orton1966
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| posted on 29/1/10 at 10:16 PM |
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24 Hour Karting At Le Mans, Anyone Fancy it!
2 years ago I persuaded three friends that it would be good to enter the British 24 hour at Teesside. To say we were a little under-prepared was an
understatement, the limit of our karting experience was a few arrive and drive sessions at our local indoor track.
We arrived the day before to register and collect our hire kart to find the carpark full of teams with full pit set-ups, generators, lights the lot.
Our pit board was a plastic storage box lid with “IN” marked in repair tape and our only on board information was a digital cooking-timer set to
countdown from one hour when set. We felt totally out of our depths
It rained for almost half the race, we had no rain suits and having only karted indoors rain was a new experience, as was racing in the dark! However
we didn’t disgrace ourselves and despite a tentative start slowly picked up places. In fact by the end we were not far off the pace in either the dry
or the wet, where we did struggle, a bit, was in changing and damp conditions. In the end we finished somewhere just below halfway and probably better
than halfway amongst the hire karts. Not bad considering almost all entries were kart clubs or proper race teams.
Anyway long story short I fancy it again, as does at least one of my original team. What got me thinking was looking on the Teesside site and seeing
that there is actually a Le Mans 24 hour kart race, yes at Le Mans (kart track) in france. OK it is about £2500 but split say, 5 ways that seems good
value especially considering it includes kart, fuel, tec-surport etc.
So just testing the water, I haven’t even checked if there is still space but does anyone here fancy it!!
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Steve Hignett
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| posted on 29/1/10 at 10:25 PM |
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I have absolutely no money to take part myself, but depending on when it is, I would be happy to be a 24hr pit biatch for your team!!!
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tadltd
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| posted on 30/1/10 at 01:37 AM |
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I did that event a few years ago and had the time of my life. I'd certainly be interested in doing it again, butnwould need to know the
dates.
Our team drove down from Glasgow in a rattly old mini-bus, had an out of date map, and avoided the toll roads because we were so skint! Needless to
say we got lost, and only realised we'd arrived at Le Mans when I turned a corner to find the next one after it was marked with a red and white
kerb. Realising where I was I straight lined it onto the Mulsanne straight!
Only thing is that our team was too big. I think we ended up with 9 drivers which really compromised our race with the amount of changes we had to do.
I'd say maximum would be 6 drivers as it divides up the duration quite well.
Best Regards,
Steve.
www.turnerautosport.com
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orton1966
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| posted on 30/1/10 at 06:51 AM |
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Dates
Yes I think team size is important, we did the Teesside event with 4 and we had no other support. So we did 1 hour stints. When you finished your own
stint you did the next hour as support, watching for problems, giving encouragement etc, during this time you would also try and grab a bite to eat.
Then about 20min before the next change over you would find and/or wake the replacement driver, make sure their ready and then help with the change
over. During the night this gave you the chance to grab about 1:30 hour rest every 4
The mistake we made was not having somewhere better to sleep/rest, basically we used the back of the van amongst the stuff on the floor. With 4 the
night was tough but OK. 1-hour stints were also a little long but times did hold up well through each stint and it worked well with fuelling, a fill
just lasting a multiple of stints that meant we never had to break the routine. At the time we all agreed it would be nice to have one more driver to
make it a little less brutal, certainly anything less than 4 would be very hard.
All things considered I think somewhere between 4 and 6 drivers would work, as stated anymore compromises either strategy or enjoyment, after all we
all want to drive!!
Dates are 3-4th of July link is Here
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bassett
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| posted on 30/1/10 at 11:54 AM |
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I will probably see you there as Ive done it the last 3 years running with my Kingston uni team. With the 10-15 of us its a wicked 4 day long event.
Karting at night is frankly awesome everything hooks up so well. The one bad thing about the event is Teeside, my second year they tried screwing us
over after one of our karts was smashed into by a independent kart and they asked us to stump up £500 for a new chassis which for a student team is a
lot and you expect them to insure themselves. Last year they forced 3 teams into one pit garage when independent teams get one each and they didnt
have our tv for lap times etc ready at the race start and at the same time didnt bring all of the gear(helmets, overalls, gloves etc) that they said
they would bring for some members of our team. Overall though we have had 3 awesome years doing the event,we've made some good friends, camping
is always a laugh and the racing is fantastic.
[Edited on 30/1/10 by bassett]
My MNR Blog Updated Jan 2010 - Track Day Prep Begins!
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GaryM
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| posted on 30/1/10 at 03:16 PM |
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I've done the Teeside Le Mans 24hr Race five times. Three times in the owner driver class (best finish 3rd) and twice in the hire class (best
finish 2nd, racing with Nash amongst others).
All the front runners (in both classes) will only be changing drivers when their fuel tanks run dry. So to be competetive you really need drivers who
can be on the pace for 1.75/2 hrs at a time (no mean feet).
It's a long way to go for just one 2hr race stint so a good team size is 6. This also provides some contigency for injuries/exhaustion etc.
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Nash
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| posted on 30/1/10 at 03:47 PM |
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Oh the memories Gary. 
makes me want to do it all over again.
....... Neil
It's What You Do Next That Counts.
Build It, Buy It, Drive It:
Southern Kit Car Club
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GaryM
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| posted on 30/1/10 at 04:04 PM |
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Neil
Get your Locost finished and we'll enter it into the 'real' Le Mans 24hrs 
Gary
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orton1966
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| posted on 30/1/10 at 04:05 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Nash
makes me want to do it all over again.
.......
So is that a show of interest
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GaryM
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| posted on 30/1/10 at 04:15 PM |
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Here's a suggestion.......
Why not organise an entry (or more) into a team endurance kart race here in the UK first and see what kind of response you get?
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Nash
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| posted on 30/1/10 at 05:15 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by GaryM
Neil
Get your Locost finished and we'll enter it into the 'real' Le Mans 24hrs
Gary
Hey... better still, yours is done so lets enter that (or your Honda!) and I will think thin to squeeze into the seat accordingly
I've just recently bought a Toyota 4 AGE engine for mine and a full roll cage. I'm rebuilding the engine first of course and the intention
is IVA and then mod as and when.
Trust you and the family are well?
.....Neil
It's What You Do Next That Counts.
Build It, Buy It, Drive It:
Southern Kit Car Club
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Nash
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| posted on 30/1/10 at 06:13 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by orton1966
quote:
Originally posted by Nash
makes me want to do it all over again.
.......
So is that a show of interest
Not for me thanks Orton. I'm to fat to be competitive now. Add to that it will cost about £1000 per person all in with race entry, travel,
crossings, sleep and food, I'm going to spend that and a bit more on getting the car through the IVA and the 4 AGE engine rebuilt and fitted and
the Full cage installed and some track days. hopefully..... blimey a grand on Le Mans suddenly sounds cheap!!!
Enjoy Le Mans mate.... Sorry that was silly YOU WILL enjoy Le Mans
...Neil
Thanks for asking though.
It's What You Do Next That Counts.
Build It, Buy It, Drive It:
Southern Kit Car Club
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