News 2011  : Podium Finish Possible for Team Pirtek

18 10 2011Podium Finish Possible for Team Pirtek

Following on the strong showing of Hein Lategan in his Team Pirtek Peugeot in the recent Cape Rally, the team is confident that a podium finish is no longer a dream for the future but rather a realistically achievable target now. Key to this is the breakthrough made by the team in adapting the setup of the Pirtek Peugeot 207 S2000 to local conditions in the days preceding the rally in Cape Town.

Further good news is that the niggling problems that have beset Visser du Plessis in the past two events have been resolved.

Visser du Plessis
After a frustrating time we have at last resolved the relatively minor problems on our Team Pirtek Peugeot 207 that put us out of the last two events.

The brake issue that spoilt our rally in Knysna was resolved in time for Cape Town but a delay in receiving some engine parts meant that we weren’t able to fully test our car before the Cape Rally. As soon as we started that event it was apparent that the engine, fresh from a complete rebuild, was down on power but we just couldn’t put a finger on the cause. In the second stage of the event we noticed that the transmission tunnel, which also houses the exhaust, was getting really hot and starting to smoke so we retired the car.

When we stripped the car down back at the workshop we found that an element of the catalytic converter that is fitted to all S2000 rally cars had failed. This partially blocked the exhaust flow and caused not only the loss of power but also the raised temperatures in the tunnel.

The fix proved to be a relatively simple and quick one so we have had a lot more time than normal to do some constructive testing before the final event of the season. Those tests have been both very successful and satisfying with the new engine and the latest suspension setup significantly improving the performance of our car. I’m confident that we will achieve a good finish in Polokwane.

Hein Lategan
The performance of our Pirtek Peugeot 207 in the Cape Rally was a revelation for us as well as the rest of the rally community. At last we started to experience the real potential of the car and caused quite a stir in the process.

Rally conditions in South Africa are very different to those in Europe and we just didn’t have a reasonable base line to work from with the setup of the car. We went in totally the opposite direction to that which we had been working just before Cape Town and all of a sudden the suspension came alive and very responsive to our inputs.

The traction issues and mechanical grip that had been so lack lustre in earlier events was resolved right away – also the stability under braking. Instead of floating across the loose surface of the stages the tyres are now performing as designed and breaking through the surface to bite into the road with a far higher level of grip than we had before.

Our sixth place in Cape Town was not that far off a podium finish in terms of time, only about 40 seconds or so after over 180 kilometres of stages, and we know exactly where we lost that time. Performance wise we know that we can compete with the top runners. Now we have to concentrate on putting a good clean run in place.

The Polokwane event is new one for all competitors and it’s going to provide an exciting spectacle for rally competitors and enthusiasts alike. A podium finish for Team Pirtek Peugeot might just be possible. It’s going to be really competitive event with at least four teams fighting for the championship but we have a real chance of causing an upset in this event.