Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Motoring J Style: 3rd at 24 HOURS OF LeMONS!



In-car footage from one of the VW Golf GTI's. A great battle between our MR2 (#64 green/yellow) and the #34 Alfetta GT of the California Mille team. Motoring J Style fought hard and finished the race 3rd overall...a personal best for the team. 89 cars started the race (though the lone Fiero only lasted ten laps).



As you've probably read by now, the race was tainted by the untimely death of Court Summerfield, driver of the #39 Team "Cant Am" Volvo 242. This has been covered extensively on Jalopnik. Witness accounts and a CHP investigation lead us to believe that Court lost consciousness in the car due to some medical problem, causing him to hit a concrete wall head-on. This occurred Saturday afternoon at approximately 2PM, and racing was called off for the rest of the day while an accident investigation took place. This was a very disturbing event, and it proves that even in a carefree race like LeMons, the age old adage remains true: "Motor Racing is Dangerous". We express our heartfelt sympathy to Court's family and his teammates for the loss that they suffered. It is uplifting to know that Court's teammates are looking for another Volvo to build as a race car for Thunderhill in December. We didn't know Court personally, but from all accounts, he was a true gearhead and he would have approved.

Jay Lamm, founder of the 24 Hours of Lemons, made the extremely difficult decision to resume racing on Sunday. We think Jay did the right thing, and we applaud him for his composure and for the heartfelt words he delivered during Sunday morning's drivers' meeting. As he said, quoting another competitor, "racing brings us the best, and racing brings us the worst". Thankfully today, with modern safety equipment, we endure the worst only infrequently. Saturday was one of those days. We dedicate our race to Court's memory.

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