After inspecting a record-breaking number of British cars on Friday at the eighth annual Arse Freeze-a-Palooza 24 Hours of LeMons, we were a bit disappointed on Saturday to find that the highest-placing British machine at the end of the first day’s race session was in 74th place (out of 174 entries). Still, we’ve seen plenty of exciting developments during what turned out to be a pretty good day of racing in California’s Wine Country. Here’s what’s going on at Sonoma Raceway.
Leading the most important LeMons class, Class C, we have the veteran (and aptly named) Black Flags team and their 1983 Toyota Supra. The Black Flags have been racing with LeMons since way back in 2009, and after 24 races they’ve established themselves as such lovable-yet-hapless, spinny-outty, parts-breaking, penalty-box regulars that the LeMons Supreme Court feels no qualms about putting a Supra (normally a Class B or A sort of a car) into Class C. After all, the Black Flags finish most races in the part of the standings reserved for teams that throw connecting rods on the fourth lap. This time, however, the Black Flags spent the first day of their 25th LeMons race avoiding trouble and turning laps, and they ended the day in P42 overall and with a healthy class lead.
Five laps behind the Black Flags, the drivers of the LaHonda Bandits Racing Grope Porsche 914 are grumbling about this unexpected domination by The Most Terrible Supra In The World. Can the Black Flags hold this lead, or will they crack under the unprecedented pressure? We’ll find out on Sunday!
Leading Class B and in P16 overall, the 42 Hours of MeLons team and their Volvo 245 are having their best race weekend ever.
Just one lap behind the dyslexically-named Volvo team is the John Galt Racing BMW 2002. This team has been racing in LeMons at least as long as the Black Flags, with that Class B trophy remaining tantalizingly just out of reach all that time. Today, though, the John Galt Racing drivers managed to hold onto the P1 spot for most of the early going. A fuel leak required a time-consuming repair stop and cost the 2002 pilots their overall lead, but the team is in good shape for a run at the Class B trophy.
When the checkered flag ended the first day of racing, the Porch Racing Porsche 944, winner of the previous Sears Point LeMons race, held a nerve-wrackingly narrow edge over the team’s closest pursuer. Porsche 944s had been about the most heartbreaking LeMons cars imaginable for the first seven years of the series, but the last year has seen three different 944 teams take overall LeMons wins.
About a half-lap behind the Porch Racing car is a sight that makes all West Coast LeMons racers most uncomfortable: the Eyesore Racing ghettocharged Mazda Miata. The Eyesore car is very quick, the drivers extremely skilled, and the team organization flawless, but their small factory fuel tank means they have to pit more frequently than the fuel-cell-equipped competition.
Making things even more interesting for Eyesore Racing this time was the LeMons-style marriage proposal offered by team captain and Mazda engineer Dave Coleman to ace driver Sarah Fairfield, via this sign waved alongside the checkered flag. She said yes!
Where else but LeMons racing would you see a couple of brown Ford Pintos duking it out at Sears Point?
Meanwhile, dozens of teams broke, blew up, burned, and otherwise blasted their race cars during the day, and now the paddock echoes with the sound of hellbent hammers and screaming Sawzalls. When the Whale Wars Racing team fried the engine in their Mitsubishi 3000GT during practice on Friday, they found a parts car on Craigslist on Saturday morning… and that car spent the day donating parts to any team that wanted them. Here we see what happens when a team needs a replacement fuel filler neck and lacks the patience to deal with a lot of complicated fasteners.
That team, of course, is Team Tinworm and their fuel-dumping 1964 Humber Super Snipe. We’re pretty sure this is the first instance in world history of a Mitsubishi 3000GT fuel filler going into a Rootes Group product.
Be sure to check in later to see how Sunday’s race session goes!
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1s7vct2
via Agya
