The excitement levels are ‘through the roof,’ apparently, as members of the 90+ themed teams and 500 drivers who made the final cut, gather at the Hampton Downs motor racing complex in the northern Waikato today for this year’s NaZCAR Continuous 24-Hour Lemons Enduro event.
Set for kick off at 3pm today (Friday Sept 16) and finish at 3pm tomorrow (Saturday Sept 17) this year’s Lemons Enduro is not only the first continuous 24-hour race to run here in New Zealand since 2019, but also the first NaZCAR Lemons event to get to use the full 3.8 km ‘international’ circuit at the venue.
“So, yes, I can definitely see and understand why there has been so much hype around it,” event organiser, Dr Jacob Simonsen said last night.
“The anticipation is palpable. My phone’s been ringing red-hot for the last three days, with customers fizzing about getting out on track and sharing good times with their mates…”
“I’m not surprised that we’ve got great numbers for this weekend either – we’ve spent a lot of time and energy developing a series that gives people the opportunity to experience motorsport like never before.
“Lots of seat time, value for money, easy entry and loads of laughs – the best part is that practically ANYONE can get amongst it…”
“Also,” says Dr Simonsen, “I love Hampton Downs as a venue – not only is the track world class, its infrastructure is well managed and prepared, making things less stressful for me as a promoter.”
Speaking of which, the CEO of circuit owner Tony Quinn’s NZ Business Group, Josie Spillane, says that it is a two-way street and her team at Hamptons have worked closely with the Lemons team and AASA over the years to ensure the sport has the support it needs at grass roots level. “To that end we’ve made our highly sought-after international circuit available to Lemons for the 24-hour event, in recognition of its success.
“A number of our GT Members have enjoyed the series and we have seen numerous other drivers start in Lemons and progress on to other forms of racing as well.”
“It’s also captured people who would otherwise never have given the sport a go, so full credit to them for driving the participation and social elements of the event so well too.”
Race day activity kicks off with Drivers’ Briefing at 12.30pm before a final 1-hour practise session and grid-based photo opportunity on-track.
The 90+ cars expected to start this year’s Continuous 24-Hour Lemons Enduro will then line up in single file ready for the rolling 3.00pm start, behind the ‘safety (ish) car’.
Having been instrumental in setting up and trialling the 24 Hours of LeMons events in Australia from 2015, Dr Simonsen brought the franchise with him on his permanent return home to New Zealand, where he ran his first (non-continuous) 24 Hours of LeMons at Hampton Downs in 2016.
He has since run various formats of 8, 12 Hour and 24-Hour Lemons races for an ever-expanding group of keen teams, with an impressive raft of events under his belt, so far!
More information on upcoming NaZCAR events can be found on the 24-hours of NaZCAR page on Facebook at facebook.com/Nazcar24
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