Bring everything. Seriously - if you have the capacity, do it. The real challenge is deciding what you can do without, since space, people, and money are limited.

We had a pretty satisfying success at the VIR 13 hours but I chalk that up to a LOT of preventative maintenance on the car. Preparation is WAY more efficient than taking along a lot of stuff that you are going to use when the car busts.

For example, we replaced hubs and bearings, and installed new uprights even, that had only about 12 race hours on them. They became the spares and we ran the new ones only long enough to be sure that they were right. None of the moving suspension or brake parts were any older than the beginning of this season. The guys who should have beaten us, on both pace and mileage between stops, busted a hub as I undestand it. Hmmmm.

We ran 13 hours on ONE set of brake pads - thanks, Cobalt! - and 8 tires, none of which are anything like worn out. The rears were larger in diameter at the end than when they started, in fact - from pick-up. We had six rains that we never used (full-tread Toyos).

Pick a car that is easy on parts and drivers. Find drivers who are sympathetic to the equipment, smart, and don't have big egos. (Don't ask me how the hell we accomplished THAT trick.)

Have people along to handle the important tasks like cooking, analyzing data, taking pictues, building scaffolds, and rigging radio monitors, in addition to the mundane stuff like working on the car. We busted ONE part and i had to drive 2 hours round trip to get one from home - a serp belt tensioner, of all things.

Do your homework and have lights that really work if you are running into the night.

We brought a full compliment of spares, including calipers, lines, suspension parts, a gearbox, a complete set of engine ancillaries (throttle body, ECU, etc.), and a bunch of other stuff. If I could arrange it, I would have an entire 2nd car sitting on stands in the paddock. We replaced all of the hoses and belts and kept the old ones as spares, too.

We did not have - and thankfully didn't need - a radiator or axles. The former was replaced by the last street owner of the car after a minor shunt an the latter were new at the beginning of the season.

We also had three awnings, an elevated pit stand/light system, extension cords (thankfully we didn't need a generator because of outlets), nitrogen bottle, air guns, tools and more tools, 10 fuel jugs, a funnel, a truck to make gas runs, two jacks, stands, plywood to go under both, umbrellas, chairs, gas cooker, coolers galore, power tools (including a Sawzall to remove that pesky exhaust system), chemicals, oils of all types, brake fluid, spare pads and rotors, a big hammer, and a bazillion other tidbits.

I could go on and on but my carpal tunnel is bothering me already. If you haven't seen it already, take a look at the story of our adventure at...

http://it2.evaluand.com/gti/enduro04.php

It was a great event with some great people who made me very proud of their hard work and success. I'm looking forward to more.

K