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The Pirtek Rally Team has confirmed
two major technical upgrades for
the third round of the NEC Australian
Rally Championship, the Rally of
Canberra on June 1-3.
The Super 2000 Ford Fiestas of Michael
Guest and Darren Windus will feature
front and rear anti-roll bars, as
well as a fully operable handbrake
system.
The addition of these systems follows
extensive on-event evaluation of
the base package by the Pirtek Rally
Team. The twin Fiestas took fourth
and fifth place outright at the
recent Quit Forest Rally in Western
Australia.
Extensive design and construction
work on the anti-roll bars has been
carried out by renowned suspension
specialist Drummond Motor Sport
along with head technicians Paul
Cane and Grant Howse.
"With just about every aspect of
the car being brand new, we have
had to confirm that we are heading
in the right direction," said Paul
Cane.
"Although we are still in a development
phase of the program we can now
work towards improving the stage
times.
"The addition of the anti-roll bars
and handbrake system will go a long
way towards achieving that."
Cane and Howse along with the #4
Fiesta of Michael Guest recently
spent two days with Jamie Drummond
at the Wodonga base of Drummond
Motor Sport.
"We felt the best way to further
improve the suspension was to go
to Jamie's and go over the entire
package," said Howse.
"This trip was very successful with
us returning with the anti-roll
bar package as well as a much better
understanding of the suspension
system we are running.
"Jamie has designed and built a
package for the Fiesta, not simply
taken one off the shelf. This will
prove to be of major benefit heading
forward."
The hspecialised handbrake system
has been developed by Britek Rallye
Sport with the full consultation
of transmission supplier Sadev in
France.
Chief Engineer Glenn Rees has been
overseeing this side of the development.
"Having a handbrake in rallying
is critical in getting the cars
around tight hairpin styled corners,"
said Rees.
"The system has to disengage the
rear-drive as well lock the wheels.
It requires a pump that supplies
enormous pressure to make this all
happen.
"Now that we have a much better
understanding of the car, we can
now install this system and be confident
of its reliability.
"Like the anti-roll bars, the addition
of the handbrake will improve the
car's performance, but we will continue
to work across all aspects of the
Fiesta to further improve the overall
speed."
The Pirtek Rally Team will test
the improved Ford Fiestas on Tuesday
29 May outside of Canberra. |
NEC Australian Rally Championship after 2 of 6 rounds