Contact Us / Club Exec
What sort of person joins the Porsche Club? All sorts. Here are brief bios of the current club exec.
Mario has been a car enthusiast for as long as he could remember. The earliest memory of Porsche came when he found a Matchbox model of a Porsche 904. He remembers thinking how Porsche could race so successfully with such small engines? Much later, while travelling on the bus during an Engineering co-op term, he saw a Guards Red 944 drive by and Mario immediately set a goal to one day own that car. Finally, in 2000 Mario bought a Porsche 944 S2 Cabriolet which he still owns.
The PCA introduced Mario to more advanced performance driving through the track events and autocross. Mario has been the chair of the autocross event for several years now and enjoys putting this event on for new and existing members..
Mario is employed as the enterprise architect at Wind Mobile, one of Canada’s newest mobile phone companies. Other than Porsches and auto racing in almost any form, Mario has recently picked up the guitar again. Mario is married to Karen and has 2 children: Anna 17, and Paul 13.
Many of you know Del as a dedicated track enthusiast and a member of the UCR track team with a passion for vintage racing. Del joined UCR in 2001 after buying a 930 turbo with a 935 body kit at an RM auction. He knew that the original purchase of this car was going to be the cheapest part of the total experience. Having been a car collector for some time he felt the best way to enjoy this new ride was to join a club of Porsche enthusiasts. Since joining the Club he has attended the socials on a regular basis and almost all of the DE dates. Over the years he has met and been helped by a great group of enthusiasts. For two seasons Del has attended the BOD meetings as the track team liaison keeping the board up to speed with the track teams activities, and as of 2011, is the elected UCR Vice President.
Martin Tekela, UCR Past President
Martin purchased his first Porsche in May 1999 and has been an active member of PCA/UCR since January 2000. With his previous Formula Ford racing experience, he soon became a DE instructor. He has been an avid trackie since then, logging well over 200 track days with nine different PCA Regions and Zones 1 & 2. He’s also volunteered his time as an instructor at introductory skid schools and as a grid nastie, flagger, timer and DE Registrar/Chair at several UCR club races. Martin brings over thirty years of marketing, sales & management experience to the UCR. Martin was elected as UCR Director in 2006, and was President in 2009 and 2010.
Isabel and her husband joined the Club in 2005 with the purchase of their very first Porsche, a Cayenne S. Following her IDS training in the summer of 2010, she became quickly hooked and decided it was time to get involved and make the most of her membership. From her experience, the best way to get involved is to volunteer; in 2011 she became the Monthly Socials Chair, volunteered with the Open House and PCA Club Race. She is eager and willing to help this club grow both in numbers but mostly in participation from fellow members.
In her professional career Isabel is a Certified Optician which included managing a Laser Vision Center in La Jolla, CA, Account Manager for Southern California Laboratories and Business Development for a leading lens company in the FreeForm Lens market in Canada. After her 19 year career in the Optical field, she and her husband took on a joint venture by opening a performance and tuning shop in Thornhill.
Tomiko's P car is a red 2000 Boxster. She takes her car out on the track once in a while because, like a stallion, the car deserves sometimes to run free. She notes that it behaves differently on the track than the street. As well, Tomiko enjoys fun runs.
Tomiko joined the club to meet other Porsche owners, and stays because of the friends she has made. She enjoys talking to fellow members about Porsches, track and travel.
Tomiko's company is called Stochastic Processes Inc, and specializes in quantitative work for financial derivatives. Prior to that, she worked for RBC and was a Vice President in the foreign exchange trading area, in financial engineering. Her other interest is Women in Capital Markets where she has been chair of various committees, including Distinguished Speakers Committee, Mentor Luncheons and Silent Auctions.
Buying his (actually his wife’s) first Boxster in 2004, Mike soon learned that Porsches thrive better in company with others, and what better place for them to meet than at PCA UCR. He has been enjoying club socials, fun runs, track days and concours d’elegances ever since.
Mike’s background is in sales and marketing of automotive repair paint in Europe and North America. As a volunteer, he has served as chairman of the Automotive Industries Association and was instrumental in creating a national voice for the collision repair industry. Since leaving the corporate world, Mike now manages that national voice. This includes running conferences that bring all stakeholders together to find solutions to national issues. He also runs a company that provides customized training in professional selling skills and leadership. Mike’s business and volunteer experience in both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations has developed his skills in strategic planning, organization, listening and in making things happen. He learned long ago that the more you put in, the more you get out, and that’s why he’s keen to serve UCR to help keep the club strong and work with others in finding new ways to keep delighting its members.
David first entered the world of Porsche in the spring of 2002 and became a club member in the spring of 2007. Since 2008, assuming the role of Fun Chair he has become an active and supportive member. Anne and David annually host a Spring and Fall Muskoka Fun Run, and help other members plan and host local Fun Runs. They can be seen at many club functions such as DE, Club Races, Concours events and of course Fun Runs.
David has sat on several boards raising funds for special needs children as well as Hospital Foundations.His Board experience came early, beginning at the age of 28 as a Director of BMO Nesbitt Burns. Currently he's a Vice President of BMO Nesbitt Burns within its private client division. He looks forward to being a part of UCR and assisting our members as we celebrate our lives and our Porsches.
As someone who had always enjoyed Motorsports,Walter decided to splurge and bought his Porsche, a Boxster in 2008. He loved the car and was very impressed to learn of the scope and organization of PCA UCR. Having retired from Bay Street in 2005, he embraced the Driver Ed and Social events.He has "tracked" all over Ontario and the US and now has a dedicated track car - a 911 and a C4S for street use. He also entered his C4S in Targa Newfoundland, in 2010 which was an awesome experience. He has met many great people and has appreciated the way club members unselfishly share their knowledge and experience.
Walter was Vice Chairman of RBC Capital Markets, RBC’s Investment bank, and is currently a Hydro One Director.
Horst's passion for Porsches began in his teen years in his native Germany, seeing the 356 Speedsters and Coupes. In the late 1950s, there was no other Marque as unique in looks and sound to intrigue an impressionable boy. At the time ownership seemed to be highly unlikely. But as faith would have it, he immigrated to Canada and affordability of a Porsche became realistic. His first 356 Coupe was a 3 year old 1955 previously owned car. Ever since then, he has always owned a Porsche, 911s, a 928 for a while, to now a 06 Carrera S.
Now, he's been retired for two years from being the President of Homag Canada, a sales and service subsidiary of the Homag Group of Germany. With time to spare, his wife Marie and he have joined PCA/ UCR to meet like-minded enthusiasts. They both enjoy taking their car to all the region's DE events and sometimes to other regions as well.
Last year, he received his Track Instructors credentials of which he's very proud , as well as being elected as a Director to serve on the Executive of UCR.
Arthur first became interested in Porsches in the mid 1970’s, when he read Road & Track articles about the 911’s run by Brumos Racing. He was hooked by the beauty of the cars, as well as the competitive bloodlines that seemed to run through the Porsche marque. He finally bought his dream car in 1992 – a 1988 Guard’s Red Carrera. It was a beautiful car, however, a growing family made it increasingly impractical, and he sold it in 1995. Fast forward to 2007, when he purchased a 996 turbo, and rejoined UCR. He attended his first DE in 2009, and shortly after that convinced his son Greg to come out with him. In 2010 they bought a 944 turbo to use as a dedicated track car. Over the winter of 2010, Arthur obtained his Club Racing license. He participated in several Club Races in 2011.
Arthur is a lawyer in Strathroy, Ontario (20 minutes west of London). Charlene, who is both his wife and business partner, has graciously tolerated, and even supported, his obsession. He has a daughter, Alana, aged 26 and a son, Greg, aged 23
"It is the magic of the P cars that drives us to congregate at first, but it is really the people, all the great new friendships that we form, that keep us together".
Tim has been a member of UCR since 1998, the same year he acquired his first Porsche, a 1980 911SC. This is his first year serving on the Board as a Director.
Tim has a keen interest in racing, having been bitten by the bug at a very early age. He currently races his 1982 911 race car in VARAC events and participated in Targa Newfoundland in 2007 with this car. He also races a 2000 996 in PCA Club Racing. His current street car is a 2002 C4S.
Tim joined the club in order to participate in the DE program and has been an instructor for the last number of years. He believes that the club offers enthusiasts the best opportunity to enjoy their cars and understand their capabilities. As a vision for the club, Tim believes that increased participation at all levels will create a stronger club and allow for a wider variety of activities to be enjoyed by the membership.
When not out driving, Tim is a founding partner in Northwest Atlantic (Canada) Inc., a retail real estate brokerage company.
As editor of Provinz, Kye continues to volunteer his services after more than 2 decades of UCR membership, feeling the need to give something back to the Club that has opened the doors to so many a great adventure for him. He has been racing Porsches for nearly 20 years including, at times, on the professional level, and continues those endeavors today, mostly in historic car racing. He is currently in his sixth year of producing the newsletter. Kye also helps out the UCR Club Race team by producing the program for that event every year and has, in 2010, begun to help bring back the traditional UCR Concours d’Elegance as one of its co-organizers
Kye started his professional career as a fine artist in Toronto, subsequently worked there in the creative end of advertising for 13 years, and then became a real estate investor and developer in the U.S. and Germany in the early 90s. His largest project is the development and construction of the City of Hamburg major league soccer stadium for the ‘HSV’, with 64,000 seats. Today Kye owns and manages businesses in development, general contracting and construction in the GTA.
Otto has owned his 911SC since 1989. He bought it in California while on a business trip and drove it home across the USA. When he first joined the PCA/UCR, he attended a few events, but due to other interests, was content for the next couple of decades just to receive the first rate Provinz and Panorama magazines. Just before retiring in 2009, Otto volunteered to create and maintain a new website for the club as a retirement intellectual activity.
In his working life, Otto was a practising engineer in the real-time software field. Otto is a hands-on, old style engineer who does all after warranty work on his "fleet", including his Porsche.
Otto used to think that taking cars to autocross and DE events would be tantamount to car abuse, but as of a couple of years ago realized that the car would outlast him, so he felt it was time to throw caution to the wind, and is now in the white run group.
He is currently restoring a mid-seventies Trans Am,. which he bought new. After that, he will restore a 73 914 he just bought, and then an 83 air-cooled Westfalia. Otto is also an avid snowboarder and cyclist.
Jennifer and her husband Scott joined PCA in 2001, after purchasing their first Porsche, a 1986 944. They quickly discovered that as they say, “It’s not the cars, it’s the people”. Whether it was attending Fun Runs, Track Events or Socials, they always knew that they would be amongst wonderful people and were guaranteed to have a great time.
Over the years, as her husband began to drive competitively, Jennifer began to volunteer competitively. With her passion for motorsports and Mosport only miles from their door, volunteering at the track was a natural fit. This then led to volunteering at events such as The Clash at The Glen, DE’s at Lime Rock and the Porscheplatz held at Mosport and organizing fun runs. In the Fall of 2007, Jennifer assumed the position of Zone 1 Secretary.
Jennifer enjoys spending much of her free time at the family cottage in Upstate New York, which has allowed her to partake in numerous events held by both Green Mountain Region and Niagara Region.