First Enduro

Will be running my first 8 hour enduro next Friday in a Honda S2000 at Road Atlanta. Finished car prep today pads/tires/fluids etc. 4 man team with a pro coach as a driver/crew chief. Any advice?

 

Take it easy and keep out of the pits. Find a good rhythm and stick to it! The race is 8 hours, not a 30 minute sprint! Just take it easy and you'll finish near the top.

 

+1

stay out of the box and out of the rocks!

 

Thanks thats what we are hoping for, car setup is excellent. Trying to run the entire race on one set of tires/pads. Starting from the pits to avoid problems at the start. Should be interesting, about 30 teams registered so far.

 

One set of tires is pretty optimistic. When you practice, see what your times are with short shifting and rolling speed in higher gears to reduce the number of shifts per lap. It can save fuel and be easier on the equipment. No low percentage passes and never get racy with anyone even in your class until near the end. Be as sure as possible the other driver sees you and signal overtaking traffic so they know you know where they are and where you want them to go. If any portion will be at night have really good auxiliary lights aimed at apexes (not just straight ahead) and have a provision to reduce glare for overtaking cars. Don't be that guy who has to come in on the hook. The faster lap times will have done you no good if that happens. If you catch someone in class and they get racy with you, be extra careful with them and just follow them until they make a mistake if possible. Racing is always slower than driving the line. Have latex cords set up to pull belts out of the way to simplify driver changes. Practice driver changes and have belts loose and unlatched and radio leads unplugged by the time you stop.

 

Do you have a "spotter" in your crew? We had ours mounted on a 12' standalone deer stand (at a short, flat track- CMP in S. Carolina) He/she can let the driver know what's going on elsewhere on the track.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Driver hydration ! And start 36 hours before the race as well as adjusting diet with foods that release energy slowly , but not make the "need to go" immediate. Other items that may help are small bungee cords to slightly move the belts away from the egress/ingress so you don't have an incoming driver sit on a belt , and coming down pit lane maybe some slight loosening of the belts if a larger guy is getting in. Find a fast fueling setup BEFORE showing up at the track , I saw someting at Iowa Speedway chumpcar race this year that appeared odd until I saw just how fast they fueled. Personally if the rules allow it , use dump cans , they flow very well so long as the cell is vented well.

 

What tires are you planning on using ? If over 180 treadwear , the Maxxis,Falken of Dunlops last well if you have a decent setup. Go check out the Chumpcar website , you may find a wealth of info to help you out , even if they are thought to be "$500" racecars. E36's and such prove otherwise

 

I'm running the same event. We've been successful in NASA sprint races and enduros. Looking forward to this one. See you there.

We can do the race on one set of pads, but our strategy includes some tire changes. It's the pads we use, along with drivers being prudent, that allow us to get that race length out of a set. In our experience, Hawks will not stand up to that.

We use a spotter, great advantage.

Good advice. There is no practice for this race. Gotta love it. Daylight racing only.

The good thing for novices is that driver changes are long because the rules permit run-of-the-mill fuel cans. You can easily do one driver change per five gallons here.

With sub two hour stints and low ambient temps, driver hydration and nutrition are a concern for only the inexperienced and least fit drivers. Everyone else should be in the habit of looking after themselves properly.

 

Thanks everyone for the input, this should be fun, our car is a SCCA T3 classed S2000. Will be my first race with NASA and this particular team, looking forward to it. B-mak see you there what car/team?

 

We're in the National Championship-winning #786 Civic.

I'm not doing the first stint, so feel free to drop by. We paddock and pit near pit out.

 

Just got back home following our 8 hour enduro yesterday at Road Atlanta. Weather/driving conditions were excellent, great day for racing. It was our teams first event together and we really learned a lot during the race. 4 drivers split duty -two rookies, our coach, and myself (im just beyond rookie status). We fought through flat tires/mechanical failures/and a couple of drive through penalties but managed to keep the car clean and out of trouble.

Finished P2 in our class, had a ton of fun, and learned a tremendous amount in the process. Looking forward to our next race in February of 2012. Would strongly encourage anyone to give it a try if you have been thinking about it.

 

Well done.

We windowed the block at three hours in. Our first engine failure in four years.

 

Sorry to hear that, good luck with your repairs.

 

Thanks. Already started, we have four spare long blocks.

Cars are off for new body and paint now.

 

Congrats. I love my track-days, but nothing beats wheel-to-wheel racing, even in a LeMons or Chumps crap-can.

Keep us posted on your next race. Let me know if you ever need a driver at VIR or CMP !!!