I've ran the last two and had a pretty good time. If it wasnt for the relay class I would just be hanging out until the sprint races on sunday.
how does the saturday morning practice work for the relay riders? can a team of three individuals be out on track at the same time with their own bikes or is it only one at a time with the registered transponder attached to the bike?
So far at the same time is fine although that may change int he future if things are too crowded, the one with the team transponder is what is used for the grid spot.
The 2 stint limit in the class seems interesting to me. Seems like deviations from an ideal rider plan could become an issue for the team pretty quick. I presume that a single stint could include a refuel and same rider going back out? Not complaining, just a different set of risks to deal with compared to a normal endurance class.
FWIW all of the rules like that are to prevent it becoming an open practice session for the relay teams. It is a race with people out there racing hard against each other and we don't need someone playing around practicing getting in their way.
What do you mean by this? With our 3 rider team mostly riding fuel sucking leader bikes, I'm envisioning Rider A starting the race, going for 20 minutes, pitting in to refuel, going back out for another 20 minutes, then coming in to have Rider B go out on his own bike and do the same, repeat for Rider C, then back to Rider A for the second stint and repeat the same order. Another question I had is during the rider/bike switch. Are the relay teams allowed to have all 3 bikes on hot pit lane with warmers on? I read something that no cables being stretched over pit wall, just warmers on bike to keep temperature but not actively warming. So does that mean when it's time to change bikes Rider A goes to pit in and exits pit lane to put his warmers on, and during that process the transponder gets transferred to Rider B?
I understand not wanting it to be a practice session, but no refueling makes that stint rule tricky (especially for teams of less than 4). That said, you've had a few races with it and I haven't done it once, so I presume it worked out fine for other teams. My understanding per the special rules is that you shouldn't have the next bike in the hot pit, but behind it on warmers. Then you can bring it into the hot pit with less than 3 laps until the swap, leaving the warmers (unplugged) on the tires. No active warmers on the bike in hot pit. Here's the exact rule: https://www.n2td.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/n2_wera_endurance_relay_2021.pdf
Thanks, mustve glanced over those lines. According to those rules I don't know how we would be able to finish the race without riders making more than 2 stints if refueling isn't allowed in hot pit.
If the grids not full with regular endurance teams then this is a great idea. Never heard or thought of it. Good job whoever brought it up
Your pitstops as a relay team are limited to swapping bikes. If you want to do pitstops you need to run a regular endurance team. If your bikes are only doing 20 minute stints on a tank you have some serious issues with your bikes to sort out No you cannot park all of your machines on pit lane. It is an active part of the race track and must be kept clear. Within 2-3 laps prior to the on track rider coming in the next rider can roll out to pit lane. Rider comes in, transponder swapped, next rider goes out. At that point first rider goes behind the wall.
If you're not riding endurance regularly none of you are going to outlast a full tank of fuel. If you can get enough people together to do fuel stops and such I'd seriously suggest putting together a regular team and going for it.
I'm confused - how long do you think a tank lasts? Even on the big bikes they're getting 45 minutes or more out of a stock tank. Why would you need to refuel that? Your riders are not going to want to run 90 minute stints before swapping.
Yup, I get what you mean. My concern is that with my three man team is that there isn't much slack for a rider being tired or a bike having a minor issue that needs a quick adjustment (which essentially ends that stint I presume). If something doesn't go to plan, it'll probably result in a DQ. I guess the answer is that we should add a 4th and that adds a good bit more flexibility. I haven't done traditional endurance because getting the logistics of splitting costs and bike damage responsibility has been more than my group of guys wants to deal with. I'd love to do that too though. I'm looking forward to dipping my toes in with this class at Pitt though. Gonna be fun! Thanks for the clarification.
If something happens you just pull in and swap, work on the A bike and swap back later, part of the fun of endurance racing when things go wrong.
I assumed the MA Stock1000 race being 12 laps is getting close to the limitation of a stock tank for a liter bike at that track, maybe 15 laps or 25ish minutes? That not the case? I know at road atlanta my bike seems like it easily drains half a tank if not more in 10 laps.
Does the transponder swap require both bikes in the pit? Say rider A has a stint ending moto or mechanical, does the team have to wait for that bike to be returned to the pits or can a team member retrieve the transponder from the scene of the incident to return it to the pits for rider B?