Road Race Relay Endurance Class

Fun?

 

We run endurance class and have a relay class that is part of our group. They are all on litre bikes and are getting 45-50 min on full tanks. Our 600 can go close to 56 minutes on a stock size tank.

I think you are comparing two scenarios that aren’t apples to apples. The endurance times aren’t AMA sprint times. They will be quite a ways off after the first 5-6 laps are finished and guys settle into their groove.

 

The NJMiniGP program runs a similar rules program for their relay endurance races to how WERA/N2 has this set up.
We pit for the kids, and there's a LeMans start involved. It's a LOT of fun.

 

FYI a stock, fully fueled ZX10R tank lasts 40 minutes at a 1:50-1:53 pace at pittrace fyi.

 

That was the same for a stock 2015 R1. We ran until the light came on and then pitted in. Usually around 40 minutes.

 

New endurance guy checking in - can confirm 40 minute stints feel like an eternity. My lack of core fitness was what got me - lower back was brutal.

 

I usually had a numb right foot by the 40 minute mark. I was also out on the back at Nelson on a gs500 when I had the paint sucked off by a real superbike. That freaked me out more than a little...

 

Back in 2018 our first race, it was only two of us. I did the first 40 minute stint and when I came in, I was exhausted, breathing heaving and cramping up. I thought "How the hell am I going to do two more stints?". When I got back on the bike 40 minutes later, I felt perfectly fine and rode the second 40 minutes like they were nothing. The 3rd 40 minutes was a breeze as well. After the race I felt perfectly fine and even raced some individual races the following day. It's something you have to try at least once. My team was never competing to be on the box and we definitely didn't put any money into the endurance parts. We just wanted to have fun and see what we could do for ourselves. This year we didn't race, but with the addition of the relay class, makes it so much more appealing to us. I'm really hopeful that WER1 Endurance Race Team will be on the grid next year!

 

That's funny, Jim. When I got off the bike I told my team that I didn't think there was any way I could do a second stint.

The second stint was a fair bit easier than the first. Paced myself differently and made a few tweaks that made it much better.

After a couple of years of trying to get a team together, finally running the endurance was a great time. Really liked the team element! Running without swapping the transponder for 9 laps was certainly... regrettable...

 

So how did this go last year?

I'm seriously tempted to pull my old ass out of retirement for this foolishness.

 

I had a blast! I believe the logistics are easier than running a true endurance bike. Biggest thing is everyone has their own bike, so you don't have to worry about what happens if someone crashes, or upgrading equipment, or bike settings. Heck, due to schedules and sickness, we swapped out team members a couple of times, including one the night before the event!

The barrier to entry is pretty low for a relay team. Do it!

 

I want to try it too. Feeling pretty good again.

 

Do it!!

 

Did a round at PittRace last year with ARMY OF LIGHTNESS and we ended up finishing 1st in class, 3rd overall

It was awesome. Largely in part due to doing it with a great group of friends, but the lack of endurance logistics eliminated all the stresses of endurance racing while still having the team comrade.

 

We did an event at Roebling last year and had a blast. We will likely do another one this year. No stressful pit stops and if you lay bike down, its likely not someone else's issue. We ended up 4th but had a rider go down and walk his bike all the way back to pits which cost some time lol. No shortage of seat time on your own bike which is nice!