I first met Kees Nierop more than 40 years ago. We were both spending our Sunday mornings playing with cars in Kelowna, going as fast as we could around orange cones in the parking lots at the White Western Star truck factory or at Orchard Park Shopping Centre.
Kees and his brother Klaas had Datsun 240Zs. I had my girlfriend’s Honda Civic. They did better than I did.
Kees, in particular, went on to bigger and better things. Just a few years removed from the orange cones, he won the 1983 12 Hours of Sebring race in a Porsche 934.
Today, as the chief driving instructor for Porsche Canada, he helps Porsche owners learn to get the most from their cars, and is based in Kelowna again. That means he is in an ideal spot to be a guest instructor at the Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit in North Cowichan.
Nierop was at the track recently to talk about tires — specifically, the differences between street tires and proper racing tires. He says that he can cut about five seconds off a lap time when he is using racing tires, which are softer and don’t have the tread. But that’s not all.
“It feels like you’re working hard when you are on street tires,” he says. “You are working all the time. Street tires are not as solid as slicks, so you are a busy driver.”
You can tell the difference in other ways: Street tires squeal more during braking, turning and exiting corners. Nierop says drivers are more tentative on the throttle with street tires, and steering is not as steady as it is with slicks.
“With proper racing tires, it is easier driving, and you are more relaxed, so you are faster into and out of corners,” he said.
Beyond all of that, racing tires last longer on the track than do tires designed for street use, so they can be a better deal overall.
Nierop had a note of caution for drivers invited to the track to test the difference that tires can make: Be very careful going from a car with slicks to a car with street tires.
The tire session also featured representatives of two major companies, one dealing with performance street tires and another with racing slicks. Both took questions on air pressure, which is a critical factor in performance and tire wear. A tire on the track will be hot, with much higher pressure, than a tire used in regular driving.
Along with the session on tires, Nierop has been at the Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit for training sessions for drivers.
These sessions are designed to give each participant time with the instructor, with a goal of making a noticeable difference in their lap times and driving abilities.
Drivers get a better idea about setting up their cars for each corner and carrying the maximum speed through each passage of the circuit. That means they get a clear understanding of corners, banking and how to use the high speed sections and braking points to their advantage.
And yes, better driving on the track really does translate into better driving on the street or on the highway. The track trains drivers to be alert, and to react quickly. A driver familiar with high-speed laps of a track is better equipped to handle emergencies at legal speeds on the road.
But back to Nierop, who has done much better than I have behind the wheel.
In 1978, he got his big break, driving a Formula Atlantic car at the old Westwood raceway on the Lower Mainland. By the next year he was in Porsches for major races in the United States.
He has been associated with Porsche for more than 30 years. He is the only Canadian to have his name on a Porsche factory race car, which is on display in the Porsche museum in Stuttgart, Germany.
Along with winning the 12-hour race at Sebring in Florida, he drove several times in the 24-hour endurance race at Daytona. He has also driven at the Le Mans 24-hour race in France as a Porsche factory driver.
He retired from racing after competing in the 2010 Rolex Daytona 24 Hour race in a Porsche GT3 Cup car.
And all the while, I was back in a parking lot, trying not to run over those orange cones.