Team Thunderbolt competed in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill endurance race with a '83 944-Spec and finished 31st overall out of 67 teams that took the green flag and sixth in a class of twenty E2 cars.  It outlasted many newer and faster cars with its low maintainence of just one set of tire change and front brake pads!

It was after our June race this year at Thunderhill when Greg Brandeau and I were contemplating entering the 25 Hours.  My brother Steve thought we were crazy since we were just getting through our first full (rookie) season.  Crazy or not the idea was planted and I started my research for this event.

I spoke to my friend  Bill Dockery who had raced the 25 Hours multiple times to get ideas and tips.  He said to write down a set of goals and make sure the entire driving team agree  on the goals.  This might seem simplistic but it does shape the composition of the team.
The mantra for our NorCal 944-Spec group has always been about fun and friendship.  It comes as no surprise that fun made it on our list.
Our goals were to:
1. Finish the race.  This can be broken down to car reliability and preparation, spare parts and the ability to make repairs, keeping the car on the track and avoid car to car contact.
2. Have fun.  This is a team that never raced the 25 Hours or even a enduro before, we had one of the older cars on the grid and one of the lower HP cars.  Just  relax and have fun!
3. Get the experience.  How many people can say they participated in the 25 Hours?  Take the opportunity to learn, test and analyze parts on the  car.

Bill brought up a good point I didn't think about.  If we're racing for fun and the 20th hour comes around and we're in contention what do we do now?  Do we continue on course or push the car and driver?  Whatever we decide to do it's good to talk about it with the team ahead of time so there are no hard feelings.