A few friends and I are discussing plans to enter our first endurance race, the 10 Heures du Mans at GingerMan over Labor Day Weekend.

http://www.gingermanenduro.com

We're entering in what is essentially an H1 prepped car, I believe it's a '95 Civic Hatch with an ITR engine. With none of us having done an enduro before, can anyone give us some pointers on preparation for equipment, the car, drivers and crew? How should we approach this as opposed to a regular club racing weekend? Any idea on types of spares to bring, extra needed equipment, or even how many sets of tires might be needed?

 

Whoa boy......

I can post more sometime next week on this when I've got time to think it out, but an enduro requires *a lot* of chit, people and money.

Short answer: Probably go through 2 sets of pads and 2 sets of front tires in 10 hrs, 60-70 gallons of gas (and thats just the race, add more for practice, qualify, etc). You'll need to replace nearly all the wear items on the car before the event, and possibly again after the event - its hard on a car making decent HP.

 

I believe the biggest factor in our Enduro success has been our car and keeping it in running condition. Don't make changes to your car right before an enduro. You might forget to tighten something, break something else, or your new part may not work correctly. A shakedown a week or so ahead is good. The bottom line is get he car in good running order, and keep it that way. Less time in the pits means more laps you can turn.

Tip #2: Visualize and win. This is not so much for the driver, but for your whole race strategy. The less you have to think on your feet, the faster you can react to things as they happen. Discuss with your team how stops will be made. Practice driver changes in your driveway. Make and discuss contingency plans and race strategy. Practice disasempling brakes and suspension when they are hot. You can always see an enduro team who is just a group that showed up, they are standing around scratching there heads, or yelling at each other. A good team always looks like they know what they are doing, because they probably practiced before hand.

Tip #3: You are never goign to bring enough spares, but you should think about the car you are running, what it's consumption is, and what breaks frequently. We usually bring 8 tires, spare pads and rotors, extra fuel and oil filters, extra radiator hoses and radiator, and extra suspension peices(tie rod ends!). If you have one, buying a parts car and driving it to the track pretty much takes care of spares, and may be cheaper than buying them all seperatly.

Tip #4. Go to the Nasa 25 hour site and read some of the race stories. They will give you the best idea of what kind of problems you will encounter.

Have fun.

 

Anything can can vibrate off, fall off, break off, WILL.

Double protect critical fastners, locknut and loctight, safety wire and locknut, etc.

Protect wires where they connect to items. Don't let the weight of the wire pull against the connector. Protect it with zip ties.

Set up a set of emergency brake lights. Something that you can quickly pop rivit onto the back deck should someone "take your lights".

Look at every piece on the car. Say to yourself. If I was that piece, how can I f@@k you over. Then fix it ahead of time.

Plenty of rest before the race. Make sure you pick someone to keep the troops fed and beveraged.


There is nothing more satisfying for a driver and crew than to finish an enduro. Worry about placement only if you finish.

I could go on..............

 

Who's hosting the event? I assume there is a special set of rules regarding how pit stops are conducted.

Read the supplemental rules several times and make a check list of all the extra equipment that you're going to need. Things that I find helpful that aren't required are a pit sign (reflective if at night) so the driver can see your pit spot easier and a strong flashlight/lamp so you fuel guy can see what he's doing (again, if refueling at night).

 

What everyone else said and more. Enduros require more prep and planning by far than regular sprint race weekends. More people coordinated (drivers, crew, support) , more parts (wide open), more equipment (pit rig, fueling) , more consumables (tires, gas, oil, brakes, cleaners, etc.), more contingency plans if things aren't ideal (damage, rigging on replacement parts, premature wear, etc.), more strategy (pit timing, driver shifts, lapping pace), etc.

Knestis/Giles/et.al. have been planning and working for many months already for a 13 hour race in October at VIR with probably nearly 10 people not including the drivers and everyone with a plan. Much of it is the kind of stuff learned from experiencing it and trying to find better ways to deal with it. Practicing fueling , driver changes, part changes, etc. will show where you need to pay attention.

I worked a 24 hour years ago and thought our fueling system would be fine but didn't actually practice it and, lo and behold, it took us 3-4 times longer to fill the car and we lost the equivelent of 1 lap plus on every fuel stop for 24 hours. Another time we had a big tank in an RX7 for a three hour race but a strange fuel pickup problem made us stop six times instead of two. At the Moroso 24 with the RX7, the owner had a trick, expensive differential built for the race and the tolerance was too tight for the heat and it burned up and seized and we had to change the entire diff, axles, subframe, etc. in about an hour and we still finished third in class.

Remember that in an enduro a lot can go wrong but you can also fix an awful lot as well in that time. Most teams will experience small to big issues so unlike a sprint, you can often come back from big trouble with a respecable finish if you have the organization and proper planning.

Edited for name misspelling, sorry Kirk


Modified by CRX Lee at 5:58 PM 7/23/2004

 

I crewed for Striclty Team Racing @ the Cascade Enduro last October. For the 2 cars we were running, we had a total of 22 people there, including the drivers. Even with that many people, we were still pretty busy throughout the day and evening. We could have done it with a few less people, but you really need to come prepared for the worst. I would say for one car, 8 people would be a good idea.

We had a great time and it was very cool when we finished the race, not to mention 1st overall in a P2 car!

 

Send your pit stop refueler to the gym every day for a couple months prior to the race.

Rob


Modified by GQ at 6:13 PM 7/23/2004

 

Honestly, you're a month out? If I were you this is what I would do. This is my 2 cents ...take it for what you want. For the H1 car I would not make any changes to the car as posted above. Figure out your fuel curve from past sprint races. Shift at 1k few revs and add 4% on your fuel curve. Plan to change the the front brakes and front tires at the 5-6 hour mark. Vent the front brakes. Other then that I would have atleast 6 crew guys there. Have radios from driver to crew.

Also tell your drivers that this isn't sprint race. Braking points should come sooner.

Honestly estimate the time you need to get everything done (getting crew, adminstration paper work completed, figuring out what to do about feeding everyone at the track, tools for everyone, making sure everyone shows up at the requi prior to the enduro and then double it. If you have any more questions PM me, I'm not giving away everything in public.

Good Luck!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Littleton &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Have radios from driver to crew.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Also, make sure to have a backup system of hand/sign signals in case the radios fail. One time we lost communication one way so even if you're not getting confirmations keep transmitting until you can communicate the problem to the other side with hand/sign signals.

 

what about auxillary lights? I've seen a few setups, but does anyone here have anything to say about them?

 

We fabbed a piece of sheet metal with a 90 degree bend that attaches to the top bumper cover support 10mm's and sits on the slope of the nose of the front bumper. 2 Main and 2 Aux lights. We did this with the Integra and Civic. We used CATZ HIDs systems since 01'

 

Excellent posts everyone, there's a lot that I hadn't thought about. What it all says to me is that maybe this year isn't the time to try entering this event. I'm not the team leader, the car owner is. It's evident, though, that we need much more time for prep. Ideally, we'd have 4 drivers, right now we're at 3. Additionally, it sounds like about 5 crew people would be about right, right now we have 1.

To answer some of the questions, the event is sanctioned by Midwestern Council and run by the Madison Sports Car Club. There are pit stop requirements. I haven't read this year's rules yet, but I believe there are 4 or 5 mandatory stops, each are a minimum of 5 minutes.

http://www.madisonsportscarclub.com
http://my.execpc.com/~mcscc

I've read of many teams losing endurance races in the first hour, and that's something we'd like to avoid. The spares are a huge question. I don't believe the car owner has very many extra parts.

The event is not at night, so daylight all around. As part of the organization putting on the event, we'd love to do it at night, but GingerMan has no track lighting as of yet.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Grumpy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">...Set up a set of emergency brake lights. Something that you can quickly pop rivit onto the back deck should someone "take your lights".
</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's a good idea, that I don't have on my list. Thanks, Jim!

K

 

Maybe I should write a book

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Grumpy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Maybe I should write a book </TD></TR></TABLE>

you should. seriously. i'm not kidding!

todd

ps folks would buy it!!!!

 

Title would be Racing doesn't cost any more than it used to...



K