4 hr "Marathon" 1/8 Off-Road Race?...

[WRM]

There's talk of such a race at a track in IL - 3 buggies, three drivers, four hours, who get the most laps?...

I love the idea, an RC "LeMans" - have to think that Nitro has an advantage?...
....

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

A jug of Nitro is a lot cheaper than a bucket of batteries. Back in the day a 4500 shorty would just make it a main for me, how many would you need for 4 hrs

 

[81exige]

the cost to run even just one practice session has gotta be astronomical though

 

[Road America]

Sounds like a good idea to me! Once you own enough batteries, it only costs what it takes to charge them. Could it be done on 6 batteries? 7?-8? How fast can you change batteries?
There would have to be a lot of strategy involved, you wouldn't want to go all out the whole time, conserve your fuel and don't break anything. Just like full size endurance racing.
The winner is whoever makes the most laps in 4 hours, and keeping track of all those laps would be a challenge.

 

[ahr43]

Four hours on a driver stand without a driver swap is a long time. An RC event offered as a marathon or endurance race should have, at a minimum, a team of two drivers. At least to my way of thinking. Marshalling is also a concern. Four hours on track dodging and flipping 1/8 buggies is asking a lot.

Interested to hear and read how this plays out. -AC

 

[xjtorc]

I’ve wanted to do an endurance race like this for so long. 4 hours seems like a lot for off road though. I would think you’re cooking a piston/sleeve in a nitro rig and definitely cooking bearings in the electric after running 4 hours straight.

I’ve seen some 60 minute a-mains in nitro off road and nitro on road and those dudes are rebuilding motors afterwards.

keeping track of all those laps would be a challenge.

That would actually be the easy part. If it’s an established track, they will have a timing system.

 

[WRM]

We were thinking about "rotating" buggies & drivers after two tanks of fuel or one battery pack. To solve the "overall" lap count, they are thinking about using one "team" transponder and swapping it between buggies. If that's the case, I think all of them need to be fitted with an "extension" lead and some Velcro on the bodies to attach the Transponder so you wouldn't have to remove bodies to do the swap.

I hope to get more information at the Club race today. My buddy and I already have a third team member in mind.

This is the track and there is indeed a comment about doing this:
https://www.facebook.com/HoleShotRcRaceway/

 

[CertifiedMike]

Any chance the driver's stand has been retrofitted with massage chairs?
Will there be a beer and pizza staff? Lol!

Its interesting but I don't know if I could do 4hrs of driving.

 

[WRM]

If you get ~7 minutes of run time on a 125cc tank it would take 34 tanks/4.25 liters of fuel for a 4 four run. If E-buggy gets about the same run time/pack, you'd need 34 packs/recharges! I have to believe that Nitro has the advantage here....

 

[Ritz413]

I could be into a comp like this. I only have electric....and someone has to break something and be down for repairs in all that time. I assume you just lose laps the longer it takes to fix?

 

[WRM]

I could be into a comp like this. I only have electric....and someone has to break something and be down for repairs in all that time. I assume you just lose laps the longer it takes to fix?

You can use three buggies, so let's hope that all three don't go down at once?...

 

[Ritz413]

You can use three buggies, so let's hope that all three don't go down at once?...

If you only had 1 car ....
Between refueling, and wrenching time.....do you think I can do more laps if I use a single battery that will run a trail truck for 4 hours, and break nothing at slower speed.....

 

[WRM]

If you only had 1 car ....
Between refueling, and wrenching time.....do you think I can do more laps if I use a single battery that will run a trail truck for 4 hours, and break nothing at slower speed.....

The Tortoise and the Hare?... I recognize some of the names that might be participating and those guys are going to be tough to beat - they'll be running Nitros, I rarely/never see them break, and they'll be laying down some fast times through the duration of the race.

 

[Ritz413]

The Tortoise and the Hare?... I recognize some of the names that might be participating and those guys are going to be tough to beat - they'll be running Nitros, I rarely/never see them break, and they'll be laying down some fast times through the duration of the race.

Do it anyway!!

 

[xjtorc]

If you only had 1 car ....
Between refueling, and wrenching time.....do you think I can do more laps if I use a single battery that will run a trail truck for 4 hours, and break nothing at slower speed.....

No. They’re going to be going fast. Haha.

 

[Road America]

Maybe 1/10 scale LeMans race should be 2.4 hours?