‘Everyone A Winner’ As Lemons Cars Complete 24 Hour Marathon At Hampton Downs

“Every last one of you who finished the race this weekend is a winner in my eyes,” the organiser of the weekend’s May Mayhem 3-day/24 Hour race for budget road cars, Dr Jacob Simonsen said at a packed prize-giving function at Hampton Downs on Sunday evening

Certainly, by completing a total of 23,417 laps and - in doing so - covering a grand total of 63,225.9 kms, the 45 teams which started and were all officially credited with finishing the first full NaZCAR/Lemons 24-Hour race of the 2022 season, gave a lie to the prevailing wisdom that once a car is worth no more than $2000 (a Lime) or $1000 (a Lemon) its useful life is effectively over.

In saying that Dr Simonsen added that any sort of long distance motor racing event required a lot of preparation work before an event and planned maintenance during it; and that a 24-hour event was ‘literally, the ultimate test of man, woman and machine.’

As such the jewel in the crown for any Lemons or Lime car owner is the annual ‘continuous 24-hour Enduro (overnight) race which this year is set to run over the September 16 - 17 weekend on the full international circuit at Hampton Downs.

With over 100 teams and 500+ drivers expected to start that event it will likely claim the record as the largest competitive ‘participatory’ event on the NZ motorsport calendar, breaking NaZCAR’ s previous record of 80 teams and 400+ drivers at the 2020 Lemons 24-hour event.

Because an event like a continuous 24-Hour race requires such a different mindset to a typical sprint or even a single day endurance event, Dr Simonsen created the 3-day/24 Hour May Mayhem one at Hampton Downs which ran from last Friday (May 06) until Sunday (May 08) so that teams keen to ‘step up to the full continuous 24 hr race in September at least have an idea of what to expect….on as well as off the track.

That included the return of the NaZCAR organisation’s resident Chief Judge, Nik Brown, who dished out plenty of whacky penalties across the three days.

More information on NaZCAR/Lemons race weekends can be found on the 24 hours of NaZCAR page on Facebook at facebook.com/Nazcar24

NaZCAR LEMONS MAY MAYHEM 3-DAY/24 HOUR RACE FRI-SUN MAY 06-08 2022

1. Ghost Dog Racing (Lime) 777 laps
2. Get In Behind (Lime) 772 laps
3. Assassin Racing (Lemon) 732 laps
4. Trickle Racing (Lemon) 704 laps
5. Cowboys (Lime) 694 laps
6. Team Bond (Lime) 691 laps
7. Not So Super Mario Bros (Lime) 690 laps
8. Thunderbirds (Lemon) 678 laps
9. Team NASA (Lemon) 672 laps
10. Cruse Racing (Lemon) 657 laps

TROPHIES AWARDED

• Most laps (Lemon): Assassin Racing 735 laps
• Most laps (Lime): Ghost Dog Racing 777 laps
• DaCrap award: Index of performance): Team NASA
• Cooperation Award: Shell V-Power Racing
• Scab Award: Go Gecko Go
• Best Fix Award: A Family Affair
• Back From The Dead: Cruse Racing
• Bad Maffs Award: Thunderbirds
• Battlers Award: No Eye Dear
• Fresh Start Award: Ranga Racing
• “Give It The Jandal’ Award: Mike Howe
• Nincompoop Award: Aussie Spares
• Quality Manufacturer’s Award: Team NASA
• Grenade Award: Reverse Engineering
• Ugly Stick Award: Team Busty Bertha
• Resurrection Award: Team Piranha
• Banana Award: Team Richard Petty/Spinderella
• Best Presented Car Award: The Real Law
• Best Theme Award: The Undertakers
• Peoples’ Choice Award: Thunderbirds
• Judge’s Choice Award: Ghost Dog x 2
• Supreme Award/Spirit of Lemons Award: Golden Asses/Subzilla

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