Porsche Year 1983-84 Created by Susann Miller M&M Publishing Company 

Susan Millers new book

An Inside Championship by Wayne Baker

Editor's note: Too often the excitement of motor sport is seen from the outside. What goes on behind the colorful facade remains the property of the participants. Such, however, is not the case with Wayne Baker's championship winning Porsche 934 GTO team. We contacted Baker at the beginning of 1983 about giving Porsche Year an exclusive Insiders view of what it's like to be a top contender in one of this country's most prestigious series. We could not know then that Baker and his crew would experience one of the most tumultuous seasons in the history of IMSA's long running Camel GT What follows is Baker's own account of those hectic months during which the team scored the first-ever overall victory by a GTO car at the famed Sebring 12-Hour endurance classic, and then suffered a devastating fire at Sears Point in July that nearly ended Baker's title hopes.

It was a struggle to make the Daytona 24-Hour Pepsi Challenge. We had gone to John Bishop, the president of the International Motor Sports Association near the end of 1982 to discuss the GTO rules for the following season. As a result of those discussions, and some subsequent changes in the GTO regulations, we came away convinced that a revamped Porsche 934 Turbo could win the championship, especially since IMSA would permit much of the technology developed for the 935 to be used on the 934.

Our first problem was to acquire a car. By November we had sitting in our shops the shell of Bob Garretson's old number nine 935 K-3 that he, Bobby Rahal, and Brian Redman had driven to victory at the 1981 Daytona 24-Hours. Without any of the 935 body panels, suspension or drivetrain, the stripped body looked far more like a refugee from a junkyard than the foundation for a front-runner race car. The task of "converting" the 935 into our 934, which we affectionately nicknamed "Big Orange," was a three-month task. In fact, it took a "Cannonball" type 43-hour cross country banzai trip, in order to get to Daytona on time.

Nevertheless, we had hopes of doing reasonably well since we felt that Big Orange was indeed a potential championship winning entry. As it stood in the Daytona garage area Big Orange had a single plug 3.2-liter engine that was more akin to a 935 than a 934. With a huge air-to-air intercooler mounted in the rear spoiler and connected to a KKK 36 turbo, not only could we call on more than 600 horsepower, but we had eliminated almost all the throttle lag that had plagued the 934s single turbo set up in the past.

Even though we didn’t have a chance to do much more than make sure nothing fell off and get the car qualified, we did find out that it really handled well. The 12-inch wide rims at the back meant that we could use Firestones that put a 14-inch wide contact patch on the pavement. And, that really helped. Jim Mullen and Bob [Garretson] came down to co-drive. Despite some of our own problems, not to mention a torrential downpour Sunday that forced the race to be halted for a while during the late morning, we finished ninth overall, and fourth in GTO. It may not have been the best outcome, but considering everything, it was one we could live with. After Daytona, the crew took the car to Dave White's place in Tampa, to completely rebuild it for the Miami Grand Prix, the last weekend in February. We were able to dial in Big Orange despite the limited amount of practice time because we went to Sunshine Speedway, a one-third-mile paved oval, for some testing before setting off on our seven hour trip to Miami.

I qualified fifth. But, that really didn't mean a thing because Sunday saw the worst rainstorm in southern Florida since Noah debuted his ark. During the race I had moved up into second by the third lap, and thought I had a good chance of catching Don Devendorf's first placed Turbo Datsun ZX. But, those hopes faded when I suffered two flats, after grazing a concrete wall.

That put me a lap and a half behind. Although I improved my position later, my race came to an early finish when I spun and damaged the turbo trying to miss another spinning car in the heavy rain.

Back in Tampa, Crew Chief Greg Elliff went through the car again, getting ready for Sebring. By Wednesday, March 16th, everyone was assembled at the old airport course for the beginning of practice. This time the driving crew would consist of myself, Jim Mullen and Kees Nierop, a very talented man who had run 935's before, but never had been in a 934. In spite of some rain on Thursday, Kees and the rest of us adjusted well to the course, which was modified to accommodate the FAA's desire to keep the airport open during the race.

About the only real problems we had during the 12-Hour were the six flats we suffered because of debris on the course. By nine o'clock in the evening with two hours left, we were fourth overall and second in GTO behind the Daytona winning Mazda of Pete Haismer and Rick Knoop. That class position changed when their brake rotor exploded, putting us first in GTO. Still, I didn't know about what was happening up front in those last two hours since I was busy coping with Big Oranges steering which was showing distinct signs of weariness. I later found out that the two overall leaders had more than their own share of difficulties. What I also didn't know was that their troubles had put us ahead of them. Indeed, I couldn't understand why Greg wouldn't let me come in to check the steering. He told me over the radio that no matter what happened I was to stay out on course.

When we finally took the checkered flag we were one and a half minutes ahead of Bob Akin's 935. As I crossed the line, though, 1. thought we were just first in GTO. Greg had to shout to me several times on the radio that we were number one overall before I knew what we had done.

I cant tell you what a feeling it is to make history [Sebring had never been won by a GTO division car since IMSA had separated the Camel series into three categories]. All I know is we celebrated a great deal, and that it took awhile for the accomplishment to sink in. Our whole crew deserved praise, especially Greg and our always present engine builder Jerry Woods, without whom there wouldn't have been a car to race. Bob Garretson was another helping hand who contributed much to our success.

Once more we went back to Tampa to refurbish Big Orange for Road Atlanta where we were again first in GTO; as we were at Riverside and Charlotte-two events that caused us to cross the country twice in a little more than a month's span. In between Riverside and Charlotte there was Laguna Seca where I got entangled in the mistake of two other drivers, and wound up hitting the wall. That forced me to change a rear tire, and, the two minutes which that consumed relegated us to a fifth place in GTO. While we were out on the West Coast, the car and the crew worked out of Bob Garretson's Sunnyvale shops, and I think that helped quite a bit in our coming back to take the class win at Charlotte.

Lime Rock on Memorial Day was interesting because it was run in three one-hour heats. Unfortunately for us the GTO contest came down to the final hour, during which rain began to fall. We had lost two laps in the second hour when Jim pitted for a new rear wheel after being hit by a Mazda prototype. I thought we could make the time up in the rain. However, the track dried out and we had to settle for second.

About the only thing I can say concerning our race at Mid-Ohio, the next stop on the IMSA calendar, was that our chief opposition, the Datsun Turbo of Devendorf and Tony Adamowicz had a worst day than we did, quitting before the third lap. First we lost a lap when a wheel nut seized during a tire change. Then, after Kees had worked Big Orange back up with the leaders, the flywheel ring gear exploded. That tore out much of the wiring and the throttle linkage, forcing us to spend 24 minutes jury-rigging something that would allow us to get back on the track. When we crossed the finish line, eighth in GTO, there were no complaints, just relief that it was over.

In looking back, I think Mid-Ohio was a promise of things to come. We had qualified first in GTO for the next event, the Daytona Paul Revere 250, a unique all-nighttime sprint at the Florida Super Speedway facility which many IMSA drivers do not like. We were running well there until Big Orange's number two exhaust pipe cracked, leaving us without any boost. Jim took over and completed the distance, salvaging seventh place in GTO.

Because we couldn't get Big Orange ready in time for Brainerd [which immediately followed Daytona], I drove Gordy Oftedahl's Pontiac Firebird there. I started two laps behind the rest of the field because we had a broken suspension piece that wasn't discovered until 20 minutes before the flag dropped. As it was, Bob Raub and myself worked hard to bring the Pontiac home third in GTO.

Still, if times had seemed difficult before, they did not compare with what came next. The late July Sears Point round was right in our backyard. Seeking perfection, we took Big Orange from our San Jose headquarters to the track for open practice on Thursday. Jim was driving when he spun on some oil and got into the tire wall at Turn Five. The heat of the exhaust lit off the grass, and by the time the fire truck got to the scene, the back half of Big Orange was destroyed. Moreover, in trying to help get things under control, one of our crew, Mike Prewitt, was knocked down by an exploding tire. Fortunately he wasn't seriously injured and was back with us two days later.

Without going into all the details, we scrapped our initial decision to skip Sears and rebuild the car for Portland, which was to be held the week later. Instead we plunged into a two-day, all-night attempt to get the car ready for Saturday qualifying at the San Francisco Say Area track. It took 40 hours straight, but we did it. From what was a wrecked car on

Baker in the hairpin at Sebring where he, Jim Mullen and Kees Nierop scored an historic overall win with their Porsche 934. It was the first tern a GTO division car had beaten the supposedly faster prototypes in the 12-Hour race.

Thursday, we had a fourth place grid position among our GTO peers. I don't remember too much after that except that we all slept until Sunday when Jim and I drove conservatively for third in GTO.

By this time our spares and our budget looked like a disaster area, a fact not helped by the additional damage caused to Big Orange at Portland when the Bob Tullius and Bill Adam Jaguar XJR-5 hit the right side of our car In spite of this we were third again, and were closing in on the GTO title. Still, because of our budgetary situation, we left Big Orange at home for Mosport, joining forces with Chet Vincentz in his Electrodyne 934. That association lasted but four laps before the 934 retired with a distinct lack of power I went to work, meanwhile, to secure a ride with Jack Griffin and Bob Hefner in their Porsche Carrera RSR, which, after much drama, managed to take fourth in GTO. By this time I needed only eight points for the title. And, with the help of a little luck and a lot of people, I got them to Road America.

We brought Big Orange out for this one, and thought we had everything handled, when Jim- slid on some oil during the race and hit the wall. That forced us to make a 28 minute stop for repairs to the right front suspension. Jim and I then worked our way back up to fifth before a violent thunderstorm ended the race. That fifth was good enough, however, to give me the GTO crown I had sought for so long. It was hard work, made even harder by the troubles which dogged us the later part of the season. Still, it was worth it. As for 1984? That's something we'll figure out in the near future. Whatever is, one thing's certain-we're coming back-bigger and better than before.

Although you couldn't tell it from any out-ward appearance, there was a gulf separating the 935 Porsche Turbos & Bob Akin and Wayne Baker from their rivals at the 1983 Daytona Thanksgiving Camel GT finale.

That difference was historical, for seemingly they represented the last of their breed - a line that stretches back to the mid 1970's when the first factory 935 took home the World Championship of Makes. Between then and now, there's not been much that the 935 hasn't won, including the 1979 Le Mans 24-Hour classic, an event where a production-based car last accomplished that feat in 1953 when a Jaguar C-Type was first overall.

These days the buzz words are "GTP" and "Group C", designations for purpose-built racing coupes which allegedly have put an end to the 935 saga. The trouble is that no one told Akin or Baker.

After achieving his goal of becoming the 1983 Camel GTO division champion, Baker headed back home to the West Coast to reconvert his 934 into the 935 K-3 it had been before Baker began his title quest. All we really did," he said, "Was to put back the 935 bodywork, reinstall the 935s twin ignition, bolt on the 15-inch rear rims, and go racing."

As Akin describes elsewhere in Porsche Year, the building of his 935/84 from the ground up was somewhat more difficult. At Daytona both 935s proved that they were very competitive against their GTP opposition. All of which leads to the question of how long they will prolong the Porsche turbo's career.

"I don't have an answer for that," says Akin. "When we started, I thought ours would be the end of the 935s. Now that I've found out how good a car it is, who knows? Maybe it'll be around forever. Maybe others will build their own new 935s. Indeed, maybe the whole thing will never end. All I know for sure is that "I'm amazed" 

So too are the rest of us.

Bob Akin's Coca Cola number 5 and Wayne Baker's number 9 may be the last Porsche 935s ever built. Akin's turbo designated a 935/84 is a tube-frame car constructed in Georgia, while Baker's is a re-conversion of his well-traveled 1983 GTO title-winning 934. Both Porsches have proved themselves very competitive, and could well bring their drivers new honors in 1984.