Dean Watt's historic "901" vintage race car in the paddock at last year's Coronado Speed Festival.2010 is upon us and that means opportunities for the performance minded—drivers and spectators. Here’s an early season overview.

Autocross (AX) is primarily a lower speed event which gives you an opportunity to learn car control skills, improve your performance driving and experience the limits of your Porsche in a safe environment. It’s a fun, low cost way to get a “rush” without abusing your baby. Locally, Reno Region SCCA will have its annual Autocross School on Saturday, April 17th at the Stead Airport. Signups start @ 8AM and the school lasts all day so bring a lunch and plenty to drink. The first “points” event will be the following day and AX events run through October (www.renoscca.com for details). Helmets are required but you may be able to use a “loaner”.

PCA related AX events are out of area with Sacramento Valley (SVR) having 5 events scheduled starting March 24th. Zone 7 has several AX events planned with the first hosted by Redwood Region (RR) at the Charles Schultz Airport in Santa Rosa on April 17th /18th. The SVR events are usually in Stockton but on May 29th the paddock at Infineon Raceway will host a Zone 7 event (and it’s near the wine country). See the links from our website (www.snr-pca.org) to RR, SVR and Zone 7 sites for additional information.

Pam & Roberto Crawford with co-host Jafar Sepahpour enjoy a little Porsche camaraderie time before the Cioppino Feed. (Photo C Kugler)A mild and beautiful mid-winter weekend visited northern Nevada just in time for President’s Day, Valentine’s Day and most importantly SNR’s Cioppino Feed. This years version, the 6th annual, was held again at the Coney Island Restaurant and Bar, a local’s favorite. While the warm temperatures enticed us to pull our little blue two seater out of its winter cocoon, we made our journey in our trusty SUV which allowed us to bring a guest, Kathy Peltier. Kathy is a northern Nevada native, who couldn’t turn down May Lou’s invite to the Coney Island.

Sue Kemper and Cam Warren join Jackie & Dan Aynesworth for a pre-dinner beverage at the Coney Island. (Photo C Kugler)As always we arrived early to make sure we could maximize our pre-dinner social time. We were greeted enthusiastically by event hosts Jafar and Sheri Sepahpour. Sheri looked like she was walking a little gingerly and she told us she had just had arthroscopic knee surgery earlier in the week. For a just a few days post op she was doing great!

Jacob & Stacy Caldwell and Curtis Fong anticipate the start of the Planning Party. (Photo by C Kugler)No brakes will be applied for SNR members as we race into 2010. Forty five Porsche enthusiasts came together to eat, drink, and plan a year filled with non stop events. Some old favorites will return and a number of new events have been added to this year’s calendar. By the time you read this the always popular Cioppino feed will have already settled in your stomach and you should be ready for a bit of the Irish in March.

Bob & Kathy McLaughlin, Sue Kemper and Cam Warren look ready to present event ideas at the Planning Party. (Photo by C Kugler)With spring arriving we will be ready to dust off our cars from their winter slumber with a Tech Session followed by the “Dust Off Tour” in April. Gilbert Dayao of Gilson Autobody will host a tech session on suspension systems. Afterwards Curtis Fong will lead the drive tour while Dan Aynesworth will have a special tour stop planned for us. Brian Lowder and Leslie Castle of Reno Rennsport have agreed to sponsor a Porsche swap meet at their shop in May, so start looking around your garage for things to swap or sell. In May and July we have two different weekend tours hosted by Sue Kemper and Cam Warren: one at a local Sierra Nevada Dude Ranch and the other a scenic trip to the California North Coast.