Fontana Test

It actually started with some drama……..After a handful of laps the engine developed a loss of power.
As with any new car, teething problems are expected. The expert engineers from Cosworth quickly traced the problem to a rare oil pressure sensor failure.
After replacing the offending item the engine ran flawlessly for the remainder of the two days of testing.
Driver Danilo Dirani and the team continued with the planned test sequences. A competitive driver as he is it was hard for Danilo to stick to the plan that involved not to concentrate in fast lap times but to focus on the way the chassis reacted to changes. As professional as he is, he did an outstanding job at restraining himself enough to continue with the at times tedious test plan.   It was more important to us to gather the desired data than it was to top the charts at that point.

There were a few small issues that Swift addressed as the test went on but at the end the car was ready to show its potential. An ever ready Dirani quickly posted the third fastest time of the 4th session of the second day only two tenths off from the fastest time posted on that session. The times posted by Danilo were encouraging since they were obtained despite a problem he encountered during downshifts.  
As the G forces increased due to pushing the car harder, difficulties downshifting from 5th to 4th gear surfaced. After disassembling the gear box and not finding any anomalies the problem was traced to the accelerator pedal. Due to the forward inertia during heavy braking the accelerator pedal was inflicting inertial force on the throttle cable. This action was not allowing the engine to return to idle speed and kept the rpm’s slightly high thus making gear changes difficult. Later we found out that our team was not the only one experiencing that problem. A quick modification on the return spring mechanism solved the problem.

After some changes aimed to improve grip and balance we were anxious to see how quick we could actually go in the last and only session left. We started the session on tires that were way past their optimum point of performance. We did this because there was a last change we wanted to try and did not want new tires to “mask” the result of the change. Finally, the time came to call Danilo in the pits for new tires. As the car went up on the jacks a bent push rod adjuster was discovered. Danilo’s report and later data confirmed that nothing was hit by the car or the suspension. Acting quickly the crew obtained a replacement part from the Swift Truck and replaced the faulty item.

The new tires were installed and Danilo left the pits eager to push the car to the limit. Unfortunately, a lap later and before the tires had the chance to get any temperature the red flag was displayed. An incident involving a three time rolled over car brought out the red flag and prematurely put an end to the session.

There was disappointment on the faces of every team member including the driver’s. We were all anxious because Danilo was confident that the car was good enough to be on top of the charts. Unfortunately, we will have to wait to Long Beach to find out if he was accurate on his assessment or not.

At the end of the day, we feel that we learned a lot about the car. We had the chance to discover and solve the problems that surfaced during the two days of testing. That also included the last problem with the push rod adjuster that Swift decided it warranted a modification since another team reported the same problem.