drivers got into other cars. Suddenly a car came past the pit lane smoking badly and burst into flames as it rounded Redgate, sadly it was grey with 911virgin.com down the side! An oil hose had given up the ghost. Amazingly the car survived virtually unscathed bar a new rear bumper and a bit of heat damage here and there. The picture made the Autosport hall of fame for 2006. How ironic that our noble leader had volunteered for re-fueling fireman on Craig's car later in the day.

Driving in the PMC Midlands GT3 for a change this time rather than the 911virgin liveried car the driver line up remained the same, the noble leader with Pete Morris. A good fun meeting alongside the Dutch Supercar Series - why don`t all series have a huge coach with cool beer on tap and some totally crazy guys with bright orange afro hair! All in all a good weekend`s racing. Saturday`s 1 hour race saw a 1st in class, Sunday`s 2 hour race a very close 2nd in class to a very quick Marco Mantis. Leading both races in their GT3 RS was the other half of our Silverstone 24 hour driver line up Adrian Slater and Mark Sumpter, so a good meeting for the extended family as well !

April showers they said..... more like a January snow storm. Oulton Park is one of the most character blessed circuits in the country. It has height change, camber differences, blind corners, changing scenery - even a banked corner. As a driver it is a circuit that demands the utmost commitment in order to find a good pace, the slightest of lifts in the wrong place murder a timed lap. Add some moisture to the equation and it really does focus the mind, even the squirrels at the top of the circuit were struggling for grip as they scurried away from the car each time you came over clay hill. The final straw was a hail storm that brought the cars speed down to a trickle and took a fairly hefty toll on many of the competitors - we got away lightly with a timely red flag resulting in an outright win !

A great weekend seeing some old faces as well as meeting a few new ones. The Gala dinner went on well into the wee small hours with our noble leader challenging for the last man standing title. We sponsored the fairground rides to ensure they were free of charge for everyone this year so were forced to enjoy more than a couple of sessions on the dodgems, (well we had to thoroughly test them out!). A few cars sold over the weekend and  seeds were sown for the coming months. (click the photo for pictures).

It`s taken over 15 years but finally we think we`ve cracked motor vehicle finance on "older" cars. Click on the logo to get some insight into how finance works and why our solution may be the future.

"I couldn`t believe it, I was sitting on the toilet having my morning poo when I turned the page and you just jumped out at me..... at least I had something to wipe my bum on." Chivalry dictates we are unable to confirm from which female long-term friend of 911virgin those words were uttered, suffice to say the female racing star went on to trounce the opposition later in the day, (well she didn`t come last anyway). GT`s Stuart Gallagher came down and penned a few words accompanied by photographer Antony Fraser who performed his usual magic with the camera. Doesn`t the camera put on a few pounds ! (Oh that was a TV camera apparently - sorry I did try Henry).

Jeremy Clarkson must have been quaking in his boots when the latest Total 911 hit the news stands. WH Smiths reported crowds of angry shoppers demanding a copy of the magazine and in one store a fight broke out as two shoppers argued as to who had the last copy available. In years to come a copy will be brought out of it`s protective sleeve to an amazed intake of breath at the Antiques roadshow. The reason for this hysteria - our noble leader's first published monthly column. International copyright laws forbid it`s reproduction, suffice to say Alumni from the Globe`s finest centers of learning are pouring over every word and punctuation mark as we speak. If only his English teacher could see him now - how silly would he feel having said all those nasty things in the school reports.

A rather wet and at times trying start to the season. Mechanical gremlins, rain, oil and some determined drivers did their best to scupper our plans for victory but thankfully we managed to pull through taking 2nd in class behind the BMW of Harry Handkammer and former British touring car champion David Leslie. Click on the picture for a full race report.

It was our first outing to this historic Belgian circuit and what a weekend. Over 26,000 spectators added to the atmosphere, the weather did it`s bit and out hosts didn't hold back on the hospitality. Another Podium finish but it wasn`t easy. Click on the photo for a full race report and photos from the weekend.

The hardest working team in UK motorsport put in a couple of extra hours over the weekend of September 10/11th. Torrential rain, no sleep for 40 hours, a track we didn`t know and 55 other teams trying to get to the finish line before us. What could possibly go wrong ! Did we manage to finish? Damn right we did. Click on the photo for the full story and more images from the most arduous race on the UK calendar.

Oulton Park has a fearsome reputation as a good place to take your car and smash it up. The Cheshire circuit certainly has some technical corners often unsighted and very little run-off but once mastered it will secretly be in all driver's top 3 UK tracks. Pete might as well have been born here he`s done that many laps, Henry hadn`t raced this layout before. A good start from Pete saw him up to 2nd place behind the Noble, mechanical failure put it out of the picture and we were leading the race. Definitely the place to be for a class 2 car ! After the pit stops Barry Horne got the bit between his teeth and muscled his class 1 car ahead to take overall victory. A second pit stop to take on fuel with only 6 minutes to go, (where are the fuel friendly safety car laps when you need them), added some last minute drama. Henry shot off the blocks once topped up like a thing possessed not wanting to relinquish his position to David Backs 360 Ferrari setting his fastest lap of the race on two and a half hour old tyres !  In the end the 911virgin.com GT3 romped across the line to take second place overall and first in class. A good afternoon's work. Click on the photo for more images from Oulton Park.

People always ask us who buys our cars and where do they come from. The answer is of course we don`t have a typical customer. Age-wise it`s anything from 13 (yes really !), to 80 and geographically pretty much anything goes. Our cars cover the country from the tip of Scotland to the foot of Cornwall and most places in the middle. We also sell cars overseas. Take Nick here. "Hi interested in the 993 glass roof targa, what`s it like". Nothing unusual, except that Nick lives in Malta. A couple of phone calls later and Nick`s the proud owner of a Porsche 911 that he`s never seen before. A huge leap of faith and one that we shoulder fairly and squarely. A thorough service later Nick is united with his new stead and drives off into the sunset a happy bunny. Give him a wave next time you're over there.

A cracking race meeting. We got punted off at high speed in the first race but managed to carry on and fight another day. In the second race we were neck and neck trying to get onto the podium, when we finally made it past to get into 3rd place the red flagged the race and we lost out. But every cloud has a silver lining. Click the image for our race report