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| A few month back an advert came up for a 6hr endurance race which looked like it could be a bit of fun, so i made the entry. Lucky I did this as the event was fully booked within a few days such was its popularity. As I read more into the event the rules stated 1 car of buggy size, your entry included 1 hand out engine & fuel so every one was the same here but mainly it was for a good cause & all money raised would go to the Charity Help the Heros. As the event got closer the rules where laid out & the teams named there drivers, Hotbodies, Hoboa & AE all with very strong teams looked like our main rivals. You never know though in this type of event as anything can crop up in a 6hrs race with 26 cars on a track only the strongest would survive so the win could of been anyones. |
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Prior to the event I had the job of preparing the car & making sure everything was in place on the day, with some phone calls between the team we set out a stratedgy of setup to last the duration rather than a sprint car. With oils in diffs & shocks heavier than normal for this time of year meant it would not be the quickest at first but last the durtration. I made various guards to protect the exhaust & fuel tank, but also splash guards to protect the brakes. All in all the car was as strong as it could be made & if it could rattle loose plenty of loctite or another securing screw was used to keep it safe. A safe setup was used as the car would be driven by 4 different drivers all with different styles, the team of Bren, Ben Williams, Stuart Mahon & Greg Hill had the task of representing our entry. Bob Williams senior had the envious job of pit duties which he did most of the day but we let him out once or twice for good behaviour.
To the day Sunday the 17th October, glorious weather, clear skies & heavy frost was not expecting that but the sun would soon rise to dry out the track & treat us all to some late Autumn sun. The track was half shaded by tree's so half would dry but offering lots of grip where the other remained wet well into the day & slippery. The drivers briefing & photo shoot of the cars, fuel & engine with the true realilty dawned of what we was about to let ourselves in for. With cars back in the pits one team member from each of the 26 teams lined up on the opposite side of the track in true le-mans style. |
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The horn sounded at 9:50 where all 26 now dashed to the pit lane to grab the fuel & engine that was supplied as part of the rules. Then the sprint through the pits to your relevant spaces where the engine now had to be built as they where all brand new & fitted in the cars. The picture from above would of been just shear mayhem, the laughter & chearing was brilliant & just added to the atmosphere of the day. At 10:00 a second horn sounded to signal engines could be started & the racing could sart, a ten minute time slot seemed quite a long time to build it all up but shimming setting endpoints soon used up the time but as the horn sounded our car hit the start box. It fired first time only to lock up & did this 5/6 times losing us the early laps to Hoboa & hotbodies, AE on the other hand had a night mare flatening two start boxes & lost 15 -30 minutes which they would never catch up from.
With the car now running Stuart would hit the track first as he was a local to the club, we could now use his time to tune the engine & tweak the setup. Who needs running in we had 6hrs to do this we just needed reliabilty. Our plan was 30 minutes each on a rolling program with a battery change at 1hr, this tied in nicely as a safety car would come out every 30 minutes to slow all cars & allow for safe marshal change overs. Safety was most important here as all 26 cars had to slow to an almsot crawl for 2 laps then full pelt again. Unfortunately the safety car / brightly coloured truggy ended up the comedy show as 2nd time out it cut, later on it had a run away, crashed & so on good old safety Ha. |
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To racing for us Stuart but in some good laps on the wet track with our pace looking strong with the XRAY putting in regular fastest laps. Greg would take over & ran us upto the 1st hour & battery change, first setback of the day & new battery failed & did not work reserve went in but unkown & wire was trapped. I guess for the future a better quick change system will be needed but somthing to think about. Ben took over but 20 minutes in lost control as wire had sliced through & now more lost laps till fault was found. Quick mods where done & ben was out again but we sat some 15 laps behind Hotbodies & Hoboa & 5th overall. With some hard driving from Ben gained some laps back then Bren took over to take us to the 2hr stage with the team pulling back to 3rd. With the cycle now complete Stuart took over again for his stint setting the lap record which would stand for the next 4 hrs till a certain Mr Neil Cragg just clinched from him in the dying seconds of the event with a banzi lap.
As the event progressed our pace was consistenly the fastest in the front runners but a few engine cuts lost us the time we made & the initial battery issue punished us dearly as Hotbodies & Hoboa seemed to have a problem free event. With each member giving there all with 30 minutes to go we had pulled back to within 6 laps of 2nd, Bren would get this final leg where we gained a lap & it was possilbe but a miss calulation on fuel ran dry mid lap & all hard work was lost, form here it was safer to just bring the car home without risk. At 6hrs the horn sounded to signal the end of what for me had been a fantastic event. 6hrs on a car & no mechanical issues, who says the car has bearing issues proves build it right as per the tips & it lasts aswell as any other. For me the build of the car was more pressure than normal as a a failure was not just your own but the whole teams but hey a Bren build lasted the test :) & I was quietly confident
Some test ideas lasted well on the car with relevant reports to go back on these. Performance of shocks test staying consistent & no fade with a 6hr bashing was great & for me a big step forward on my knowledge.
For me a great event & the best laugh ive had in ages, a perfect venue & great track, cant wait till next year. |
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1. HPI HotBodies
2. Hobao UK
3. Team XRAY UK - XB808 |
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| Thanks to XRAY, HUDY RC DisCo, CML, Stoke Nitro, UK Endurance Team & our team for all there efforts on the day, Ross Whitelock for photos. |
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