| The
Easter break has been a handy time
for the Pirtek Rally Team to re-group
and look ahead to another challenging
round of the NEC Australian Rally
Championship, the Quit Forest Rally
outside Busselton in Western Australia
on 27-29 April.
The event might be some two weeks
away, but with the team having to
traverse the country from its Melbourne
base, there is just a handful of
working days to prepare the Super
2000 Ford Fiestas before the transporter
hits the road.
Designed and built in just 18 weeks,
the world debut of the Super 2000
version of the Ford Fiesta at the
Coates Rally Queensland was considered
a success, with the highlight being
fifth place overall for Darren Windus
/ Jon Mortimer on leg #2. Michael
Guest / Mark Stacey were on-course
for a fourth place finish in the
opening leg before a broken drive-belt
hindered their challenge.
A thorough debrief since the Sunshine
Coast event has focused on further
improving the reliability of the
Pirtek Rally Team Fiestas.
"There is a long list of things
we would like to improve, but we
will focus on the must-do list for
WA," said Chief Engineer Glenn Rees.
"We are very pleased with our engine
package, but we do need to improve
some issues with the cooling system
- primarily a more effective method
of bleeding the radiator. We are
confident that a change to our radiator
set-up will greatly improve our
temperature challenges.
"Likewise we have given the clutch
some extra attention. These cars
have a very tall first gear and
that places plenty of strain on
the clutch. Again some adjustments
ahead of WA will rectify this issue.
"Finally, there are some very minor
updates that we need to make to
the front end geometry. This will
alleviate a clash condition that
we suffered, which ultimately resulted
in a broken drivebelt.
"Importantly we understand all these
issues and they can be rectified."
After completing the Rally Queensland,
driver Darren Windus is in no doubt
that the Pirtek Rally Team has a
bright future.
"Just talking about the car has
me very excited," said Windus.
"Considering we had not turned a
wheel before the Thursday of the
Rally Queensland, it's an awesome
achievement to have the Fiesta in
such a strong position already.
"It must be remembered that we decided
to develop the Fiesta Super 2000
in competition, rather than away
in private testing.
"By mid year that approach will
start to pay off as we can then
improve the speed of the Fiesta.
"At that point I can then start
to fully make use of the car and think
about setting fast stage times and
even chase an outright result. Until
then we must get as many competitive
kilometres as possible on both cars."
Michael
Guest is fully aware that his role
is not just as a driver. He must
continue to supply information to
the rally engineers on all aspects
of the Fiesta.
"When you are developing a car like
this you must fully understand what
is required to improve the package,"
said Guest.
"We have the technical group of
the Pirtek Rally Team, but we also
have engine experts from Mountune,
Sadev on the transmissions, Drummond
Motor Sport on the suspension and
Michelin for tyres. All areas have
to work cohesively to get this car
to the front.
"I have to say the commitment by
all these groups, plus a range of
other suppliers has been outstanding.
They all understand the challenge,
but are fully aware that we can
achieve a great deal with the Fiesta.
"Importantly we are not too far
off, but our competition is not
waiting for us to catch-up, they
are working just as hard to maintain
their position at the front."
The Pirtek Rally Team will fully
evaluate the changes on a full day
test near Busselton on Tuesday 24
April.
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