MeLonAid: Racing for a cause.

A not-for-profit multi-day budget endurance event to support Men’s mental health in Australia.

It's hard to imagine a more difficult period for many than the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2022 and beyond. We’ve seen families and friends separated, businesses fold, events cancelled. Not being able to do the things that bring us joy means we’ve all been struggling- financially, physically, mentally. And we’ve seen tragedies for families and loved ones as a result of those struggles.

In early October, one of the racing communities’ biggest social ‘outlets’, The 24 Hours of Lemons, collapsed with the head promoter suffering a self-described breakdown, something that almost all Men struggle with at one point or other in their lives. This has been devastating for the tight-knit motorsport community, not just because of the demise of the events themselves, but for our comrade who put his heart and soul into curating these events for us.

With my track record in running motorsport events I’ve put my hand up to attempt to ‘rescue’ an event for the good of the drivers and the community. However, I would not feel comfortable profiting from the demise of the original event, in fact, I will not be profiting from this in any way. I have proposed to the teams that we host a non-for-profit, unaffiliated replacement multi-day endurance event for affordable cars, with all proceeds raised to form a charitable donation to benefit several men’s mental health organisations in Australia.

Motorsport experience is not necessary- this is a team-building, friendship making endurance/attrition event. What’s important is being along for the ride, for a cause, and getting your car to the end, if you can!

You can help the cause by committing to build a car, forming a team- or putting your hand up to join one- or simply by sharing my post, and seeing if we can gather the support we need for something I’m extremely passionate about.

We’ve pulled this ‘rescue’ event together in a REALLY short period of time, and thanks to all of you for being so responsive with your communications and wallets!

Cost: $2900 inc GST per team of up to four drivers (minimum 3). Additional drivers $700 each.
50% deposits due this Friday 16th October
Balance due Friday 23rd October
WE CAN NOW TAKE CREDIT CARD- message us for details
Teams that meet both these dates will get 25% off weekend garage hire and 25% off your AASA race licences (new or renewal).

Deposit details:
THE TRUSTEE FOR D K NELSON SERVICES TRUST
BSB: 065140
A/C: 10223329
Reference: Your team name (number of drivers)
eg. OPLRACETEAM(6)
WE CAN NOW TAKE CREDIT CARD- message us for details

CAN I ENTER MY CAR?
We’re being as inclusive as possible to allow as many of you to enter whatever wheel-baby you want to run. As long as you’re keeping within the ethos of ‘budget endurance’ and don’t take yourself too seriously, we’d love to have you along! V8 Supercars, Porsche Cup cars and those with big egos need not apply- if your car fits one of the statements below, you definitely SHOULD!
If you’ve built a car to 24 hours of Lemons regs (here), YES!
If you’ve built a car to Motorevents regs (here), YES!
If you’ve run a car in 24 hours of Lemons OZ in the last 2 years and are running the same car, YES!
If you’ve contacted us here at this page with your proposed entry and we’ve said yes, well, YES!

EVENT FORMAT:
The event will run over three days, with an optional half-day practice on arrival day, then two full days of on-track action!
Currently we’re following (more or less) a MotorEvents 14 hour weekend format- however: THE MORE TEAMS ENTER THE MORE TRACK TIME WE GET. 7 hours a day not enough? You know what to do. Let’s aim for sunset!!
13th November- Arrival and ‘tech’ day, optional 3 hour afternoon practice- details coming soon.
14th November- on track 9am-4pm*
15th November- on track 9am-4pm*
*The more entries the more track hours we can buy- price will remain the same! C’mon, you guys know you want to run til it gets dark!!

We’ll continue to update this with final tech and supp regs as we go. Appreciate your patience while we work double time to pull this together in addition to our usual calendar.

David Nelson, Director Openpitlane.com.au