Right after lining up the biggest and most exciting field of Midwestern LeMons racers we’ve ever observed on Friday, we dropped the green flag on Saturday morning and presided over a drizzly, cold day of racing at GingerMan Raceway. When the checkered flag came out soon following sunset, we’d observed a lot of dramatic class battles and lead changes, and here’s how it all sorted out.
There was when a time— really, that time was the initial 8 years of LeMons racing— when the Porsche 944 was the most frustrating car imaginable in our series, but the last year or so has seen the emergence of many 944s that can steer clear of scattering fragile Stuttgart elements all more than the tarmac for lengthy sufficient to hold the lead in 1 of our races. Today, we watched the United Ducktape Racing ’86 Porsche 944 wriggle past the competition in the course of the course of the day’s racing, and it threw neither connecting rod nor transaxle for the duration of that period. At the end of the day, this car held an impressive 2-lap lead more than the Mark’s Tougher Lemonaid 1987 BMW 325i. It’s all as well likely that this Porsche will sneeze rod bearings out its tailpipe on Sunday, but possibly the proud German marque has turned the corner and will continue to do properly in our series.
The Class B leader does a great job of pointing out the difficulties facing the LeMons Supreme Court when it comes to classing these automobiles. Final time we saw the Lemon Help Racing Geo Metro— which functions a really ill-advised BMW M50 engine swap and rear-wheel-drive conversion— this abomination collapsed in a heap of diminished expectations and broken dreams, finishing a genuinely pathetic quantity of laps. This time, although, the absurdly overpowered GM-badged Suzuki defied all expectations and kept running for most of the day’s racing (in spite of becoming heavier than a BMW E30), finishing the day with a 3-lap edge more than the Genuine Racing Honda Accord.
After the Schnitzelwagen Volkswagen Squareback won Class C at the Doin’ Time In Joliet 24 Hours of LeMons in July, we figured that miraculous accomplishment could by no means be repeated — right after all, the Schnitzelwagon had failed in common fragile Volkswagen style in race after race for the past 2 years. Nevertheless, though, it seemed wrong to refrain from advertising a Class C winner to Class B, even in the case of an air-cooled Ausfallwagen. But, considering that we’re talking about what amounts to a Beetle with 400 additional pounds of heft and a crank-driven cooling fan, we presented the team a decision amongst Class B and Class C with 13 penalty laps… and the team took the latter alternative.
Wouldn’t you know, at the end of Saturday’s race session, the Schnitzelwagen held a 2-lap benefit over the Afunzalo Racing Fiat X1/9, even with the 13-lap handicap. LeMons car classing, it is a lot more art than science.
Meanwhile, the 1981 Dodge Mirada of Team Sheen has stayed relevant in the Class C race, ending the day 4th in class and 18 laps behind the Schnitzelwagen. 18 laps sounds like a lot, but Class C is the sort of spot exactly where you can be major a single minute and watching your crankshaft clank down the asphalt the subsequent, so we may effectively see the quintessential Malaise Era Mopar take a miraculous class win on Saturday.
As is always the case, a lot of teams are fighting maddeningly undiagnosable mechanical demons as the sun sets more than Lake Michigan. The 1972 Pontiac Grand Prix Super Fly Pimpmobile of Group Can You Dig It looked wonderful all day, but then got knocked off the track by a standard-for-its combination of ignition and/or fuel-system issues. Any individual got a spare Quadrajet?
At the identical time, teams with a lot more contemporary hardware are criss-crossing the Upper Midwest in search of parts to replace their blowed-up hardware, and we can anticipate neighborhood Craigslist sellers to get numerous late-evening telephone calls from LeMons teams searching for that challenging-to-find missing puzzle piece. Such is the life of a LeMons racer.
Sunday morning, the complete demented circus lurches into action when again. Be positive to drop by later to see what occurs at GingerMan Raceway!
24 Hours of LeMons Michigan Day 1: Porsche 944, Geo Metro, Volkswagen Squareback Top Classes
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