AVL 'fine-tuning', Ford upgrade headline latest testing

“Fine-tuning” AVL findings and an eye on mileage for the updated Ford crankshaft were the headline takeaways from track action on Monday.

A Triple Eight Chevrolet Camaro and Blanchard Racing Team Ford Mustang hit the track at Queensland Raceway in engine correlation and updated crankshaft testing.

PremiAir Nulon Racing also tested its two Camaros on Monday, with the team saving its final test day of the season for the lead-up to the Repco Bathurst 1000.

The Triple Eight Camaro was used to verify minor mapping changes to the Chevrolet engine, following the fact-finding AVL transient dyno testing in the United States last month.

A track-ready BRT Mustang, the team’s spare car, also rolled out with the application of a new-specification crankshaft, which was sourced internationally and only arrived in Australia on Sunday.

Supercars General Manager of Motorsport Tim Edwards explained to Supercars.com: “It’s important to take these opportunities and work through engine maps that were developed at AVL testing, to align the findings to real-world application.

“It’s also important to emphasise that this testing is about fine-tuning the current engine packages with small changes to engine calibration."

Edwards hailed the quick turnaround to ready the BRT car with the new crankshaft, with Ford Performance and Motorsport Powertrains reacting swiftly following a spate of failures at Sandown.

The new part was fitted to the BRT car, which arrived at the track on Monday afternoon ahead of further testing this week.

“The crankshaft only arrived in the country from Japan on Sunday morning,” Edwards added.

“It was built into an engine, dynoed, put in a race car, taken to the track, and arrived around 2:30pm this afternoon.

“It cut some laps just to make sure everything runs okay, and then later in the week, they’ll have a full day to put as many kilometres on it as possible.”

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