Once the car was up & running again having fixed the camber issue in the right rear, John headed back out for a few more runs. We wanted to see what temperature the car was running at (overheating being an issue for us in the past something we are always very conscious of in the car) and also see whether we had fixed the boost issue. On the 4th run the speed sensor melted with heat from the turbo which caused several issues including making the car think it was in launch mode & turning boost off or up to crazy levels. Not wanting to do any damage we coasted back to service.
After doing what we could to fix the issues the car went back out for a couple of runs. On the 2nd run after the issues were dealt with, John came back in with smoke coming from under the hood. The speed sensor had caught on fire, setting alight the heat protection wrap. Once the flames were extinguished a new sensor was installed, extinguisher damage was cleaned up and the car ran great all day after that!
Nigel (team owner, manager & dad!) jumped into the drivers seat next and proved he still knew what he was doing behind the wheel of a rally car. Increasing rainfall and passes of the stage made for some pretty slick conditions in parts, but Nigel had a blast & although maybe not quite as fast as John definitely didn't embarrass himself! Hahaha
20 minutes to alter the seat around & it was my turn!! Having never driven the rallycar before it was a fantastic opportunity. I'd like to think my practice in our Rallycross prepared Talon helped me out a little. I managed 4 or 5 runs before the end of the day, increasing in speed....all be it not by much....but improving on every run.
Thanks go to: Ross Wood and his volunteers for helping run the test day. To the Parnell Quarry for letting us use the quarry & access road. To Iain Fraser @ Planet Motorsport & the crew for fixing the issues we faced, and a big thanks to John Vanos for helping out with the shakedown of the car and putting in a fantastic drive today.
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