A View from the Engineer
'Hi everyone,
'Tomo here! I'm reporting to you about WRC Team MINI Portugal's first day of competition here at Rally de Espaa. It was a tough day due to the unpredictable weather conditions. Unfortunately both Chris and Paulo - like many others - succumbed to the difficult conditions and retired on the afternoon loop.
'This morning the top crews were split on tyre choice for the first three-stage loop. Bruno, Chris, myself and our Michelin tyre engineer together chose to fit hard tyres on the MINI. Chris struggled a bit with this compound in the wet conditions which made him loose a bit more time that we expected. Noone found it an easy morning though and overall we were happy when he came into midday service in eighth position overall.
'Chris did hit a rock one kilometre into SS2, damaging the front left compression strut on his MINI. The compression strut is a suspension component which controls the position of the wheel. Because it was bent Chris had to be very careful not to inflict further damage and to make sure he could reach service safely.
'Nobody would have expected such difficult conditions and the subsequent retirements here in Spain. It reminds everyone a bit of Rally de Portugal earlier this year, making today's gravel stages pure endurance for all the drivers and cars.
'Paulo had a good and trouble free morning but unfortunately he went off the road on SS4 - the first stage of the afternoon loop - which put an end to his day on the Spanish gravel earlier than planned. Luckily Porquinho Verde only has a damaged suspension which can be easily fixed.
'When we serviced Chris' MINI at lunchtime - besides changing all the damaged suspension parts - we made a couple of changes to make him more comfortable in the persistent wet conditions. As the rain continued to fall we chose soft tyres for the afternoon loop - like everyone! Chris was starting to feel more confident, his splits were improving compared to this morning and he was taking back some of the time he had lost.
'I caught up with Chris at remote refuel after SS4 and he said the feeling was better after the changes we made in service. His splits on SS5 (the second run of the 44km stage) were looking positive. He was quickly catching the driver in seventh, but unfortunately he made a small mistake 35km into the stage. He damaged the front right suspension on his MINI forcing him to retire for the day.
'Of course it was disappointing for everyone but Chris will be back tomorrow under Rally 2 regulations aiming to do a good job on the asphalt and prove how competitive we can be.
'Tomorrow the rally's move to asphalt means that tonight the mechanics have a big job to do transforming the MINI from a gravel set-up to a Tarmac one. That involves changing the complete power train assembly (the gearbox and rear differential) to tune them to run on asphalt. The shock absorbers have to be changed too, because you need stiffer ones for the higher grip level. The springs and anti-roll bars are also different as well as the brakes - which are a lot bigger for the increased forces involved.
'The mechanics will have to trim the weight of the car as well and check the alignment carefully. When you change the suspension, the rear differential and transmission it means the wheels are in slightly different positions which have to be examined.
'Applying such changes to a standard car in a dealership would take around two days but on a rally the mechanics normally have to do it in one hour and fifteen minutes. We'll have a bit more time due to Rally 2, but still we'll see our guys doing an impressive job. It's not an understatement to say that the technicians know every nut, bolt and washer in the car!
'The Tarmac stages here at Rally de Espaa are truly fantastic, very twisty and busy for both drivers and co-drivers. Glenn won't have a moment to spare and he will be firing the pace notes out very, very quickly.
'Well I think that's all from my side. Tomorrow is another long and busy day and everyone in the team will work very hard to make sure it's a good one for us.
'Speak soon, Tomo'
