Any interest in an endurance race?

[turbo900rr]

I havent ran this by anyone at Hobby World but when I was working in Austin Tx the local track ran a 5 hour endurance race and it was a really cool race. Any ONE offroad car or truck was allowed up to 1/8th scale max. This means 10th gas truck, MT, buggy or truggy. Nitro or electric with manditory driver changes every 15 minutes. 5 racers per team, with one member from each team mashalling at all times.
The cars can be modified for larger fuel tanks, smaller motors for more runtime ect. Battery swaps, midrace repairs, tire changes are a must, and even motor swaps should be allowed if needed. A personal transponder as well because I don't think any house transponder will last that long. Teams will be equally divided according to skill level. i.e. each team will have 2 experts, 2 sportsman, 1 beginner or 1 expert and 4 sportsman or 5 sportsman.
Like I said this hasn't been run by HW yet but it is something to talk about and iron out any kinks and see if there's an interest in something like this. Also to keep it fair, the race director makes the call on what level of driver you fall into. Obviously the race is open to any team willing to travel but they need to be honest on their skill level.
This has been running through my mind for a few months now and I just believe it would be a really good time for everyone involved. With a race that long, from what I have seen it really opens up a race. Yes, a team can jump out by 6 laps but one bit of bad luck and they're down 10 laps.
So what do you guys think?

[Scotty08]

Sounds like a super cool idea.. But I think 5 hours is too long. How bout half that? That's 30 minutes drive time per driver..

Some one had posted something similar to this but said to use your own car/truck for your turn.. A Nitro engine would be 100% toast after 2.5 hours of straight running, I would think.. Not to mention receiver batts would need changed about every hour at minimum, well lipo would prolly go right at 1 hour..

[mike]

Sounds like a super cool idea.. But I think 5 hours is too long. How bout half that? That's 30 minutes drive time per driver..

Some one had posted something similar to this but said to use your own car/truck for your turn.. A Nitro engine would be 100% toast after 2.5 hours of straight running, I would think.. Not to mention receiver batts would need changed about every hour at minimum, well lipo would prolly go right at 1 hour..

i like the idea also, but agree with the 2.5 hrs and each driver uses his own car or truck.

[thunderkitty]

sounds kinda interesting. so what happens if driver "A" has a vehicle problem 5 minutes in? does he change vehicles or repair his own?

[turbo900rr]

i like the idea also, but agree with the 2.5 hrs and each driver uses his own car or truck.


sounds kinda interesting. so what happens if driver "A" has a vehicle problem 5 minutes in? does he change vehicles or repair his own?

That is why it should only be one car in the race. Having multiple cars defeats the purpose. Like a Lemans 24 hour race. It a test of equipment. Its not a sprint to the end, but a race where preparation is key. Look at it this way, 5 guys that average 30 second laps but tend to crash vs. 5 guys that average 33 second laps but rarely crash it evens things up a bit because the fast guys are likely to break something in a long race vs. the slower more consistent drivers. If 5 mins into the race the clutchbell bearings go out, change them, or if were me I'd switch motors, get the car back out on the track turning laps then change out the bearings in the now back up motor. In Nascar your allowed to make repairs to the car, but you HAVE to finish with the car you started with. . Sure you may go down a few laps but you never know what can happen to the other teams. As we all know in R/C its not if, its when will something go wrong. Another thing about using one car or truggy or whatever. It is a TEAM race. The team that compromises and runs a neutral setup that doesnt favor any driver, making the drivers adjust and adapt their style to suit the car may very well win or be battling for the lead. Me for example; I race buggy and can get around the track quicker in a buggy vs. truggy. But if I had the choice between being on a 30 sec lap buggy team that crashes vs a 33 sec truggy team that is smooth. I'll adapt my driving style to be on the truggy team. Also maybe a 3 hour race, with 4 team members may work better too. I dont think teams smaller that 4 wouldn't be fun because you would be running your butt off with no time what so ever to relax. You would either be driving, pitting or mashalling.

[mike]

i think the winning stratagy is to buy a brand new e revo brushless edition(BEER) it would last 2 or 3 hours of bashing for sure.

[Scotty08]

The only way I can see this happening and everyone being happy is for 5 people to go together and buy 1 vehicle and set it up together.. Otherwise someones vehicle is going to get trashed and the other 4 are gonna walk away with little to loose. OR be like Nascar and Get a sponsor so you could race events just like this..

Otherwise I don't see it ever really taking off. A good idea, and sounds like a ton of fun.. But, the caveat is get 5 people to go in on 1 vehicle, and agree on a set up for it so all 5 can drive it and perform well with it..

[free9willia]

if i had my easy chair, thats a long time to stand in one spot, but i bet it would be a blast one thing better make sure everything is new cus by the time you are done you will need some new bearings and who knows what else....