Gridded up and slowly rising over the crest on Road America’s lengthy front straight, the flag falls and Dan Buckley starts a drag race against a well-matched rival named Mark White in Porsches of the same vintage. These two have to guess the critical braking point into Turn 1, since their speeds have been reduced by the rolling start. Not enough speed and they’ll get passed down the next straight, but too much and they’ll find themselves sucked away from the track by the adverse camber around the curbs. For those interested in the specific demands of Road America, check out this guide to the course with Patrick Long.

Our camera man, Dan Martinson, knows every inch of the Wisconsin course, and is also holder of the PCA E-class Road America track record—and much of that speed comes down to his car’s beautifully benign setup. The car is just so sweet and neutral everywhere. The comforting setup, combined with Martinson’s tendency to turn in slightly sooner, gives him the edge in some high speed corners. This is most apparent in the terrifying Turn 11 (1:58), which rewards a subtle and early direction change to ensure a stable car and good exit speed.

White giving Martinson a friendly spritz to keep him sharp.

Martinson is quicker out of some of the crucial corners, namely those leading onto long, fast straights, but White has the power advantage. Powered by a 3.2-liter engine with the preferable G50 gearbox, White can afford to be clumsy occasionally, since the grunt of his motor just exceeds that of Martinson’s 3.0-liter and allows him to stretch a lead in the straights.

Nevertheless, the two are so closely matched, White’s straightline advantage is hardly noticeable until Martinson begins weaving at 8:00. To try and break the tow he offers White, he weaves and eventually gives White the option of going the long way around into Turn One, which he takes with some style.

It’s only when White wobbles (10:02) at the exit of Turn 12/Canada Corner that Martinson can pounce and confidently sail around the outside of Turn 13. Heroic stuff—but based on the way they’re giving one another the thumbs up from time to time, they’re leaving just a little on the table.

As Road America is a track that favors pure power, White muscles past once again on the front straight and makes some pretty bold moves around a pair of 944s, but his lead is cut in half with some gutsy demonstrations of braking from Martinson. White’s aware he doesn’t have quite the pace to be dominant, and begins driving a defensive line with some success. However, it’s only a matter of time before the cool, calm, and calculating Martinson snatches the lead again as his clinical driving style gives him superior exit speed out of Turn 5. As this overtake occurs in a relatively slow and tight section of the course, White can’t exercise his power advantage. Outbraking his rival into Turn 6, a hairpin left, Martinson turns in aggressively before he hangs his tail out to rub a little salt in the race-deciding wound.