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Ford teams have a fresh concern at the Bathurst 1000 – engine belts.
Driving James Courtney’s No.5 Tickford Mustang, Zak Best came to a grinding halt half way down Conrod Straight.
Replays showed the car shut off after his dash lit up with a number of temperature warnings.
Following the session, the problem was revealed to be a shredded engine belt, which was responsible for running the water pump among other things.
The car very quickly overheated and shut down. He managed to limp back to the pits.
Tickford team principal Tim Edwards blamed debris coming off the track, and said the same issue ailed another one of the team’s cars last time out in Sandown,
“The front belt off the engine just shredded itself – we think the cause is picking up debris,” he said on the broadcast.
“You get a ball of rubber or something goes in there and obviously the whole front of the engine’s exposed and it just gets caught between the pulley and then snaps the belt.”
Among the changes for Gen3 to reduce downforce, the splitter that used to sit beneath the front bar has been removed, which leaves the engine exposed to rogue debris.
“We’ll learn from it, we’re already talking about, ‘Okay, if it happens in the race on Sunday, you’ve just got to roll down the hill,’ because you lose the water pump as well, so everything was getting hot.”
Edwards said the first warning the driver gets there might be an issue is the loss of power steering.
“The next thing is everything going all red on the screen there with all the temperatures going through the roof.
“It’s a concern, though.”
Supercars are back on the track for practice four next.
