Hey, got a race on sunday, a 3h rental kart race with Sodi SR4 karts (9hp, gx270)
Basically, its a endurance with 3 drivers, and we will have to do a driver swap. Anyone know how that happens? Like does one driver just hop out and the other hops in as fast as they can or is there some type of specific rule or something? Also, i would love some tips on endurance karting, like best time to pit, and other tips or tricks. Thanks in advance guys!
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It depends on how the race is run.
Theres typically details given in the drivers meeting… number of mandatory stops, how/where, etc.
Do you know how many stops you have to make? At 3hrs, there will be a refueling involved at the halfway mark, most likely.
Generally you come into pits… quickly swap driver, and head on back out. Some series will hold you for x seconds and then wave you out.
With the endurance races it’s about total laps. Avoid battling other karts, it’s slow. If a faster guy comes upon you, let them by, tuck in, and try to follow. Drive consistent good laps as best you can.
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I think you have to make atleast 4 in total if im correct, 3 drivers per kart
Do you know what the story is with refueling?
In the more formal ones I do, there’s a bunch of stuff that’s specific to the series and how they run it,
For example, they will designate a stop point where you must come to a halt before entering pits. This is to make sure folks don’t send it too hard into the pits.
Depending upon the location, they might have specific rules about exiting pits as well. The one I do there is someone who holds you and points you out when it’s time to go.
You’ll want to have something to wave your drivers in with, and an agreed upon place for them to look for the flag.
You might have to be somewhat flexible because they may only allow a certain amount of karts to be in pits at one time, in which case you want the driver to go around again. Check that there’s space before flagging them in, if that’s the case.
I’d look up the event online and see off they have rules outlined.
Bring shade. Bring hydration, bring foldable chair or something.
I believe when they did them locally the “refueling” was done by coming into a spot. Getting out and running up to the next kart/driver waiting for you.
Is it an SWS race? If yes, the kart changes on each stint so that a team doesn’t get stuck with a bad kart in the entire race. In some races, before exiting the pitlane you might have to scan a little card that each driver carries so that the system records the pitstop. This will all be covered in the driver briefing anyways so there is no need to worry.
The most important advice for an endurance race is to not lose time overtaking other karts. Don’t do huge divebombs that will ruin your exit for instance, try to be as precise as possible so that you stay with the drivers that you are racing for position. Also, if you are in traffic with backmarkers and you have a driver with similar pace in front of you, do not overtake him but follow him so that you both overtake the traffic quickly. If a driver behind you is obviously faster and he is bumping you all the time, let him by and follow him, study his lines and try to replicate them.
Another important tip is consistency, don’t treat it like a sprint. Your times need to be similar to each other, at most 3-4 tenths slower than your fastest lap (ideally 1-2 tenths). Be extremely careful with mistakes, I can’t stress this enough, if you carry too much speed at a corner and go slightly wide you will get passed immediately by multiple karts. Don’t push for that extra tenth if it requires taking a huge risk.
Finally, you should pit when there is traffic ahead that will lose you time. Take advantage of clean air whenever you can. Make sure that you can communicate clearly with each other during the race, this is also very important.
Don’t get stressed too much about it, for your first endurance race any result is decent, so don’t put too high expectations. Experience is everything in endurance races. Good luck and have fun!
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Basically, they say its 3 hours, but its 2 races which are 1h 30 min each, so i guess no mid race refuelling. The only thing i know is there has to be atleast 2 driver swaps in 1 of those 2 races.
So it sounds like you could do a swap midway each race. Not sure what’s best but there’s not many stops.
i guess if there is 3 people we just change every 30 mins
Yeah. The thing is to do as few as possible. If you have 3 guys and 3hrs total, figure out how to do only 3 stops. Does the midway point where you start a new race count as a stop?
Maybe driver 1 first hour, driver two last 1/2 hr and first 1/2 of next race, driver 3 last hour of 2nd race.
This might also depend on your level of being kart fit. 1hr in rentals is very doable but might be tiring if new to it.
Basically, first few enduros are learning the ropes of how they go down. Have fun!