Photo by Adam Ewing
Bill Timmerman never slowed down during his career in colorectal surgery. Now semiretired, the well-known Richmond physician focuses his pent-up energy on the racetrack.
A member of the Porsche Club of America, Timmerman has been racing his Porsche and teaching drivers how to maneuver around the track at Virginia International Raceway in Southern Virginia since the mid-2000s.
Timmerman, 67, has come up through the ranks with Porsche, building a skill set for car control. “You have to work your way up,” he says. “For the first two of the five levels, instructors are riding with you. They are there to teach you, so you are safe.”
After that, Timmerman completed a three-day course, the Skip Barber Racing School, at VIR. He earned a competition license and also around that time moved up to instructor level five at Porsche, the highest level of instruction. “I wanted to get comfortable with the car before I raced it,” he says.
Timmerman began amateur racing in his red, yellow and black 2006 model Porsche 911 in 2008 in the club racing series. “I ended up doing fairly well,” he says. “I enjoyed Porsche Club racing and also National Auto Sports Association racing. I’ve met some great guys and girls.”
Timmerman raced so well in 2012 that he rose to second in the country in his driving division with the Porsche Club of America. After winning at the national level, he got offers for three years in a row from car manufacturers Lamborghini and Maserati in Italy to drive a factory car in the Pro-Am series as a “gentleman driver,” the term for an amateur who competes in professional races.
He declined the offers because of the cost: “It was $35,000 a weekend, but that pays for the mechanics to work on your car and for the tires,” he says.
Kevin Pirkle, director of business development at Gulf Fastener Inc. in Chesapeake, met Timmerman in 2007, when Pirkle arrived at VIR for a high performance driver’s education course. Both are now Porsche Club of America national certified driving instructors. “Bill is a true gentleman driver and a gem of a guy,” he says.
Pirkle has raced in the ChampCar Endurance Series, a more economical way to get into racing, with a cost of about $3,000 for a weekend of participation. Last year, he reached out to Timmerman to join his team of drivers for several ChampCar races. The two raced together in their first team event last December at VIR.
Experiencing the Thrill of Racing
While he’s always appreciated the looks and workmanship of a Porsche, Timmerman didn’t own one of these German-made powerhouses until the early 2000s. “That’s when I bought my first Porsche,” he says. “In 2004, a model came out that I liked even more, so I traded my first Porsche (a 1998 Porsche 993) in for a beautiful black Porsche (a Porsche 996C4S).”
Always worried about getting any type of scratch or ding on his car, Timmerman only drove it on “perfectly sunny days,” he says. “I didn’t want to get it messed up.”
He never thought about racing until he went with his friend Jim Wilson to a Ferrari day racing event at VIR. “He invited me to ride with him for some laps in the car,” Timmerman says.
When they had finished, Wilson suggested that Timmerman put his Porsche on the track for a few laps. “I thought it might get a ding or scratch on it, so I decided not to do it,” Timmerman says. “I wanted the car to look perfect.”
About a year later, another friend, Dr. Eric Cote, suggested that Timmerman take his Porsche to VIR for a ride with a track instructor.
Timmerman was tempted but still worried about getting a ding on his car. He came up with a plan that he felt was a sure way to avoid having that happen. He told Cote, “You call my wife, and if she says I can do it, I will do it.”
“I didn’t think he would call my wife,” Timmerman recalls. “I thought it would get me off the hook because I thought there was no way she would say yes.”
A while later, his wife, Kathy, phoned him and explained that she had talked to Cote and thought it was a wonderful idea. She told Timmerman she had enrolled him in the event and had booked him a room. “At this point I couldn’t say no,” Timmerman says. “I went to the three-day event and got in the car with an instructor and loved it.”
He found a tremendous benefit to race driving that he didn’t expect, leading him to join the club at VIR and sign up for more instructional events. “It’s the only thing I have ever done that keeps my mind away from work,” Timmerman says. “From the minute I drove on those tracks to the minute I left the track, I never thought about work once, and that was mental health for me. That was a spectacular gift. That is why I still instruct and still do some racing.”
Making a Name in the Medical Field
A native of South Dakota, Timmerman earned his medical degree at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. He came to Richmond more than 30 years ago after completing a fellowship at Presbyterian/Parkland Hospital in Dallas.
“I got an offer from some surgeons in Richmond and came here and liked the city very much,” he says. “My wife, Kathy, who is a Minnesota girl, said we could stay for three years and then move back to Minneapolis. That was 33 years ago — I love it here.”
Timmerman spent his first 10 years in Richmond working with a general surgery group before joining Colon & Rectal Specialists in 1997. He retired from the practice in October 2019. “It was a privilege to do my career with that group,” he says. “They do wonderful work. It was an absolute joy.”
Timmerman liked working with cases that were the most problematic, such as troublesome cancers. “Cases that were the most difficult I enjoyed the most,” he says. “I got involved with laparoscopic surgery when it came out and developed some techniques.”
Earlier this year, Timmerman came out of retirement to work part-time at Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center. “I still get the chance to teach medical students, surgical residents and interns, but most important is I get to work and teach on veterans,” he says. “They are great people.”
Surgeons look up to Timmerman, says Dr. Andrew Vorenberg, who worked with him at Colon & Rectal Specialists. “Everyone knows about Timmerman and his skills. Tough cases that would otherwise be referred to the major medical centers in the area routinely (were) funneled to Timmerman and Colon & Rectal Specialists because of his renown.”
Becoming a Better Driver
Racing was fun, but Timmerman found he liked teaching others to drive even more. He admits that racing sounds dangerous, but he says, driving at 150 mph on a track is actually safer than driving at 60 mph on an interstate.
“You learn pragmatic driving,” Timmerman says. “It makes you better at street driving.”
He ended his competitive racing days with the Porsche Club in 2013 after undergoing heart surgery. He remains connected to racing, though, through his work as an instructor and also as a member of a ChampCar team with LMN Motorsports in Virginia Beach. This summer, he will drive in a 24-hour team race. “I have a hoot doing this,” he says.
