During the winter the Firenza has undergone a fairly significant engine upgrade to improve the power delivery. The Dave Brooks engine is now delivering just over 200 bhp and 174 lbs ft torque. A new propshaft has eliminated the transmission vibration and on the braking side we have disposed of the twin servos and for the AGBO fitted some softer M1144 Mintex pads to get them warmed up quickly on the short stages. Skip ahead to 10:29 for Simon and Colin | After 10 months out of the car Simon & Colin were a little rusty so the morning stages were taken at a steady pace. However on the first stage in the afternoon, stage 5 the Firenza ran wide on a right hand hairpin and the front nearside wheel dropped into a large hole resulting in bent steering. With nothing apparently broken we managed to re-track the steering to something like straight ahead and it performed well for the rest of the event. Simon & Colin finished the event 54th overall and in the HRCR championship were 3rd Category 2 car home and first in the C4 class (over 2000 cc) putting them in 3rd position in the Championship. |
See below for the Championship standings after the first round. The next event is the Dixies Historic Challenge on Epynt which will be held over the May Day weekend.