Car # 105 "Blue Angles" Rebuild

#21

brain wrote:

[quote]Carter,

Yes!..I plan on being at VIR for the Endro. Speaking of the enduro, I’ve got a couple of questions that I hope you wouldn’t mind answering…I have’t been able to make any of the previous 3 hr endros due to work commitments. So I’m an enduro rookie.

  1. Do you use a co-driver or drive the entire 3 hr stint yourself?
  2. Tires; wil one set of shaved toyo’s make it the entire 3 hours?
  3. How many fuel stops. If I had to guess I’d say 3-4? but I really don’t know.
  4. Pit crew; I’ve got a few guys lined up to help. How do we get pit boxes?

Thanks
brain[/quote]

Brain:

  1. I’ve done two hours without trouble and know a guy who did four hours, who was pretty beat by the end. The Charlie Gibson race is 3.5 hours and you can probably do it, being in such good shape, but I would recommend a co-driver. Personally, I enjoy sharing these events with good friends, and splitting the expenses helps. I don’t want to discourage you from doing it though.
  2. One set of shaved Toyos will do it (the pace is not as intense as a Spec E30 sprint) but you’ll want at least one spare in case the left front is going away, or you have a flat during the race.
  3. In my eta Spec E30, we did two stops but probably could have done the race on one stop. We had three drivers and we wanted everyone in the car. I would think that your 325i can do it in two stops. And in past races, there’s no minimum pitstop time so you want to do the stop as quickly as possible. I’m assuming our min. weights apply, but that’s up to the enduro officials.
  4. I can’t remember the procedure for assigning pit boxes. Having a few crew is a good idea and make sure you read the Supps very closely. We didn’t one year and got surprised by a few procedures. And this is not a Spec E30 points race. The classes aren’t the same. We’re classed in something like E3, not Spec E30. Also, while the classes are different, we are classed according to the Spec E30 rules and the performance of the cars. If a driver makes significant changes for the enduro, the officials will not be happy.

Lastly, the sprint race is definitely a Spec E30 points race so do that one for sure if you’re trying to get points for the Championship.

See you there.

Carter

#22

Brain - having run a 3 hr enduro at Buttonwillow, I’ll agree it’s definitely possible to do it solo. The last 1/2 hour or so was the only time I really wanted it to be over, but seeing the time dwindling down is good motivation to keep going. Just be sure to hook up a camelback system or some other means of getting fluid! I filled up with 2 liters (1 liter gatorade / 1 liter water) and had it gone well before the end of the race. I’d recommend re-loading when you stop for gas.

As for tires, I went out with shaved RA-1’s that already had 3 races on them (and 3 practice sessions, 3 qualifying sessions), and they lasted through the enduro fine. My guess is that the lower temps and 2-3 seconds per lap slower pace lessened tire wear. What surprised me is that I went through an entire pair of front brake pads (carbotech xp10’s)! They made it through the enduro, but were paper thin by the end.

I stopped for gas once, which greatly helped by finishing place. I need to qualify that, though - the track was red-flagged for 20 min or so to clean up debris, and when I stopped for gas I was well under 1/8th of tank. I was also very low at the end of the race. I would plan on 2 stops, but try to extend the first tank as log as possible to see if you can do it with one stop. You’ll be surprised at how much better gas mileage you’ll get driving at night (and assuming you’ll be a couple of seconds off your normal pace)!

I would highly recommend auxillary lights aimed at angles to the side. The high beams do a great job of lightling up what’s in front of you, but do NOTHING going around corners. Apex’s? Forget it - can’t see 'em. I’m considering trying to drop some high beams into the low beam slots & bend the mounts to get them to aim out to the sides for the next enduro.

#23

Pit slots will be assigned after a car is registered to race. Several teams have shared a pit slot so crew and tools , etc. can be shared.