Newbie racer/privateer,what tools/spares do I need at track?

[Tcars01]

Afternoon all,

Haven't raced for over 14 years, when I did I was arrive and drive in a team and never did any race prep/weekend maintenance myself on the cars. Going to be racing again this year in the Clio 182 Ktec cup but having never been involved in the spannering before just looking for some advice on the must have tools/spares etc I might need at the track that I may have overlooked.

Obviously will have basic tools, wheel gun, jacks etc but any advice from experienced racers what else would be needed, special tools that would come in handy, what car parts often break so need spares etc and any tips basically would be great


Thanks

[cbmotorsport]

I always used to go through drive shafts at an alarming rate. We also took a rebuilt gearbox, but then we could change one in about 45 minutes.

Anyway, ask fellow Clio racers what they carry. No point taking stuff that your either incapable of fitting yourself, or stuff that takes hours to fit, as you're just not going to have the time, and if they break it'll be race day over.

There's lots of clio racers on cliosport so sign up and have a chat with them.

[fat80b]

Tcars01 said:

Going to be racing again this year in the Clio 182 Ktec cup

cbmotorsport said:

I always used to go through drive shafts at an alarming rate.

As soon as you said Clio, I thought drive shafts......

For me, it depends on a bunch of stuff. If you have a trailer and a method of dragging the car onto said trailer, then arguably, you don't need to take much with.

We carry some wheel dollies for this reason.

You need axle stands to do any work in the paddock area.

a manual fuel pump is a nice addition - https://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/karting/fuel-contai... if you aren't using the circuit pump fuel.

A slide hammer, some gaffer tape and cable ties if you plan on carrying on after a bit of a shunt.

the rest of my spares / tool kit has grown over time and includes exhaust repair stuff, a full toolkit and various ignition components etc.

I have been at a rally where someone was looking for a spare steering wheel (he'd bent his driving somehow on the 1st stage) and I happened to have one in the random box of bits we carry so you never know quite what is needed until you need it......

[HustleRussell]

Fuses, terminals, lengths of wire
Spare oil and fluids
Hose clips, zip ties
Box of random assorted fixings
Sealant for bodging
Spare throttle cable (if fitted)
Batteries and memory cards for assorted lap timers, cameras
Spare bulb for rain light if not LED type
Spare coil pack

[sfaulds]

Take as much as you can, but you still wont have everything you need. I've been to the point of having an artic per car, and still ended up scrounging stuff.

[Thurbs]

I raced in the series for a few years and took the following spares as a minimum:

- Throttle body (they fail all the time thanks to the k-tec ecu)
- injector
- starter motor
- alternator
- brake disks & pads front & rear
- wing mirrors
- lights (front & rear)
- track rod ends
- wheel studs

I also had for the race 6 wheels & tyres + 4 unused for rain + non numbered ones for testing.

The F4R tends to drop valves a lot so the front runners carry a spare engine. Boxes go too but less common.

K-tec send a van to meetings so they carry some spares. It is common to share amongst each other also. Then there are always local scrappies!

Tools wise, carry the usual stuff, most do tracking in-between sessions also. Make sure you have hammers, tape, tie wraps. nuts and bolts for the rubbing.

I used John at www.jjperformance.co.uk for help towards the end and they are running 3 cars this year (two customer owned and one arrive & drive).

Good luck and feel free to ask anything else.

[Thurbs]

Forgot to say, drive shafts are strong and never heard of a failure over a weekend.

[Kraken]

I start from the point of view "what can I be arsed to fix at the track in the tiny wet corner I've been given in the paddock". Generally that means no gearboxes, no clutches and no driveshafts.

Whatever you take you'll never use and what you don't take will stop you racing despite it being a simple fix...

[eastlmark]

electrics: ie, coil pack, crank/flywheel sensor, plug leads.
depending on air filter type then get a second as a spare while the other one is being cleaned/dried. A trip through the gravel can clog one big time.

never had a failed driveshaft while racing several Clio's over the years.

[Oilchange]

Crikey, if I had to take a spare gearbox or valves or a driveshaft in case mine failed I would never get out of the house. No way I could or would change one at a circuit.

I need a decent torque wrench for wheel nuts

If my mech comes along he usually just brings his plug in fault finder gadget and relies on my tools

Edited by Oilchange on Monday 9th April 10:15

[cbmotorsport]

cbmotorsport said:

I always used to go through drive shafts at an alarming rate. We also took a rebuilt gearbox, but then we could change one in about 45 minutes.

Anyway, ask fellow Clio racers what they carry. No point taking stuff that your either incapable of fitting yourself, or stuff that takes hours to fit, as you're just not going to have the time, and if they break it'll be race day over.

There's lots of clio racers on cliosport so sign up and have a chat with them.

I should have clarified, my racing was Alfa Romeos, not Clios.

[Tcars01]

Thanks for all the the replies! It's much appreciated! Some of the obvious electrical bits, sensors etc I hadn't thought about so they were great shouts. I hadn't heard of the driveshafts going but it's easy enough to have spares. I wouldn't know where to start changing the engine so if unfortunately I manage to blow it I guess that's just weekend over. Wing mirrors is a good point too!

[Tcars01]

cbmotorsport said:

I always used to go through drive shafts at an alarming rate. We also took a rebuilt gearbox, but then we could change one in about 45 minutes.

Anyway, ask fellow Clio racers what they carry. No point taking stuff that your either incapable of fitting yourself, or stuff that takes hours to fit, as you're just not going to have the time, and if they break it'll be race day over.

There's lots of clio racers on cliosport so sign up and have a chat with them.

I actually signed up on cliosport.net and was surprised there seemed to zero chat about the race series on there, unless I was just looking in the wrong parts on the forum! Lot's of track car projects etc but couldn't find much on race cars and runners.

[Tcars01]

Thurbs said:

I raced in the series for a few years and took the following spares as a minimum:

- Throttle body (they fail all the time thanks to the k-tec ecu)
- injector
- starter motor
- alternator
- brake disks & pads front & rear
- wing mirrors
- lights (front & rear)
- track rod ends
- wheel studs

I also had for the race 6 wheels & tyres + 4 unused for rain + non numbered ones for testing.

The F4R tends to drop valves a lot so the front runners carry a spare engine. Boxes go too but less common.

K-tec send a van to meetings so they carry some spares. It is common to share amongst each other also. Then there are always local scrappies!

Tools wise, carry the usual stuff, most do tracking in-between sessions also. Make sure you have hammers, tape, tie wraps. nuts and bolts for the rubbing.

I used John at www.jjperformance.co.uk for help towards the end and they are running 3 cars this year (two customer owned and one arrive & drive).

Good luck and feel free to ask anything else.

Good to hear from someone in the series, thank you!

Great list of spares, seem easy enough to have most of those in the van just incase.

How often did you used to put new tyres on? I have heard different views on how often people put on new sets for the races, and then just switch front & rears about etc.

Tracking tools is a good shout too, especially as there is often a bit of wheel to wheel so may knock it out. Luckily the suspension isn't too adjustable anyway so pretty straight forward setup changes anyway which is useful.

Any information on how often you went through the consumables like dics/pads/clutch etc would be awesome as I keep hearing different views so be great to hear from someone with first hand experience

[Weslake-Monza]

You need to accept that whatever spare part or tool you don't take will be be one that you need.

[Altrezia]

Weslake-Monza said:

You need to accept that whatever spare part or tool you don't take will be be one that you need.

This!!

We take a fair bit, and normally have to use most of it... //lotus

[Thurbs]

Tcars01 said:

How often did you used to put new tyres on? I have heard different views on how often people put on new sets for the races, and then just switch front & rears about etc.

The Clio 182 Championship limits the amount of tyres you can use during the race weekend. If you are doing every round you will want to use your full tyre allocation to be competitive. The tyres have to come from Polly and are numbered, declared at sign on (with limits to the amount you can declare in one meeting) checked in parc ferme and referenced back against what you bought from Polly.

Testing can use any tyre but most just buy unmarked ones from Polly. From memory I used about 40 for a season but I also did a few other events (2 x Tin Tops, 2 x Club Enduro and 2 x Open Races)

Section 5.13.3 said:

Nominated supplier/
The only permitted tyre supplier is Polleysport [see 6.5.6] All tyres supplied by Polleysport will be barcoded (see example below.) Drivers will only be permitted to use a total of 20 tyres during the season. At each event drivers can use a maximum of 10 tyres per race weekend of which a maximum of 4 can be unused, the exception to this is the first round where 10 unused tyres can be nominated. A used tyre is defined as a tyre that has been nominated at a previous championship event that season. Drivers will be required to nominate which tyres they are using at each race weekend when they present the car at scrutineering, this will be done via a tyre information form listing the barcode identification numbers of the driver’s chosen tyres. Any competitor found during post qualifying/race scrutineering, to have qualified or raced with a tyre not listed on the ‘Tyre Record Form’ will be disqualified from the results and may be subject to further penalties. Tyres are not transferable between drivers

[HustleRussell]

Remember that before you ever get on the track your car has to get past the scrutineers and that means a working rain light, a fire extinguisher with cables which aren’t seized, everything which should be secured, secured etc. Transponder wiring can play up too. An extra fuse holder and wiring can also be used to hot wire a non working radiator fan or fuel pump etc

[cbmotorsport]

Tcars01 said:

cbmotorsport said:

I always used to go through drive shafts at an alarming rate. We also took a rebuilt gearbox, but then we could change one in about 45 minutes.

Anyway, ask fellow Clio racers what they carry. No point taking stuff that your either incapable of fitting yourself, or stuff that takes hours to fit, as you're just not going to have the time, and if they break it'll be race day over.

There's lots of clio racers on cliosport so sign up and have a chat with them.

I actually signed up on cliosport.net and was surprised there seemed to zero chat about the race series on there, unless I was just looking in the wrong parts on the forum! Lot's of track car projects etc but couldn't find much on race cars and runners.

It's been a few years since I had a Clio Cup and frequented the forums, but I remember quite a few racers on there, in the tin tops etc. There were lots of race reports, and car builds etc. Post up your question, and see what you get.

[RobM77]

I own separate tools for working on the racing car at home, and every time I need to borrow something from my main stash of tools, it's moved to my racing set of tools to live there permanently. The end result is that I have four or five 'Really Useful Boxes' that I use to work on my racing car, and they just get taken to the track with me. In theory I can do anything at the track that I'd do at home. The only thing I can't take with me is my garage's built in hoist to lift the car onto high stands.

The only thing I don't take (cause I don't have room) is a hoover. I've never been in a gravel trap, but I've seen other people who have and a hoover looks very useful for clearing out the car afterwards!