Slipstream - March 2005

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What I Learned at the Rolex 24 by John Sandusky What’s it like to race for 24 hours? That’s a good question. A more telling question, though, is: What’s it like to crew for a 24 hour race? Drivers only drive for part of the race, and sleep/rest when they’re out of the car. Crew members are on duty for the whole 24 hours. This adventure started back in October, when my brother, Pat, and I decided to attend the Rolex 24 at Daytona, scheduled for Feb 5-6. We booked our flights, did our trip planning, and were all set to go. Then, in November, The Racer’s Group announced they were expanding their team for the 2005 event, from 3 cars to 8: (2) - 2005 Riley Pontiac DP, #66, 67 (3) - 2005 911 GT3 Cups, #16, 65, 63 (2) - 2004 911 GT3 Cups, #62, 64 (1) - 2002 911 GT3 Cup, #61 • Don’t complain when Super Unleaded hits $1.99 a gallon at the local mega-station. Sunoco race gas there was $4.50 a gallon. I can’t tell you how many times I made the trip with twin 55-gallon drums and signed (for the team) for a bill of $500 or more. • Think OJT. You’d better bring with you some experience doing races or you could get yourself into trouble. Jim found out he would be refueling cars during the race only when he got there. He then had to figure out how to do it and what the rules were. Photo Courtesy of John Sandusky John standing with 5 of the TRG team cars, Saturday morning I contacted Kevin Buckler, knowing he was a guy who got started in PCA racing, to see if they needed any crew help for the race. They did and one thing led to another. Both my brother and I were on as crew members. Fellow Maverick member, Jim Buckley, also signed on to help crew for the team, as well. There were 5 crew teams. There was one team for each DP car, and then 3 GT teams each covering a pair of cars (65/16, 62/63, 61/64). I got assigned to the 65 and 16 cars as the over-the-wall fire bottle operator (for the race). My brother was the fuel shag for the same cars. Jim Buckley got assigned as the fueler for the 62 and 63 cars. It certainly was an adventure, and to recap it here would take more pages than our editor would allow. But I can give you a feel for it…. These are the things I learned at the Rolex 24: • It’s a lot of work. You work before practice, during practice, after practice. You haul equipment, tires, fuel, spares…everything up to the pits. Then you haul it back. And repeat. And hurry, too. • It takes a lot of people. We were understaffed for the teams and everyone did multiple jobs. You need to plan to be flexible, and get the job done when needed. You might only see 6-8 people when a car comes in, but there are at least that many on the crew working behind the scenes. We could have used a lot more. • Organization and communications are vital and play a big role in the outcome of the race. Photo Courtesy of John Sandusky Jim Buckley - Mid-race Refueling • Refueling a car is harder than it looks. I refueled the cars during practice and in the garages with a 5-gallon jug with a dry-break fitting on it. Jim used an overhead refueling rig during the race with twin dry-break fittings. It takes some effort to keep the fitting connected to the fuel tank to keep the fuel going for the required 45 seconds. • It takes me maybe 30 minutes to change the brake pads on my car. It would probably take the crew about 3 minutes to change the pads on the race car during the race. So what do they do? They take a whole assembly – new pads, new brake rotor, new 6 piston brake caliper – as a unit, and put that on the car when it needs a pad change. The caliper has a quick disconnect fitting for the brake line. The brake line and caliper have fresh fluid. Unbolt the old caliper, yank it off, put the new one on, bolt it on and attach the line. No bleeding is necessary. It took about 60 seconds. Why is that important? No, not Photo Courtesy of John Sandusky The brake rotor/caliper/pad assembly – done!
Photo Courtesy of John Sandusky because we’re gaining vital track position. It’s because we did this at the 15 hour mark in the race – 3 AM. The less time we spent working on the car meant we could go back to napping that much longer until the next pit stop an hour later. John (right) napping between pit stops. • Don’t ever touch the brake parts when they come off the car. One experienced crew guy “forgot” and picked up the rotor after the change (at 3 AM) with just regular gloves on and burned his hand quite nicely. He had ice on it for 2 hours. • Speaking of napping, you need more chairs than you think. The few chairs that were there were constantly taken by spectators or friends, and the crew was left standing a lot of times, including eating. You could find a tire to sit on once in a while. It didn’t get a whole lot better in the wee hours of the morning, either. When you’re that tired, you can nap when the cars are roaring by. And you can wake up in a snap when it’s time to go. Photo Courtesy of John Sandusky • Golf car keys are like gold. • Need new tires? Tires lasted one stint on the track and were replaced. During the race, they were replaced every pit stop. Hoosier brought like 12,000 tires to the event. And they probably used them all. The team had 6 sets of brand new out-of-the-box, blue anodized Fikse wheels for each car. • The Maverick Region knows hospitality. • And the biggest? The #61 car, the 2002 model, was the highest finishing car of the 8 entered, finishing 12th overall and 3rd in GT. What a race! What a weekend! What an experience! It was a memorable event and a lot of fun, that’s for sure. When is the race in 2006, anyway? Team TRG lines up 4 cars for the checkered flag Photo Courtesy of John Sandusky ’s Mustard Racing Services Crew member finding his space for a bite to eat • It gets cold at Daytona at night. Dress accordingly. • The view from pit lane is pretty awesome. • Don’t plan on seeing much of the rest of the race. You see the cars from one end of pit lane to the other. The teams do, though, have televisions in the pits covering the timing system and the feeds from SpeedTV and The Weather Channel. So, you know what’s going on. • Hot “marbles” from race tires not only stick to other tires, they also bond themselves to your shoes while you’re moving and working on pit lane. There are still lumps on my shoes. • Bring your safety equipment. It’s your safety you’re looking after. See, Joe McGlohen? I did remember all those things you’ve told me over the years. And I thank you for doing so. German and British Car Service and Maintenance by appointment. Specializing in: • All Porsche 914’s • Early 911’s through 1989 model year • Race Track Support • Competition Car Maintenance • Race Ergonomics & Instrumentation 2620 West Pioneer (Hwy 303) Suite B Arlington, Texas 817-366-1678
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Slipstream - March 2005

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