Endurance 2024. Open discussion..

Sounds like Army of LIGHTNESS should make a comeback and show y'all how to do it. Pick up some select ringers and get after it

 

They can try but trust me from experience.... Being competitive in HW endurance is not as easy as you think!!!

 

I would, but my grave concern of tanks bigger than 24L is the sole reason I can't. Not because I'm looking at $30k to have an endurance ready HWT bike

 

an 18 year old 77hp SV worth 5 grand won the LW class. It's going up for sale shortly!

 

Once again not understanding the whole picture. We don’t just want smaller tanks because of cost. The off the shelf tanks cost 3k which are not really cost effective. Smaller tanks would force teams into having a fuel strategy. Every track and every rider use different amounts of fuel. The days of 1:40 stints would be gone.

 

Sounds like the most logical solution that's also realistic for WERA to enforce as it eliminates the ambiguity.

I wasn't there for the rounds where teams were late getting off hot pit, but that's not the racer's problem. That's a WERA failing to adhere to their own rules problem.

 

So you're advocating small tanks for LWT teams too?

 

Yes, 24L would limit the stint (depending on bike) to roughly 45-50 min.

I know right, not like the bike you rode at Summit is worth around $25k......

 

Worth $25k to a regular racer or to you?

 

25k seems really ambitious. If that’s the case, sell it now.

 

WERA did well. I think us, as well as other teams, were waiting for the five minute board to come out because that's what we do at the start of the race. It was our ignorance of intent that lead to us, and a bunch of other teams, waiting to pull warmers until the five board.

I suggested the six minute board as a joke before but, actually, having a board we can see that tells us we have 60 seconds to clear equipment would make it easier. It is really hard to hear calls at some of the tracks so being able to look up and see we're at "Clear Pit Equipment" or "6 minute" would help a lot.

I mean, all the yelling is exciting and everything but a board would be AWESOME.

 

I knew you'd take that out of context and miss my point.

I have personally experienced seeing the boards not being timely displayed by the grid marshal, largely due to them doing their due diligence and watching the teams, exactly as you said.

But in the name of safety, you've introduced a strategy racers will take advantage of...which leads to some the teams trying to do the right thing and leaving when they should, and ultimately, over heating on the grid, while the other teams intentionally drag their feet so their tires are as hot as they can be and/or don't sit on the grid and overheat.

 

Just a data point for HW. Sam - what's the longest stint one of your riders did (dry race) on your current tank?

 

I think Road A is the worst for fuel mileage for us.

We built our current tank with enough fuel to do an hour at Road A to be able to keep pace with TSR and BHM. Our gen 1 tank could also go an hour but we didn't like the shape of it as much as the current one.

At most tracks this year we'd pit a lap or two after Alpha or BHM, assuming their bikes weren't doing unscheduled pit stops.

I think there is actually less strategy with tank limits because it takes away one option (longer&slower vs shorter&faster).

To be up front you have to put on a new rear every stint. Smaller tanks means more stints means more tires if you want to be up front. Like, 50% more. If you are not trying to be up front then none of the rules really matter because its doesn't matter how long your stints are or when you change tires. We endurance raced from from 1994 to 1998 without winning much of anything while we figured out how to do it.

 

I think many newish endurance teams discount (or have no idea) that AOD has nearly 30 years of endurance racing experience. How hard could it be to beat AOD, with their hand made gas tank and loud-ass generator? This line of thinking went on the 90's too, back when AOD ran ratty-looking flat-black 600's. Many teams have hated losing to AOD....and they still do. Must get creative and try harder.

 

I have to agree with Sam. Switching to a 22L tank for us was helpful. But the riders had to get better. Going over an hour on any bike takes a lot out of you. Going an hour at P1/2/3 pace is damn hard.

Saving 15-20 seconds in the pit was awesome when I put everything on the bike but it doesn’t help when you are running a 3-4 second lap difference every lap.

 

What's the fuel range on a 600 with a stock tank?

Stock capacities for reference:
GSXR600 4.5 gal
YZF R6 4.5 gal
ZX6R 4.5 gal
CBR600R 4.8 gal