MEDIA RELEASE: Practice has been completed at Wakefield Park for the inaugural 24 Hours of LeMons Australia endurance event, which is being held over two days starting tomorrow.
The event, which is held to raise money for prostate cancer research, features teams competing in cars that must be worth no more than $1000.
The 24 Hours of LeMons events have been extremely popular in America, where they often attract huge fields, and the emphasis of the endurance race is on enjoyment and teamwork rather than outright speed.
Wakefield Park operations manager Matt Baragwanath said the circuit is proud to hold the first Australian incarnation of the fundraising event.
“We’re honoured that the very first event of its type in Australia is being held right here at Wakefield Park,” Mr Baragwanath said.
“The 24 Hours of LeMons is raising money for a very worthwhile cause, and it has attracted a large number of people to Wakefield Park who have never been involved in any form of motorsport before.
“A lot of people have travelled to the Goulburn region specifically for this occasion, bringing significant benefits to the local economy.
“Some of the teams have gone to a lot of effort in preparing their cars, and there are some quite unique and quirky vehicles set to participate, so it should be a fun couple of days.”
The event has attracted a lot of people with no motorsport experience, but there are still a number of well-credentialed names taking the opportunity to participate, including Wakefield 300 winners David Raddatz and Nathan Jess, who are with the “Team Mater MX5 Mania” team along with Australian Formula 4 Championship competitor Harry Hayek.
Also on the entry list are Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge driver John Goodacre and Nissan GT Academy star Josh Muggleton.
Another personality of Australian motorsport, albeit with limited racing experience, V8 Supercars television commentator Chad Neylon is competing with some of his friends in the “Rusty Pug Racing” outfit.
“As soon as we saw the news that this was going to come to Australia, we decided we needed to do it,” Neylon said.
“We sourced the car – our Peugeot 306 – and my mate Alex has done a lot of work to get us on the track.
“We’re hoping to be as reliable as possible, look after the brakes, gearbox and clutch and hopefully spend as much time on the track as possible.”
The on-track action for the 24 Hours of Lemons kicks off tomorrow morning at around 8:00am; the event will be held in two stages during the day on Wednesday, 27 October and Thursday, 28 October.
