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Team JLR Test new 2006 Van Diemen Duratec car
Team JLR ran the new 2006 Van Diemen Duratec car in a 2 day test at Snetterton for the Van Diemen factory.
The team were delighted to gain the services of championship winning driver Tom Kimber-Smith to carry out all the testing work. His experience and testing skills would be sure to make the job easier for every one concerned (except Tom).
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Thursday dawned cold and wet. Any chance of finding a dry set up looked slim. At 9.00am the Van Diemen rolled out on to the track, before a minor fault with the throttle saw the car back in the garage, but only for a few minutes for the mechanics soon found and rectified the problem.
Tom took the car back onto the wet track and settled in to the car. Tom and the team found a decent wet set up and decided to put miles on the car and make Thursday a reliability test. The new Van Diemen – equipped with the new for 2006 1.6 Duratec Engine - pounded round and round the wet Snetterton circuit for lap after lap without a single problem.
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Although Tom is now used to far more exotic machinery than Formula Ford, despite the cold and miserable conditions he did his usual superb job. His feedback confirmed what everyone hoped for. The new Duratec engine is fantastic, pulling hard right through the rev range. The car was great to drive with instant power and its lighter and lower engine now making the handling far better than the heavier Zetec car.
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After 90 faultless laps the check over to follow showed no problems at all and the team went back to the hotel feeling more than happy with the new car and praying for dry weather for day two of the test.
Friday morning brought blue sky and sunshine and hopes of finding a good dry set up were hopeful. Tom climbed into the car and went out onto the track at 9 o’clock sharp for the cars first run on slick tyres.
9.01am and torrential rain fell. The Formula Ford was back in for wet tyres. A great pity - not only did we need to find a base dry set up but all Fords’ top technicians turned up to make sure the engine and it’s management system all functioned to the high standards expected from Ford. Pi also had their own top engineers on hand to ensure the data logger received the correct information from the data stream.
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Tom got back in the car did a 10 lap run to make sure the set up was OK before it was time to let other drivers try the car.
Peter Dempsey was first out and after his stint, he handed the car over to Andrew Meyric. Both young drivers had spent 2005 competing very successfully in Formula Ford Kent championships and returned to the pits full of praise for the new car and hopefully looking forward to a full season in Formula Ford Duratec.
Next out was 2005 Team JLR driver Jonny Baker and upon returning to the pits after his run, his smile had to be surgically removed. All the drivers were of the same opinion, that The Van Diemen Duratec car was fast, forgiving and great fun to drive.
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With the track now drying throughout the day, Tom went back out on slick tyres to try and get a dry set up. After a few small changes and 20 laps on a track still having many wet patches and a far from perfect balance, Tom managed several laps of 1.10.07 seconds. Much faster than the other cars there both Zetec and Duratec.
Everyone at Snetterton’s conclusion of the day proved that 2006 is going to be a fantastic year for Formula Ford. The new cars are just what motorsport needs - the best Formula Ford ever, in a formula well known among all the leading Formula Three teams as the place to learn to drive and set up a race car.
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