There are a few on here doing it this year. I am sure Stuart McKay will be commenting soon.

I am not there this year but have done it a few times.

Top tips:

Relax
2 hr stints only. If you do less time, you will not have a chance.
Join in with the camping fun, meet other teams.
Get out from the campsite and eat with your team in a local restaurant at least once.(The yellow restaurant on the Mulsanne is rather good)
Drink lots of water.
Stay up and help your team for the whole race.
Always have someone ready to go 2hrs before their stint. Anything could and does happen - be prepared.
Plan the stints beforehand.
There are of course more tips, but I don't want you to beat any of our teams!

Every pitstop is half a lap lost, run the kart till it is getting low on fuel then you are not wasting time and track position in the pits otherwise you will finish nowhere...........
One hour behind the wheel is light weight stuff,(man up as the Snickers add says)when our team finished 3rd in the owner/drivers 24 hour there i drove the last 5 hours and for the last round of the Milton Keynes Thunder Kart championship i drove the whole 6 hours (and won). It was raining heavily thouhout the race and i was in the groove, or more probably something to do with the other 2 drivers not wanting to get soaked!............Martin (Pistonbroke racing)

Thanks guys! This is some good info. Yeah, I've ridden the procarts before (only once), much less strain than the two stroke madness. You right, we should be fine for long stints, and I'll stock up on pain killers for my wrist.

Would you recommend the padding/armor?

And would you bother with visor tear-offs? The rain race we had at Rye House ensured my visor was pretty much useless half way through the race. Just wondering what the best water strategy is. Also, camelbak recommended? Some of these are really silly questions, but this is our first time at an endurance Karting event.

Feel free to join us for a beer

A rib protector would be a good idea and possibly knee pads for the inside of your knees. I am tall too and normally bruise my knees although I don't wear pads.

It never rains! it's normally very very hot. Take plenty of suncream and try not to bask in the sun as it will make you tired for the "graveyard" shifts!

You can't carry water, just make sure you keep drinking all the time but don't down two litres just before your stint or you will have a painful stint trying not to wet yourself!! make sure you eat plenty of food. It's easy not to eat when it's hot but you need plenty of energy to turn those front wheels!

more information on the 24hr races on Teesside karting's website.

I'm going and it'll be my fourth year. Bone dry and boiling every time so far, but year before I started it was wet, so bring the sun cream but remember that the odd thunderstorm can crop up.

Most tips have been coved above and I'd agree that two hour stints are a must, the pit lane is huge and you lose way too much time pitting more often than that.

New for this year is the need for lighter drivers (below 80kg) to carry lead. Before, there was an inaccurate system of deducting laps from light teams. At least now it's fair, in my opinion, but means light drivers like myself have to carry loads of lead - if anyone on your team needs it make sure they have plenty to account for weight loss from sweat.

I've linked to a video below which was shot by the guy who started third in the rental class last year. I'm ahead on pole in the white suit. The video gives you a good idea of lines to take and the speed difference between rental karts and the owner karts. And yes, I looked behind WAY too much when the quick guys came through!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxaXNTP0khM&fea...

There's three teams going with me this year - KOKS Racing from Kingston Uni - and we'll all have blue polo shirts on at some point, so come say hi if you like, we'll be doing a track walk on the Thursday evening.

Enjoy it!

Yeah there is a practice session. They moved the times last year and I'm not organising this year so I don't have the exact times, but there is some time on the Friday morning to practice. I believe that session is with just the hire karts on track, then qualifying is with everyone on at once (I think, I'm sure someone here knows better).

The track isn't a difficult one to learn, just as said above the first chicane and right-hander onto the (huge) back straight is all flat, and keep off the curbs! Keep out of the gravel too (loads stack it at the last corner), and that can easily shear the sprocket, which is a lengthy repair (all done by the Teesside staff).

Thursday night is always good as the locals use the straight bit of road next to the circuit as a drag strip. Expect a police helicopter and a powerful searchlight!

It's a healthy mix of both but it's a long way to go without wanting to do well!

Okay, I'll be the tallest guy in the pits in a smurf blue AplineStars outfit. Got a 5:40am Eurotunnel booking on Friday, and nearly everything packed and ready to go. Ultra prepared.

Oh, and whoever gave the "boss" a call, try again, I meant my proxy mate in all this.

Thanks. What is an alpano?