Rodent Racing - Strategy

Extracted from an interview with Barwell Motorsport. Something for Rodent Racing to follow (with the exception of removing the engine and gearbox)?

"The truck arrived back from our last race at Spa two days ago and then the unload crew came in yesterday. Today we’ll have a bit of a planning meeting to get a rough schedule and then the engineers will tally up all the mileages and work out what components are going to be out of mileage."

"From that information and from the debrief sheets generated during practice and qualifying sessions (where drivers note anything they’re unhappy with) we compile a job-list of work that needs to be carried out."

"Preparing for the 24 Hours is slightly different because we won’t necessarily change components for free practice and qualifying. Effectively we’ve now got a schedule where today (Tuesday) will be a clean and check-over: we'll take the gearbox out for a rebuild and inspect all parts of the car, including the suspension, to make sure there are no leaks or cracks or any wear. Then on Thursday we’ll put the car back together."

"On Friday we will set the car up in the morning; do the corner weights and geometry, etc – we know the settings for Spa very well. Then we'll put a fresh gearbox back in and then start assembling all the safety equipment and spare parts to go in the truck. There's a list of equipment we’ll need over and above a standard race weekend; we’ve already ordered all the endurance parts for the car – luckily all of our 24-hour equipment is already sorted as the car was already down to compete in the Zolder 24 Hours."

"Next week the trucks will be loaded up and we'll issue the team a detailed itinerary with the week’s schedule: session timings, pit details, where we’re staying and what our allocated scrutineering slot is. When we get to the circuit on the Tuesday the first thing we’ll do is dress the pit garage – set up the hoarding, flooring, awning, catering and such like. We’re a small team so there’s a lot of multi-tasking, with duties shared – but everyone is allocated set tasks. There's also a livery change on the car for this race, which will be done by a Belgian company."

"The key thing for us is to get the new drivers familiar with the car. So we’ll be scheduling familiarisation sessions and seat fittings to get them comfortable. We know how to manage the sessions to make sure we don’t put too much pressure on the car or the drivers. We know the pace of the car. We’ll be on the Michelin tyres, which we know inside out.The focus is being ready for the race, not setting ultra-fast times."

"After practice and qualifying, we’ll replace the engine, the gearbox and the torque tube. Strangely we’ll likely spend hours fiddling around with drinks bottles. Then we should be in good shape for the race. We’ll run the car in Saturday morning warm-up, make sure the new engine and gearbox work okay, and then that's it until the start."

"Our focus will then be to have a clean race; stay out of trouble and a result will come. We’ll be stopping on the hour for fuel – that’s as far as an Aston GT3 can go at Spa on a full tank at racing speed."

"There’ll be four mechanics on the car – that’s the key crew. Then we've got two tyre and fuel guys and our Belgian/French-speaking engineer, Marc. I’ll be chief engineer, handling strategy, and then there’ll be a couple of people taking care of logistics and commercial aspects. The catering for the event is quite substantial. I won’t get involved with the sponsors; my job is the well-being of the drivers and the car over the weekend."

Target: Completing the MME in 2011