Race format

I have a question about the race format for the endurance series. I am planning on fielding a Novice Team to run the Endurance races in the southeast area. With these races being so long, do they run everyone at the same time or do they run seperate Novice and Expert classes? How many riders should we expect to be on the track at the same time? Thanks for any information.
Tim

 

All classes and riders are on the track at the same time. There is no classification on an endurance team as to amatuer or expert. You are just a team. Id say on average, there is around 35 to 40 bikes racing , but if you have been racing 600's your probably used to that by now. The only thing you will have to get used to is the paint being sucked of your bike as Batey comes flying by on the yellow #1 bike.

 

I would definately attend an endurance race as an onlooker prior to entering a race so you can get a good idea of how it all works.

 

At some of the big tracks they'll have 50-60 teams. Loads of fun, but not for those who freak out when getting passed millimeters from other bikes.

 

watch a race first, take notes how the teams try to work together and ask questions...most of us won't bite. good luck.

 

Did not loose any paint but that bike went buy me so fast on the straight at VIR that it did suck the air out of the carbs! I really appreciate the skill these guys and others exhibit when passing us....um....more challenged riders.

 

Depends on who you are talking to!!!

 

i guess your rite some mite bite

 

First endurance race is at Jennings, pretty much our home track, so no time to 'watch and learn'.

Any other tips like how are the pits set up? Limit to number of people in the pit or kind of tools like an air compressor? What all does the scorekeeper need to record? For Jennings, what kind of tire changes should one plan for? How many rider changes, and how often are recommended?

Lots of questions, I know, Thank for the help!

 

you are aloud 7 people over the pit wall during a pit stop, that 7 includes your riders. a impact gun is a must(air/electric) for tire changes. you don't really need a scorer, everything is done with the lap counters now but if the system crashes and you don't have a scorer, you loose everthing. all the scorer does is record you time...there is a race clock set up for the scorers, evertime you pass the start/finish line the scorer writes down the time on the clock. you should change riders every stop, the length of your stints will depend on you riders and the size of your tank.

 

RTFRB feels good to use that

As for riders,

so 2 rider teams "can" compete in a 4 hours race, but 3 riders would be better

 

I like the 3 riders for 4 hours better than the 2men/4hour.

What's the 'downside' of running 4 riders on a 4 hour race? Seems like everyone would be 'fresher', getting an hour a piece. Tactics?

 

Changing riders that often would not be best. The time it takes to enter the pits, stop, change riders, and exit the pits could be several minutes.
And thats just time not spend making laps. :up:

 

Oh man! Did I learn that the hard way

 

Yes, we're just in it for the fun, and we have 4 people on our team, and want to give everyone some time. I like the non rider in charge suggestion as well. Thanks for the tips!

We need to find out how far we can go on a tank of gas, it's an '02 GSXR 750. We'll work on that next couple of track days. That and do some at home "tire changing practice", hot pit style.
Any more helpful tips?

 

The downside of 3 or 4 riders in a 4 hr race is lack of track time. Each rider getting just 1 hr of seat time unless you don;t get an hr out of a tank. Thats not much time to get in a grove. But it will depend on your riders also,some can only do 1 stint and they are wasted.

 

Team roster

Hatchman is a team member of mine. We have 4 riders for the 6 hour race, can we split the team for the 4 hour events? Or once the roster is set, that team is set and can't enter an event as another team?

 

Re: Team roster

 

consistently entering two bikes, does this mean two bikes at every event? We were thinking of one bike for the six hr. races and two bikes for the four hr. races. Just want to get more seat time at each track. This year is a learning year for all of our team so we all want to learn as much as we can about each track.