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Tips & Tricks?

Started by FastKars, July 10, 2009, 19:30:18

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FastKars

Hi all,

As  we will be (one of the) rookies this year we probably miss a lot of practical 24 hrs knowledge....
You probably will fly around us, but not letting us look that bad, I am looking for some nice tips & tricks you guys might want to share....

e.g.
Is it common to change drivers every fuel stop, or is switching every hour better?
How long can you race on one tank on Snetterton anyway? 
What shouldn't we really really not forget?!
Etc...

Would be nice getting some tips & tricks.....tnx!

Kars

FD 2cv Racing

Derek Coghill

A tank of fuel lasts between 2 and 3 hours; if you change drivers when you refuel it costs less time (the driver has to be out of the car when refuelling anyway). The maximum that a driver is allowed to drive without stopping is 3 hours.

Bring all the spares that you think you'll need, and then (at about 2am) you'll discover that what you need you didn't bring. Someone will have one somewhere, though.

Bring wellies and an umbrella. And sun cream.

Simon Crook

#2
"What shouldn't we really really not forget"

CAMSHAFT & BEER  ;D


All those views and only one sensible response - come on you lot Kars and his team are coming over from Holland
Simon Crook - Back Racing in 2013
LUMACA RACING

David Bain

I'm not being flippant when I say -
1 - arrive with the car ready to race hard for 24 hours; it's NOT the same as a half hour race
2 - study the event timetable and be ready to adapt to any last minute changes by listening to the  announcements - be in the right place at the right time
3 - get plenty of sleep in the days before the race
4 - be ready for every excess the British weather can throw at you
I may be being flippant when I say -
5 - go slower than we Brits - we're very sensitive, you know!

Matthew Hollis

Bring a portable radio - you can tune in to radio Fine Print which during the night can often let you know what is happening (the commentary stops during the dark)

Frank Barnard

What I remember from Mondello 1996:
* Use an engine from a donor car in qualifying because we reckoned with a race this long grid position didn't count for much (funnily enough the engine from a £100 mule turned out to be quicker than the race-prepped one, but we still switched them and the new one didn't let us down)
* Two hour stints
* Make sure your mirrors give you a good rear-view and stay firm, i.e don't wobble out of position when you need them most (notably at night)
* Similarly, have a night test to ensure your lights are really effective and, particularly, are angled to pick out the apexes
* Impose a STRICT pre-agreed and conservative rev limit to preserve and learn about the engine and ignore those dashing past as though it's a sprint. Raise the limit as the race progresses and the engine shows signs of being reliable long-term
* Watch the instruments with an eagle-eye
* Watch pit signals. If someone's bothering to display your position and lap-times a quick thumbs-up shows you've seen them and have taken in, and are ready to act, on the info
* Refuel every pitstop, check oil level and monitor tyre wear and pressures; we scrubbed sixteen brand-new Firestones as I recall (an odd thing to witness) and used half of them, but were ready to use the other half also
* Constantly monitor the development of the race, who's doing what, where you are and might be, what opportunities there are to be taken advantage of. We only realised, with two hours to go, that we were a contender for 11th place and Rookie Of The Year. After a hurry-up we did it with half a lap to go
* Drivers: do not argue with the team manager or complain. You agreed he should be the boss so, while making a point or two in a constructive way, accept his or her decisions. When people are stressed and fatigued tempers can get easily frayed. At best such fall-outs sour morale, at worst you might lose your team manager when you need him most
That's all I can summon up from the dim & distant. Maybe these suggestions are way out of date these days or teaching grandmother, but I submit them anyway...
To all those coming over from Holland to support this great event, may the spirit of the indomitable Verstappen ride with you. And, to everyone, a safe, dry race and may the best car and drivers win...



pat collier

I did not do the race last year.... but have done well into double figures  24 hour races..

A tank lasts about 2 hours 20 if its dry and you are on the pace  could be longer,,, but you are full throttle a lot here.... if you get an efficient engine perhaps 2 40... In the wet then add 10 minutes... change drivers on the fuel stops.

Unless you are running for a position stay out on the pace cars, yellows, unless you are 1 hr 30 into a stint then come in and change drivers.

Hold your line... dont dive into the corners but carry momentum out and overtake on the exits...

Dont listen to people telling you this or that is this revs that gear etc.. it depends on the set up on the car....

Dont look to rev to peak power on the engine try to change a little early, dont use engine breaking to slow down, the car is overbreaked so use them instead.
Having said that you will gain huge chunks of time at the first and second corners....Turn 1 (Riches) take as late a turn in as you can, its a double apex, should be flat in 4th regardless of your car keep your foot in allow the car to apex early drift and comer back to apex a second time. Turn 2 Sear leads onto the straight and is therefore super important to lap time, break a little early apex late but accellerate to apex in 3rd allow a wide exit to carry momentum.
Turn 3 and 4 the Esses is quicker on the entry than yoiu think but depends on your line courage and the car, you will get quicker here.. its a lift, a dab or a flat on depending on the above then a solid break to 3rd as soon as the car is straight, late turn in to the second part of the corner. accelerate into the bomb hole flat through the balance towards Russell, where the most important thing here is to stay off the curbs and turn in on the brakes in the dry...


Stay off the curbs... again stay off the curbs

Enjoy it you will find someone who is running at your pace race them 2-3 abreast in the corner is not unusual... but allow everyone room..

If someone is comming up on you fast.... let them know early that they have the corner.. and let them go by  otherwise you will be thinking of them in the middle of the corner and thats when you lose it!!!!!!

I am sure that you will get lots of opinion many of it dissagreeing with me, its your call its your race

Have a great race a little jealous that I cant make it this year

patrick


helen deeley

Give yourself time to settle in- 2hour + stints are hard work, especially at night. You need to keep the concentration going. Get sleep whenever you can.
Get some mirror tint, theres always a few cars with extra bright headlights & its not fun when they're behind you at night, with the already limited visibilty.
Keep an eye on your pit signals & make sure you all know what the signals mean!
Paddock Hill Bend is not flat in top!

FastKars

Hi all,

Thanks for the great tips you have provided till now......very usefull.......probably not only for us ;-)
And Patrick...don't worry I think you have a very clear philosophy on the Snetterton race!
Of course everybody has a different view so we will take the best ones out of them and hopefully suprise you guys :)

Simon...don't you worry about the cam en beers...that's the easy part   ;D

In two weeks we first go to the 2cv world meeting in the Czech Republic....then we will be ready for the race!

Keep posting the good tips and see you in 3 1/2 weeks!

Kars

FD 2cv racing

Francis Rottenburg

If you are using a pitboard at night and it's raining (or even if it isn't) then you will need some way of the driver seeing where you are on the pit wall and you will need a way of illuminating the pitboard.  There are lights above but they are not adequate for seeing a vertically held board.

Lots of people use coloured lights on the roofs of their cars to identify them at night.  If your car is in a gaggle it can be quite difficult to see and if the car is coming into the pits unexpectedly it gives you a little more warning.

The comments about the weather are worth repeating.  Three o'clock in the morning with the rain teeming down and a stiff easterly off the North Sea makes if bloody cold.  Hats, waterproofs, boots, gloves are all necessary.  I can remember lying in my so-called Arctic sleeping bag shuddering with cold.

When it rains you won't be able to see anything at night!  No matter how good your lights or eyesight you will be going into some corners totally blind.  Try to get some references from the external lighting - it sounds mad but you really need everything you can find.  Loads of stories of seeing people bumping around over 100 yards away from the circuit.  If you get the chance to follow someone going faster than you then follow them and see where they go.  Coram (?) is the long right hander and is nearly better than sex when got right in the wet (keep on the outside) but pretty boring in the dry.  Sparrow is horribly good in the wet and definitely worth talking to.

You will love it and hate it and if I could afford it I would be there til I die..... terribly addictive.