Hello, and welcome to the 2018 24 hour clunker challenge hosted by Trafikjournalen. Now the race is on and it seems like it’s already quite a bad start for James Hurley in car number 12, the Erin. Seems like he has some struggle with getting it in gear, but now he’s away at least. Meanwhile, the police painted 1961 Sakura, car number 10, is also slow off the starting line, like it’s struggling to get fuel but that one finally picks up speed too. The IP, the Buccaneer, the Oldman and the Bogliq are also struggling with getting of the starting line with too much wheelspin. Quickly taking the lead is the Espyo Rusp, a car that most of us could only dream of 10 years ago but appearantly has fallen in value enough to run in this clunker race now, talk about that times are changing.
We hear the engine of number 9, the Oldman, running quite roughly but the guys said that they found it under a tarp on a farm and that it had been standing for ages, so probably it’s nothing else to expect. The Sakura is struggling a bit in getting through the chicane, probably losing some time there. Once again it seems to be some trouble with the gearbox of the Erin, maybe it’s some leaking clutch hydraulics, there seems to be some grinding at downshifting at least.
Oh no! Now Victor Ruggla in number 17 the Birmingham loses control of his vehicle, and Liam O’Neil in the Sakura has to swerwe to avoid the wildly spinning Birmingham, causing both vehicles to run off the track. Though it seems like both cars and drivers escape from this unscratched. Mats Hansen in number 23, the cream IP Pandora, Luke light in number 5, the light brown Minerva, and our rookie favourite, Lucas Nilsson in number 3, the silver TSR all managed to escape this with only a minor loss of time though. Very nice driving of especially Lucas Nilsson, a completely fresh driver, that says he is going to finish this race on his own by drinking a lot of energy drinks, some say he is a genius, other just think he is mad, nobody knows what the truth is though. Both Shin Ztami in the Ferrain Uti Pick and the mysterious driver in the Keika Hop probably underestimates their speed in the curve, almost spinning out but managing to stay on track.
It has been quite undramatic now for a while, the Espyo is still the leader, the Oldman seems to have some understeering issues in the curves, the gas guzzling Revero is already in for its first tank stop. But what now? Numer 13, the AAAA, bumps into number 4, the Suzume, which seems to escape undamaged from the crash, while the brittle fiberglass shell of the AAAA looks very sad now, it probably at least will be some minutes in the pits to duct tape the dangling pieces together. Ironically enough, Mats Hansen in the IP seems to suffer more from the crash that Rick in the Suzume. Swerwing to avoid the bouncing cars, he is skidding out on the gras which seems to stall the engine. Also, it seems like the IPs starter is only clicking, did something break in the accident…no, now we hear the 1,3 litre sewing machine come to life again and Hansen can continue the race. Pierre Mountbatten in the (obviously) blue Bogliq and Ana Guiterezz in the Caliban have greater luck in avoiding a crash,and manages to stay on the track. Flying fiberglass debris is landing on the windshield of the PMI, causing Toby Ickx to brake, but it seems like it’s falling off again quite quickly and he can pick up speed again with the windshield still is one piece. The Sakuras fuel delivery problem seems to be coming and going and also there seems to be some slight trouble with the Birmingham, causing it to lose speed for a while.
The Revero is out of the pits but maybe there was some water in the fuel causing it to run rough for a while. But now we see that the Minerva is entering a corner with a speed its tractor-like suspension can’t handle, skidding out on the grass but escaping undamaged, the much faster Espyo barely manages to avoid a crash there, followed by the IP and the Caliban that also enters the corner with too much speed, skidding but managing to stay on the track.We hear some misfires from the Nohda and also from the Matteo, maybe caused by some electronic issues in the old and probably now unreliable electronic ignition systems, maybe something else, but both cars are running smoothly again after a while.
The Suzume is skidding in the same curve as the Minerva had some problems, spinning out in the same fashion but no damage to the Suzume either. The gearbox in the Erin is still making some funny noises when downshifting but we are also starting to hear a similar sound from the IP. Luke Light in the Minerva appearantly only learned his lession halfway, he is taking the curve at a more gentle speed but it is still more than the ancient suspension can handle, though the car stays on the track. After him comes two other ancient constructions, the 1947 Oldman and the 1961 Sakura, facing similar troubles, causing the Bogliq and the Caliban to brake to avoid the situation.
The Revero is going for another tank stop while some cars still are running on their first tank, however, many cars like the Ferrain, the PMI and the Birmingham has been in for their first tank stop. The misfires of the Nohda seems to come back but disappear again. But now we have another crash and it seems like it’s the Suzume again, smashing into the barrier at a quite high speed sending it to the pits for a while. The Suzume is out of the pits again, but what now? It barely manages to get out from the pits only to get hit by the Oldman quite hard, both cars look very battered and I guess it will be another visit to the pits for the Suzume, as well as one for the Oldman. The AAAA and the Erin drives of track when trying to avoid getting into the crash, while the Buccaneer, Ferrain, Sakura and Caliban manages to avoid it completely. Though the Caliban seems to have some troubles with gaining speed again, but after a while it’s running as fast as ever on the track.
We’re now 4 hours into the race, the first bunch of drivers have done half of their time, but let’s look at the standings this far:
- Espyo Rusp, lap #109
- Matteo Miglia, lap #106
- Caliban Thunder, lap #105
- Keika Hop, lap #103
- Nohda Bop, lap #102
- Ferrain UtiPick, lap #102
- TSR Kansai, lap #99
- Birmingham 8000, lap #98
- LSV Buccaneer, lap #98
- Revero IRO-1, lap #97
- Bogliq Kitten, lap #92
- PMI Usurper, lap #92
- Suzume Haneda, lap #91
- Erin Lomaron, lap #90
- Oldman series 1, lap #89
- AAAA V200, lap #89
- Sakura Empress, lap #89
- Minerva Bullet, lap #87
- IP Pandora, lap #84
although it kind of is kind of like what Jordan Cox is racing (an EG civic in the Improved Sports category), so I guess that’s pretty damn spiffy.
