The Taupo Test - BadThurst 12hr Race Report
For the second time in NZ Lemons history (And the first time since Hooncorp got involved), the racing was held not at Hampton Downs Raceway, but at the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park in Taupo. Unlike Hampton Downs, which is fast, wide and very flowing, Taupo is much more technical, a bit narrower, and features two particularly difficult hairpins. Topping off the experience is a thrilling 1km back straight, making for exciting drag races into the final section!
Our team for Taupo was smaller due to the shorter race, but no less skilled.
In the Nissan Lucino..
-Louie De Manila
-Jonathan Drylie
-Liz Frost
In the Holden Commodore..
-Mike Howe
-Nathan Howe
-Anthony Allen
-Steff Chambers
The Saturday morning practise session was damp, but by the time the race was due to start things had dried out. The start was remarkably uneventful, both cars making great pace and avoiding the usual opening hour chaos as the field spread out. As the Saturday was only four hours, we opted to take it easy and save the big moves for the Sunday, which was eight hours. Still, both cars managed to keep a solid pace, keeping around the middle of the pack.
Mostly the cars ran faultlessly on Saturday, however a few minor issues did need addressing at the end of the four hours.
The Commodore needed:
Minor steering wheel repair.
Front brake discs were replaced due to an increasing shimmy.
Rear discs were replaced
All pads were replaced.
The Lucino needed much less.
Front pads because we had them and had the time, so may as well.
Minor electrical issue
We were all done by 10.30pm on both cars, so a chance to get some shut eye and ponder what was yet to come.
The Sunday started very, very wet and our tails were wagging. For some reason, we seem to do really well in the rain. The Commodore is very predictable, and both heavy & powerful, so the elements just seem to make very little difference to the old girl. The Lucino was untried in these conditions, however being light and reasonably nimble on new shocks, but standard springs, it too was quite the little handler.
There isn’t too much to mention for the next four hours, until the Nissan Lucino was parked just beside the pit exit looking very nice but sadly it was extremely hot. The engine light and oil light had both come on, and the driver (Jonathan) wisely saw this as a good reason to park the car.
It was quickly recovered and towed back into the pits where the team set about seeing how bad the damage was.
The steam from the radiator was terrific, so all that could be done was to let the car cool down. After a good half hour, water was introduced to the cooling system where a strong line of water from the engines water pump showed what had happened. The engine was terribly damaged, and sadly no repairs were going to make that car circulate again. It was game over for the Lucino……...or so we thought.
The Commodore just kept going. From all manner of directions, it kept being asked to go fast, and despite a gruelling hot day, a very abrasive surface and Lucino drivers now getting behind the wheel, the whines got a bit louder, the tyres got a lot lighter, but the team just got prouder as the finishing line (chequered flag) loomed closer.
At this point, we had asked the organiser’s if we could tow the stricken Lucino across the finish line legally, safely and of course use the parts car, our Nissan Pulsar race car that we had used in the May 2018 Non-stop 24 hour race. Gladly they agreed as long as both drivers were all suited up, safe and obeyed race control.
So 12 hours of racing saw us post another 24 Hours of Lemons Nz finish in unusual circumstances.
Holden Commodore GTS = 14th place out of 31 starters
Nissan Lucino HRS = 20th place
Nissan Pulsar Autech = 21st place
Yes the Pulsar was classified. We had started the car in the race simply to do a handful of shake down laps since it had sat for so long since it's last outing. To do this it had been scrutineered and fitted with a transponder for Race Control to log it, just like any other competitor.
So as a result, we entered 2 cars, and had 3 cars finish the event.
On a side note,
We had a delay with a large bundle of parts we had ordered to both use, and carry as spares. One of these parts was a new water pump we wanted to fit to the Lucino. Sadly it arrived on Thursday night, and the cars were shipped at 9am Friday Morning so we had no time to fit it. As Homer would say - Doh !!
As always, a huge thank you to all of the people and businesses who supported us!
Gibbs Signs
The Body Shop Otahuhu
GTPlanet
BNT Manukau
Professional Tyres Automotive
Maxxis Tyres
Hertz
The next one on the calendar is it. The big one! There's a lot to do in preparation for this one, and we'll be posting all the news, updates, and happenings right here so stay tuned folks!!!
