C1 24 Hour Race this weekend - Rockingham
Discussion
rallycross said:
I woud'nt mind having a go at this next year if there is a big grid, how many cars in the field? Ok its going to be slow but if everyone is slow and there are 30-40 cars it will be fun.
53 cars I think I read somewhere, capacity grid. There is another later on in the year as well.What a weekend! I did come and try to find some of you but it was just so busy! Well done to you all. We finished P8 after a hard and emotional 24 hours, a quick look at the sort of sportsmanship displayed take a look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avCpoU_9KQg&fe... we had been battling with these guys for most of the race when they ran out of fuel, in an inspired moment JP made sure the Safety Devices could drive to the chequered flag!
Ref the youtube clip, i happened to be watching the live stream when this occured, and (as the commentators thought) thought it was a fine gesture from a car in the same team. To now realise that in fact these 2 cars had been battling it out for 23+ hours and were on different teams sums up the whole ethos of this class of racing. What a gentlemanly thing to do and i hope the way the rules of C1 racing are written this type of thing continues for many years. Did i also read that every car that started, finished ?....if so well done to all.
If a car can genuinely be had for £4-6K and a couple of mates can do shorter races on a relative shoestring (appreciate 24hrs is never going to be cheap due to entry fees alone) then this has to be applauded. Sadly too many classes gradually escalate as people turn up at the lowest end of motorsport with more money than sense, pushing the costs up for all. I raced the bottom end of endurance karting for a few years (in oz) where the rules had about 6 lines of what was allowed and a line that said "if it doesnt say it is allowed, then it isnt". Even so during the 2nd season various "cheats" had been spotted, with people willing to spend more to break the rules in a bid to win a plastic cup worth £10.
This C1 thing has got be into serious man-maths to see if it could replace my track day MX5. if the belief is the rules will continue to keep this as a lower cost race series then i'd love to join the family. The fact there is a suitable C1 parked 4 doors down from my house keeps reminding me that i should go for it !!.
If a car can genuinely be had for £4-6K and a couple of mates can do shorter races on a relative shoestring (appreciate 24hrs is never going to be cheap due to entry fees alone) then this has to be applauded. Sadly too many classes gradually escalate as people turn up at the lowest end of motorsport with more money than sense, pushing the costs up for all. I raced the bottom end of endurance karting for a few years (in oz) where the rules had about 6 lines of what was allowed and a line that said "if it doesnt say it is allowed, then it isnt". Even so during the 2nd season various "cheats" had been spotted, with people willing to spend more to break the rules in a bid to win a plastic cup worth £10.
This C1 thing has got be into serious man-maths to see if it could replace my track day MX5. if the belief is the rules will continue to keep this as a lower cost race series then i'd love to join the family. The fact there is a suitable C1 parked 4 doors down from my house keeps reminding me that i should go for it !!.
A car can built for £4-6K, I think ours cost about £4800.
Racing costs are quite low, particularly when shared between 6 as we did, as the fuel economy is remarkable and tyre useage is quite low, too. We used just one set of pads for the whole race and there is still meat on them.
However, it is now written off.....and the re-shell costs will be £400 (ish) per person that we probably had not bargained for. Still cheap, but a bit disappointing.....
We finished, but only after over 2.5 hours in the pits having various levels of agricultural engineering techniques applied involving lump hammers and ratchet straps to straighten things out as best we could after another car spun us into the barriers. All 4 wheels pointed in different directions, the left front had about 10-12 deg -ve camber, the wheel base was different on the LHS to the right and the rear axle was 1.5 inches shorter than it started the race.
We finished 48th out of all 49 cars. We had been running 35th at the 20 hour (ish) point and looking good, with our quickest driver still to do another stint. The level of commitment from the team, and other teams who helped, to get the car back out was awesome, and it was quite emotional to finish.
I think a couple of other cars had engine changes, but nevertheless it is remarkable that all 49 starters finished, particularly given the appalling weather conditions in the first half of the race and the need for something like 24+ safety car periods.......
Our team are already planning to salvage what they can and build another car for Spa.
I am pleased that I took part and it was great to race as a real budget "bunch of mates who had an idea in a pub" team, and it was a real privilege to be on the same grid as Andy and Seb Priaulx and Anthony Reid but I don't think I will do another one. I have ticked the "24 Hour race" item off my bucket list and will probably stick to CSCC races in future!
Racing costs are quite low, particularly when shared between 6 as we did, as the fuel economy is remarkable and tyre useage is quite low, too. We used just one set of pads for the whole race and there is still meat on them.
However, it is now written off.....and the re-shell costs will be £400 (ish) per person that we probably had not bargained for. Still cheap, but a bit disappointing.....
We finished, but only after over 2.5 hours in the pits having various levels of agricultural engineering techniques applied involving lump hammers and ratchet straps to straighten things out as best we could after another car spun us into the barriers. All 4 wheels pointed in different directions, the left front had about 10-12 deg -ve camber, the wheel base was different on the LHS to the right and the rear axle was 1.5 inches shorter than it started the race.
We finished 48th out of all 49 cars. We had been running 35th at the 20 hour (ish) point and looking good, with our quickest driver still to do another stint. The level of commitment from the team, and other teams who helped, to get the car back out was awesome, and it was quite emotional to finish.
I think a couple of other cars had engine changes, but nevertheless it is remarkable that all 49 starters finished, particularly given the appalling weather conditions in the first half of the race and the need for something like 24+ safety car periods.......
Our team are already planning to salvage what they can and build another car for Spa.
I am pleased that I took part and it was great to race as a real budget "bunch of mates who had an idea in a pub" team, and it was a real privilege to be on the same grid as Andy and Seb Priaulx and Anthony Reid but I don't think I will do another one. I have ticked the "24 Hour race" item off my bucket list and will probably stick to CSCC races in future!
Edited by andy97 on Tuesday 15th May 12:18
rallycross said:
Ok its going to be slow but if everyone is slow and there are 30-40 cars it will be fun.
It is all relative and coming off the banking into the first braking point for the hairpin at 95-97 mph did not feel slow at the time, nor did trying to go through some of the corners with just a lift (and the quick guys were flat) in a car with no weight over the back end and a short wheel base!I was there too with car 337 although not driving but in the pit garage doing the re fuelling. We had a fantastic time although having about an hour's sleep was a bit challenging. We finished 29th overall with a home built car and 3 novice drivers. The only major issue was a bit of body damage and a bent suspension strut. Other than that the car ran faultlessly for the whole 24 hours only using one set of pads, 16 tyres and fuel. The feeling at the finish was something to remember for a long time.
andy97 said:
rallycross said:
Ok its going to be slow but if everyone is slow and there are 30-40 cars it will be fun.
It is all relative and coming off the banking into the first braking point for the hairpin at 95-97 mph did not feel slow at the time, nor did trying to go through some of the corners with just a lift (and the quick guys were flat) in a car with no weight over the back end and a short wheel base!Damage wise we were ok, a couple of scuffs, one dented wing and a dented wheel from hitting the pothole on the outside of the first hairpin. You had to be very aware out there on occasion trying to find my way through a small pack of slower cars was ridiculous, they had seen me approach (at around 3s a lap) and rather than tuck in behind me and try to copy/follow/learn a quicker way around they would defend with all their might!
rallycross said:
I’m quite interested in doing the next race, if anyone is involved in a C1 team that needs an extra driver let me know (I race saloons in 750mc at the moment).
Get on the unofficial C1 Facebook page there are plenty of teams looking for drivers/drivers looking for teams! 
Interesting to see some of the numbers quoted re tyres etc. 16 tyres would imply a set lasted about 300 miles which sounds rubbish relative to road use but maybe is good going for track??.
Not sure how much these tyres would be, but guess the minimum cost then would be around £4000 for the 24hr:
- the tyres (16 x £60 at a guess?),
- one set of pads (£60),
- fuel (£400 or so?) ,
- entry fees (£2600 i think)
all split between the number of mates you can find to join in...so £1K each for a team of 4.
Be interesting to know how close that is or what the budget per car really needs to be.
Guess its much lower for the races of 2 to 5 hours, and sounds wise to throw in the odd spare engine and a re-shell once a year
Not sure how much these tyres would be, but guess the minimum cost then would be around £4000 for the 24hr:
- the tyres (16 x £60 at a guess?),
- one set of pads (£60),
- fuel (£400 or so?) ,
- entry fees (£2600 i think)
all split between the number of mates you can find to join in...so £1K each for a team of 4.
Be interesting to know how close that is or what the budget per car really needs to be.
Guess its much lower for the races of 2 to 5 hours, and sounds wise to throw in the odd spare engine and a re-shell once a year
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