- 11/15/2017
- 0 Min Read
- By: Michael Roselli
Here Is What A Pit Stop Looks Like For A Professional Endurance Racing Team
Pit stops seem simple since they happen in a flash—but in reality, they're wildly complex and choreographed events. While at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the 8-Hours of California, we watched a routine pit stop by the MARC Cars team, based in Australia, and dissected every move in our latest video series — Anatomy of a Pit Stop.
Our Director of Motorsport, Nate Vincent, walks us through step-by-step as to what's happening during the stop, and when. Things like having insulated fuel canisters to keep the gas denser for better performance, and wheel nuts attached to race suits are something you just won't see unless it's pointed out.
And, even though the 8-Hours of California is several steps above AER in terms of entry fees and driving skill, you can still draw direct similarities between the two series to see how the evolution of racing takes place. In AER, we can't do anything other than a driver change while refueling the car, and the same applies to the 8-Hours. In AER, we have timed pit stops, but in the 8-Hours they're shorter, meaning the pit crews should be better and sharper. You can see the progression from there.
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