Luigi CSL Died Today

[lafngrvy]

I am sorry to report that we lost the motor in my Luigi CSL today at the Rolex Pre-reunion race.

The #1 rod bearing failed coming out of Turn 4 at about 6500 RPM. The cap came apart and punched holes in both sides of the block.

The car will still be in the paddock next week if you are attending the races and would like to come by and lay a wreath on his now dented hood. Something hit it pretty hard from the underside.

I will still be on track with the 1935 315/1 Willis Special and the MIGHTY 700, so come cheer them on instead.

 

[bdigel]

Heart breaker !
hopefully the cly. head comes though undamaged

 

[MyFemurHurts]

Holy hell my heart skipped a beat. Based on the thread title I was fearful the car had been in a wreck.

 

[adawil2002]

Oh that is carastrophic news, sorry.

Same thing happened to my friend Bow Gray just before The Vintage in NC 2014.

 

[Gary Knox]

So sorry to hear this. With a few pieces of metal, Luigi can live again - we hope. The important thing is that you were enjoying the ride, and you are safe. Done a lot of track time, and seen lots of mechanical and hard impact 'incidents', but THANKFULLY, no driver injuries.

 

[dave v. in nc]

motor...

Sorry to hear about the motor....

 

[leonine99]

Ow! That hurts to look at!

 

[waynesie]

That sucks.
Are you running an Accusump?

 

[deQuincey]

sorry for. that,
but luigi not dead, only the engine,...that is not enough for luigi to die
wish you a prompt recovery

 

[lafngrvy]

Thank you all for your condolences. We are pretty disappointed not to be able to race Luigi this weekend.

Thor Johnson will still be on track with his Schnitzer 2800CS, Gerken will be here with my old Jagger car, and Henry Schmidt is running his IMSA car, so there will still be E9's present. Haven't heard if Classic will be here with the #25 car.

It looks like the head is fine, and all the Alpina induction bits are fine. Hopefully the Alpina oil pump didn't suck in any shrapnel. I'm guessing the crank is toast, and we will be looking for a well seasoned M30 block.

Since the car is dry sumped we are at a loss for why it starved for oil. One thought is an air leak somewhere in the line running back to the reservoir tank in the trunk. Once we get the car back home we will be able to do a full post mortum.

 

[decoupe]

M30 block or M90?