24 Heures Du LeMons, Final

Rupunzell

Rupunzell

Bernice Loui
We finished, problem free...running well.

Overall 16th, 1st in class L3, tied with the class L2 car...15th and separated by 1/2 lap...and 4 cars tied at 244 laps.

It was HOT during the day, about 100 degrees. This caused many cars to die from overheating, blown head gaskets, flying con rods, exploding hoses, leaking water pumps, electrical problems, fried brakes (one BMW's brakes ran so hot, the pad backing fused itself on to the rotor and piston).. There were many teams working hard to put their cars back together all event long.

All our drivers had cool shirts which helped a lot during their 1.5 to 2 hour stint in the car. Our X kept it's cool well enough.. under constant 6,000 to 8,200 RPM hour, after hour..

Two serious crashes within the last hour of this race caused a full course yellow until they were able to get the injured driver out, cars cleared off track and cleaned up:


What cost us most were the penalties and off course incidents, about an hour of track time worth or 20 to 25 laps. The power cars, eventually go us at Button Willow. The winning car was a FORD V8 powered Volvo 244, stripped to the bare shell and driven by a group of very, very experience LeMons drivers. No penalties, no off course, no black flags and a FAST, reliable well driven car.

We got the L3 Class Trophy, it's the piston with bent con rod,
and the Grassroots Motor Sports "Most From The Least" Award, which really surprised me:
Here is where we resided for the next two days:


Driver Change, Mike in car:


Driver Change, Pel in car:


 Chris in car, ready for driver change:


The "Little Engine That Could" :dance:


Bernice (me), doing the first day post race car check at night. This is where the broken camber set washer was discovered..then repaired:


Post race group photo, Left to right, Mike, Pel, Bernice (my Hazet tool cart), Chris, Jen:


More later, I'm pretty tired from all this...:pigsfly:
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the update and congrats on the excellent showing and class win!

Preparation is everything in those kind of events and it looks like you guys had it nailed. Nice job.

Sounds like the overall finishing position would have been quite a bit better without the problems, which is even that much more impressive considering the heat, size of the field, and the lack of displacement. Yet another illustration of what a great concept the X was all those years ago.

Have to say I got a chuckle out of one of the pics though-- it's not every day you see someone nut-n-bolting a car while wearing dangly earrings. ;-)

///Mike
 
video

X specific video still in progress. Here's a lap onboard with the race winner...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMR5QQxPiWw&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - Evil Clint at the wheel of the Mustard Yellow Volvo, Buttonwillow Histrionics 24 Hours Of LeMons[/ame]
 
post race analysis

Studying the finals, here are a few observations:

1) our best lap time - 2:22.519

This is a VERY fast car. Nearest fast times are mostly BMWs, including the race-prepared PorcuBimmer (325e * :22.4), a 533i bmw :)22.2), MR2 :)22.9). Race winner in a Ford 302 Volvo, :17.49 (5secs) and 2nd place Big Sausage Acura :15.22.

We could drag-race many people on the front straight, and/or hammer them through the esses. Great stuff. Then, of course, our engine temp would run up - so use it sparingly.

While we could have probably set a faster time, it would have been at the expense of tire and mechanical wear...and that fast time was set with a broken weld on our passenger front wheel that held the camber.

Fastest time isn't the point of this race, however.

2) number of laps - 244

That's a HUGE number, waaaaay more than anybody expected. And 7 laps off of the race winner. We took one 15 minute penalty, and with track-off/track-on call it 20 mins. At a rate of 2:22/lap, that's 8 laps. Had we not taken that penalty, we'd be in contention for the lead.

3) time on track - 13:20:11.3 (thirteen and half continuous hours folks, running the huevos off it)

Race winner spent 13:17:49.0 - they spent a total of THREE more minutes on track than us. That means our driver changes and penalties are actually pretty darned good. So again, if we keep our noses clean, we'd have really had a chance at shocking some folks.

Chris
 
Last edited:
COngrats to the whole team

and thanks to both Chris and bernice for the updates on the finish of the race. Just an awesome effort!! :)
 
My hottest congatulations Bernice and team

For a long while I suspected that the name, Bernice belongs to a girl, but I was ashamed to ask. English is not my native tongue and I did call Natoli Toni until I was brutally corrected.
Anyhow, not much of a racer, I am impressed with your achievmet and I join all in congratulations.
 
Honorable mention

Chris O. was driving Bob Grasch's very speedy X... I got an exclusive ride in this car and it's definitely got punch. Congrats to both of ya.
 
HAHAHA... the SOUND to this video...

... kinda reminds me of the "Rendevous" video where it was all dubbed in... including crunching the gears!

Great stuff... thanks...
 
MOXIE HANGOVER???

Chris was with YOU in PA...

This is the LeMon's post in CA...

You should be fine by tomorrow... I suggest weaning yourself off the Moxie-high by cutting down a few cans a day until you're only doing a six-pack...
 
X specific video

We come into the frame at about the 1:50 minute mark. We all bunch up due to a local yellow at about the 2:50 mark - then I started walking on them at 3:16. Is me in the car in this one:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvWIYIZqPis"]YouTube - Andy DWS Part2[/ame]

Ultimately, he gets me on the straight - but he's in a 2.2L, fuel injected Acura.
 
htfx19 said:
For a long while I suspected that the name, Bernice belongs to a girl, but I was ashamed to ask.
Click to expand...

Herzel, since you confessed I'll go ahead and admit that I once thought Bernice had to be a guy. Long before she started posting here she'd occasionally respond on the Yahoo X1/9 e-mail list, where there are no avatars or any other ways to determine a person's sex. Bernice is certainly a feminine name but I know a guy named Kim and have known of several guys named Stacy. Since Bernice obviously had not only theoretical knowledge, but also clearly had practical experience, I figured she was either a guy with an unusual name or a guy using his wife's e-mail account. It wasn't until she started posting here that I realized she really is a girl.

Yeah, I know that sounds sexist, but in all fairness Bernice has an exceptional knowledge of things mechanical for someone of any sex. I know female car enthusiasts, and have known quite a few female drivers-- some of whom were rather capable. One of the coolest women I've met at the track wasn't a driver, but she loaded and installed tires for her driver husband who could not lift them due to a bad back. Still, it's rare to find a female as hands-on as Bernice.

Which is my way of trying not to sound like too much of a redneck in admitting my surprise in realizing Bernice really is a member of the contrary sex. ;-)

///Mike
 
Well Mike,

Denise (Sypder Lady) comes to mind as very, very knowledgeable about the 124 Spyder, she also wrenches on these cars too.

The difference between Denise and I, I'm a engineer and project manager by profession. While I appear to be knowledgeable about many things mechanical, my real expertise is in analog/RF & Microwave electronics (yes, I designed and built the entire electrical system in the LeMons X from scratch using a mix of stock and not stock parts). It turns out that many of the same laws of physics and concepts apply to both electronics and mechanical things. So, I just look at mechanical things as analog electronic things or based on our current understanding of the natrual world we live in.

Over the years, I have worked on stuff that are "mission critical" where any failure can cause instant death which causes me to look at anything I do seriously. If I get started on the problems with engineering education, this would fast become a rant...and indeed engineering is a very male dominated profession which is a reality I get to deal with daily. :hmm:

Remember that Mars rover that simply keeps on rolling and sending back data? One of the development and engineering teams are all women...
http://marsrovers.nasa.gov/people/MER_Women_Team.html

There are a many women who work in the world of technology, I just happen to be one who is interested in cars, specifically the X and Italian cars in general.

Jenny Morgan in the BMWCCA Roundel. She's been a BMW tech for over 25 years.

BTW, Bernice means: Greek: Βερενίκη, Berenikē), a Macedonian name, meaning "bearer of victory" and... there is a constellation of stars named, Coma Berenices, interestingly, I have very, very long hair:
http://www.backyard-astro.com/focusonarchive/comaberenice/comaberenice.html

Oh, that thumb nail is me in period correct Victorian attire.


///Mike said:
Herzel, since you confessed I'll go ahead and admit that I once thought Bernice had to be a guy. Long before she started posting here she'd occasionally respond on the Yahoo X1/9 e-mail list, where there are no avatars or any other ways to determine a person's sex. Bernice is certainly a feminine name but I know a guy named Kim and have known of several guys named Stacy. Since Bernice obviously had not only theoretical knowledge, but also clearly had practical experience, I figured she was either a guy with an unusual name or a guy using his wife's e-mail account. It wasn't until she started posting here that I realized she really is a girl.

Yeah, I know that sounds sexist, but in all fairness Bernice has an exceptional knowledge of things mechanical for someone of any sex. I know female car enthusiasts, and have known quite a few female drivers-- some of whom were rather capable. One of the coolest women I've met at the track wasn't a driver, but she loaded and installed tires for her driver husband who could not lift them due to a bad back. Still, it's rare to find a female as hands-on as Bernice.

Which is my way of trying not to sound like too much of a redneck in admitting my surprise in realizing Bernice really is a member of the contrary sex. ;-)

///Mike
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Everyone...

for the congratulation...

We will be back for another LeMons.. Problem now,is the LeMons folks know this X is a seriously fast contender to win...
 
I was afraid my confession might wind up sounding more sexist than intended but it's not quite as bad as all that. I certainly didn't mean to give the impression that I thought women *can't* be good at the hands-on stuff, only that your level of knowledge and hands-on experience once caused me to wonder about the name.

Guess you'd have to know me-- a certain amount of my humor is tongue-in-cheek and I tend to eschew political correctness, but no offense was intended.

I'm gonna drag my knuckles back to my cave now,

///Mike
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top