Rupunzell
Bernice Loui
The more I've had to decompress from the race, the more I feel like the lockups were due to driver error versus the setup. I really only grabbed the wheel 3 times in ~100+ laps, and it was really, really wet and oily. It rained all weekend. Also the e30 lotus cortina's oil cooler fell off and I hit the oil patch before the yellow and red flag came out. That was a pretty spicy moment to instantly have 0 grip in T1 after the long straight. The car was easy to reel back in though.
I'm looking forward to the swap. We're planning to do some autoX and track days before registering for the race to work out some of the bugs. We don't *really* do lemons to be competitive, we do it because we like working on the car together. That's the real reason behind the oddball swap. If we really wanted to be competitive, we'd be doing a k20 swap like everyone else...no wait...we'd be driving an e36 but that's no fun...
We did LeMons as an experiment and learning experience. There is No Possible Way a PP race rotary can win at LeMons, the fuel consumption is absurd. Yes, the car is fast, real fast and reliable. Yet, that issue with fuel consumption makes the rotary powered X a no possible way winner.
By product of LeMons is enjoying the family of LeMons races and motorsports in a purity no other motorsports event can offer.
K20 swap might not be competitive at LeMons for much the same reasons. To win at LeMons is much about making laps, not just being fast. There have been entire NASCAR teams by day that have raced at LeMons just for fun.. There have been world class endurance drivers (24 hours of LeMans.. the real one) at LeMons racing ... for fun.. Take LeMons seriously, but never forget about the fun factor... as one of our drivers puts this.. Safe, Fun, maybe win..
Don't think those e36 are auto winners at LeMons, they have their share of serious failures from German electricals, to fragile gear boxes and more. e36 and Miata at LeMons work due to the Large user base and know-proven solutions to designed in/built in problems..
Reasons why the eye sore Miata does so well, their team is technically excellent, Good drives, Good race logistics, Excellent car prep and all No surprise given these folks do motorsports as their day job and more.. There are other teams like this at LeMons..
There have been factory sponsored teams from GM, Toyota and ... all learned lots about their products and the demands of endurance racing... which surprised them in many ways.
Bernice