No Problem a Problem for GRM

A test at Winton yesterday failed to locate the cause of the the misfire and power cuts that cursed Scott McLaughlin’s Fujitsu GRM Holden Commodore VF throughout the ARMOR ALL Gold Coast 600.

The inconclusive test means the team heads to the November 22-24 Sargent Security Phillip Island 360 with the very real possibility the problem could strike again, cruelling star rookie McLaughlin’s second straight V8 Supercars Championship event.

“There is nothing more we can do apart from head to Phillip Island and do our best,” team owner Garry Rogers told v8supercars.com.au post-test.

The Gold Coast electrical gremlins first struck in Saturday’s 300km race after McLaughlin had qualified a brilliant fifth in the #33 Holden he shared with Jack Perkins throughout the PIRTEK Enduro Cup.

Despite changing the wiring, chassis wiring connectors and the ECU the car still wasn’t right for Sunday. The engine was changed after qualifying – a task completed by the crack GRM crew in 38 minutes – but the problem persisted into the race.

The #34 team car of Alex Premat and Greg Ritter encountered no similar problems throughout the meeting.

At Winton, running in conditions that alternated between dry, wet and damp, McLaughlin ran a series of hard 20 lap-plus stints in an attempt to make the misfire reoccur.

But frustratingly, the Commodore ran perfectly all day. The test followed on from problem-free dyno sessions for both engines at the team’s Melbourne workshop.

“I would have been much happier if we had found it to be honest,” Rogers said.

“My blokes are a bit like me in being a bit old fashioned. We would have much preferred to have found something because we have changed every single thing.

“But what more can we do? We can’t stay up at Winton for the rest of our lives.” 

It was a busy day for GRM as it was also conducting a ride day with Premat at Calder, while work continues back at the workshop on the two Volvo S60s it will campaign in 2014. 

The chassis are basically now at the point where they are waiting for Polestar Racing in Sweden to complete the development of the 5.0-litre B8444S engines that will power them. The first test remains on schedule for late December.

“They will get their bits right, we will get our bits right, then we will get the whole thing right together,” Rogers said.

Meanwhile, Rogers says he is “very confident” of finding a naming rights sponsor to replace Fujitsu, which announced on Monday it would end its deal with GRM at the end of this season.

“They had some options and we had some options and away we have gone,” Rogers said philosophically.

He made it clear GRM’s intention was to finish its long association with Holden at Phillip Island and the Sydney 500 maintaining the high performance level achieved all year.

“We are not backing off … Clearly we have to make sure this misfire issue is under control but in terms of pure car speed there is no reason we can’t be highly competitive in the last two rounds,” Rogers said.