Ardent Raceway and HPI 24hr Le Mans RC challenge!!

[V1nce]

Originally Posted by cheater

I think there could be more bracing issues to resolve about the meeting I.E driver changes - changing the driver with every pit stop is gonna to leave us with a maximum of around 40mins in between an individuals stint on track, taking in to account marshalling as well.

Any thoughts?

Driver changes and marshalling are covered in post 41 & 42 of this thread

[SlowOne]

Originally Posted by V1nce

Driver changes and marshalling are covered in post 41 & 42 of this thread

...which still infers that every battery change is a driver change. For some teams at the test day that's a driver change every 12 minutes - is that wise? In the real thing, you have three drivers and you can swap them around as you choose. Most do a three-hour stint, but some have done a bit longer or shorter depending on track position, strategy and need for lengthy pit-stops. I hope we will be allowed to run our drivers for long stints so that we minimise the rostrum traffic, and allow drivers to settle into a rhythm with the car.

[V1nce]

...which still infers that every battery change is a driver change.

Does it?

Post 41

Originally Posted by B3buggy
The driver change rule could be hectic, no long stints :-( how do you check the driver is always changed everytime you stop for cells?

Good point on the rules front, especially the driver changes, I might revise this one as I for one do not want to police it.

Since then referance to that rule has been remove. Sensible option too!

[Dez82]

Well the rule I read was that if for any reason the car stops or has to be removed from the track, the driver must change. This was simply to stop the favourite/fastest driver doing 23 Hours while the reast of the team sat bored or went home, and got just ten minutes each on track in 24 hrs.

I completely agree all drivers should get equal stick time, but I understand it will be hard (impossible) to police.

If all my drivers do an hour each, for example, I could drive home, have a meal, bath and sleep in a comfy bed, and drive back to the circuit when it's my stint. That's not what the event is intended to promote surely?

So how is it going to work? John?

[lotussmart]

Hi Guys,

To answer some of your questions,

Ball cups should remain kit standard. Remember the basic rule is you can take stuff off the car, but not add or replace. (Cooling fans excluded.)

Driver Stints and marshalling.
Team marshals their own car and the team decide on who drives when and for how long. reason for this is I nor anyone else wants to have to police this for 15 teams for 24 hrs, because if we make a bad judgement or miss that a team didn't change a driver when they should have all hell will break loose and this is supposed to be fun. So Dez if you want to go home have some tea and put your feet up then you can.

Teams that put their best driver out for as long as possible they are most likely to burn out their motor or burn out their best driver. :-)

4 hrs solid concentration per driver is going to be really hard.

By the way i've had a driver drop out of Team Ardent, anyone know anyone that wants to race with sticks?

John.

[Andysan]

Team Dudders would also ask that we can make an exception to the ball cups being standard please; we lost driveshafts four times on saturday after very light contact and there were only four cars on track. As they are dog bones we kept losing them and had to hunt the track for them, something we will not be able to do inthe dark when the race is live. We envisage going through a lot of dog bones otherwise... Just seems like a change that would be in line with keeping the costs down, parts supply to a minimal with negligible performance benefit.

[Dez82]

Good point, I'll go make some dog bone tethers now like they do in F1, no way we are losing any drive shafts in the dark ;-)

I've not popped a ball joint yet, nor lost a dog bone and Callum & I have been racing a Sprint 2 for three years!

[ian@mmr]

My son has been racing a sprint 2 as his first car indoors and has lost a couple of driveshafts but I did find putting a little piece of a plastic bag inbetween the ball and cup which took up the slop and not lost a dogbone since

[Tony G]

Originally Posted by Andysan

Team Dudders would also ask that we can make an exception to the ball cups being standard please; we lost driveshafts four times on saturday after very light contact and there were only four cars on track. As they are dog bones we kept losing them and had to hunt the track for them, something we will not be able to do inthe dark when the race is live. We envisage going through a lot of dog bones otherwise... Just seems like a change that would be in line with keeping the costs down, parts supply to a minimal with negligible performance benefit.

Yes our team has had the same problems, kiss the barrier a little to hard, ball joint pops and then drive shaft comes out, Yes, I know the answer is not to hit anything........but, can we allow the changing of the ball cups?

[Dez82]

I don't know how they'll police it if you are sensible, use the same length and colour ball joints.

Personaly if the cars pop a ball joint every time you clip a barrier it's a great incentive to drive clean and will give that extra edge to the racing which will keep you on your toes and wide awake for the 24 hrs!

[Tony G]

Originally Posted by Dez82

I don't know how they'll police it if you are sensible, use the same length and colour ball joints.

Personaly if the cars pop a ball joint every time you clip a barrier it's a great incentive to drive clean and will give that extra edge to the racing which will keep you on your toes and wide awake for the 24 hrs!

I knew someone was going to come back with that one

looking forward to the Team Monsters living up to the team name, so looking forward to this meeting, going to be a hoot!

Our monster energy drink will be keeping us awake

[Andysan]

Originally Posted by Dez82

I don't know how they'll police it if you are sensible, use the same length and colour ball joints.

Personaly if the cars pop a ball joint every time you clip a barrier it's a great incentive to drive clean and will give that extra edge to the racing which will keep you on your toes and wide awake for the 24 hrs!

Yep, but regardless of how clean you/me/we/they drive, do you want to put a wager on 13 cars going for 24 hours without incident? I'll give you good odds.....

[SlowOne]

It's not general driving that's the concern, it's when people are passing each other it only takes a split second's misunderstanding and you're minus a drive shaft. It's not malicious, no one is to blame, but as the hours tick by and I am at the end of my Nth stint, I make no guarantees I could take the best decision on placing the car where someone else expects me to!

This is supposed to be Le Mans - how many of the real teams would take to the track with a known problem and rely on not having a single incident with a backmarker? Why should we?

I'll not take Andysans odds, but I will take any odds on offer that it happens during the wet weather period on the kit tyres! I mean, you just know John is going to throw that in about 3am on Sunday morning when we are all getting just a teensy bit beyond our bedtimes!!

Matters not, it'll be what it'll be...

[jasonb]

Ordered flourescent yellow paint for the driveshafts this morning!

[Andysan]

Originally Posted by SlowOne

It's not general driving that's the concern, it's when people are passing each other it only takes a split second's misunderstanding and you're minus a drive shaft. It's not malicious, no one is to blame, but as the hours tick by and I am at the end of my Nth stint, I make no guarantees I could take the best decision on placing the car where someone else expects me to!

This is supposed to be Le Mans - how many of the real teams would take to the track with a known problem and rely on not having a single incident with a backmarker? Why should we?

I'll not take Andysans odds, but I will take any odds on offer that it happens during the wet weather period on the kit tyres! I mean, you just know John is going to throw that in about 3am on Sunday morning when we are all getting just a teensy bit beyond our bedtimes!!

Matters not, it'll be what it'll be...

+1 agreed. Believe that we can now swap one turn-buckle at a time to RPM rod ends only once the stock ones fall off however. From the horses mouth!

[Dez82]

OK, WILL THERE BE ENOUGH RPM ROD ENDS TO GO ROUND?

in the words of a school teacher "I hope your brought enough for everybody!?!?"

[lotussmart]

ROD End rules (Ball Cup, tie rod end, whatever you want to call them :-)

Hi Peeps, Rule is, you break one you can replace it with whatever tie rod end you like, but you have to bring your own. Kit ones will be available to purchase on the day. All cars have to start with the kit ones.

[Dez82]

I don't know what the fuss is about, there's more slop in each pivot and bearing than all the ball cups put together, and I've three Sprint2 cars and they all feel good to me, even the really old ones, and only once we popped a ball cup off, by slamming into race control at the end of the straight flat out, didn't we Callum!


I guess we'll find out tomorrow when Team Chand-a-Cola go testing at Ardent on the proper tyres around the proper 24Hrs circuit.............

[jameswilkinson7]

Originally Posted by lotussmart

We will publish a working setup 2 weeks prior to the event so you can get the cars performing well from the very start. This will be given to you with your shell and is done by someone who is not competing (most likely Andy Moore or Jonny Bowden)

Hi John we have just got our cars, obviously no time for practice! Whats the set up?

[MRD]

Are we running to BRCA lipo rules or can we use any hardcase lipo's?