Mosport: Brass Monkey Racing event report
Struggles at Mosport Lead to New Direction for Brass Monkey Racing BOWMANVILLE, ON - After being optimistic about their Nissan GT-R "Version 2.0," Brass Monkey Racing quickly realized that Version 3.0 can't come soon enough for the World Challenge ...
Struggles at Mosport Lead to New Direction for Brass Monkey Racing
BOWMANVILLE, ON - After being optimistic about their Nissan GT-R "Version 2.0," Brass Monkey Racing quickly realized that Version 3.0 can't come soon enough for the World Challenge season. After solving reliability issues, the team now knows the direction it must go to make the car a contender, following last weekend's struggle at Mosport International Raceway.
The new updates to the #96 and #97 Nissan/Brass Monkey Racing Nissan GT-Rs were successful in curing the cooling issues that plagued the sophisticated sequential gearbox and also provided a much-needed boost in power to the 3.8-liter turbocharged V6 engine. But reliability and power are only two components to the equation of a competitive racecar, and drivers Tony Rivera and Steve Ott struggled with handling around the sweeping corners at North America's most daunting circuit.
The team had a small moral victory when both cars finished each race on the doubleheader weekend, something neither car did at the previous round at Long Beach. However, given the handling issues, the team must now focus on new areas of development.
"We need to really evaluate the suspension geometry and the differentials," Team Manager Rivera said. "The cars were okay at the street courses, which have a lot of slow corners and you essentially do a lot of point and shoot. Mosport, which is a lot like the next event at Watkins Glen, has sweeping corners and we just couldn't get the cars to turn.
"Our team worked incredibly long hours and we threw just about everything we could at the cars while at the track from a setup standpoint, but nothing seemed to make a difference. It became clear to us at Mosport where we need to focus our efforts in development. Going to another race at this stage doesn't make any sense until we've made some major progress in the handling department. That means that we won't make it to Watkins Glen and Toronto.
"We're committed to make these cars winners in World Challenge before the season is out. Doing the next stage of development publicly at the racetrack is not in anyone's best interest, so we may need to take a hiatus from the Championship."
The next World Challenge Championship race is scheduled for July 2-3 at Watkins Glen International, followed two weeks later with the Honda Indy Toronto. Brass Monkey Racing plans to re-join the series for the Aug. 6-8 event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
-source: www.brassmonkeyracing.com.
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