After we inspected the biggest group of teams in 24 Hours of LeMons history on Friday, we knew that this swarm of wild-eyed racers would be very eager to try out the new, improved five-mile course at Thunderhill Raceway Park. So eager, in fact, that many could be counted upon to spin their long-suffering engines well into the “here there be monsters” portion of the tachometer, and to stuff their cars into concrete barriers, and to cook their brakes and melt their bearings and inflict all manner of mechanical torture on their junkyardy hardware. That’s exactly what happened on Saturday, and while we didn’t literally get 200 blowed-up cars, a quick walk past the endless line of dead cars on jackstands sure made it seem that way. The competition in the three classes (A, B, and C) was exciting, the dramatic stories kept coming, and we’re sure all the local junkyards got picked clean of Honda engines. Here’s how the day went.
We’re filling out all the forms needed to get this race in the Guinness Book of World Records, as the largest endurance road-race in history. Here’s what 222 LeMons cars look like when they line up to enter the track.
And, of course, it wasn’t long before many of the teams looked like this. Some felt that the Audi victory in last weekend’s Colorado LeMons race marked the beginning of an era of Audi LeMons domination. Such optimism seems to have been premature.
So, let’s get right to the class leaders. In Class A, there was a lot of switching of positions among the usual top-of-the-standings teams during the course of the day, but the checkered flag for the day’s race session waved over the usual suspects: the Cerveza Racing 1983 BMW 533i. The Cerveza drivers seem to have a sixth sense for trouble developing several corners ahead, and while other teams get caught up in 40-car tangles and go spinning off into the weeds, the Cerveza BMW stays far from anything approaching trouble. At this point, they have a two-lap lead over the P2 car.
That P2 car happens to be the 1987 BMW 325i of The Faustest Team, and it’s much quicker than the Cerveza E28. The Faustest guys have been racing the car known as “the Devil E30” in LeMons since the early days of the series, and they’ve been very high in the standings on numerous occasions. This could well be The Faustest Team’s race, though keep in mind that being fast isn’t as important as being consistent and mistake-free in this kind of racing; the mighty Eyesore Racing Miata knocked off a best lap a full 14 seconds quicker than Cerveza’s fastest lap, and they finished the day in P5.
Leading Class B is the Tartan Brigade and their 1980 Datsun 280ZX. This car has been terribly slow and unreliable in past races, thanks to its automatic transmission and general air of decrepitude, but everything seems to be going right for the Tartans this weekend. The ZX has a two-lap lead over a trio of Class B pursuers, so Sunday promises to be a good race day for fans of this often-overlooked LeMons class.
The Class C win most often comes down to the team that breaks the least, and somehow the veteran 1979 Ford Fairmont of Billy Beer Racing managed to avoid throwing any connecting rods in its Ford 200cid inline-six engine. The Fairmont has just a single-lap edge over the Repeat Offenders’ Volvo 244, and more Class C combatants lurk not far behind them.
The Hella Shitty diesel-engined Porsche 911 jumped out to an early Class C lead, but paid a time-consuming visit to the penalty box that set it back a few critical laps. This car (which is the shell of a rollover-victim parts-donor 911SC with a Volkswagen TDI swap) is just slightly quicker than the ’79 Fairmont, much to the displeasure of both 911 and TDI fans the world over.
The Peugeot Daddy 1963 Peugeot 404 may not be contending for a class lead (currently in P176 and a massive 41 laps behind the Billy Beer Fairmont), but it’s doing very well for a car that not long ago was abandoned in an Oregon field. Even though it is running laps about two minutes slower than the other cars, the Peugeot Daddy 404 looks beautiful on the track.
The Spank the Builder and the Can-Do Crew 1967 Cat 416F Backhoe Loader (actually an oft-cut-and-pasted Mini Moke) also gets a lot of spectator approval. P160 and nine laps ahead of the Peugeot!
Once all the cars were off the track, everyone got busy eating, wrenching, and generally celebrating a good day at the race track. Check in later to see what happens on Sunday!
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1y11XzP
via Agya
