A solution has been found to the brake issue which caused a failure for Jason Bargwanna’s Peugeot and a sizeable crash at the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series’ last round.
The left-front rotor on Bargwanna’s 308 exploded on the final lap of Round 1 at Symmons Plains, sending him spearing into the Renault of Garry Rogers Motorsport team-mate James Moffat at the end of the back straight.
The team liaised with Peugeot Sport after the drama and, as GRM director Barry Rogers suggested at the time, it has been determined that an alternative specification of brake pad should be used.
That solution will only be needed, however, at Symmons Plains and also the scene of Round 3 of the TCR season, Mount Panorama, given the punishment which brakes cop at those circuits.
“There’s a couple of options on pad compounds and we sent some samples off to Peugeot Sport overseas just to see exactly what happened,” Rogers told Speedcafe.com.
“The compound used wouldn’t be used there again and won’t be used at Bathurst either. We need to go just a harder compound.
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“The soft pad just caused too much heat; basically, they ran too hot.”
After an exhibition round at Baskerville Raceway at the end of January, the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series proper resumes this weekend at Phillip Island on the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships bill.
The harder brake pads will not be needed at the flowing, Victorian circuit, however.
“At Phillip Island, it’s right with the real soft compound that we’ve got, but not Symmons and certainly not Bathurst,” explained Rogers.
The Phillip Island round was to have been held on February 19-21 before it was postponed due to a snap lockdown in Victoria.
However, such was GRM’s workload after the bruising trip to Tasmania, Moffat remains in a spare Megane, which has been upgraded to current homologation specification.
The Renault which was crashed into is likely to return to service after the next round at the Bathurst 6 Hour, on April 2-4.
Moffat was sixth on combined practice times after the opening day of action at Phillip Island, the best of two Megane drivers, and Bargwanna 12th.
Chaz Mostert set the pace in an Audi, with qualifying to kick off this morning at 09:55 local time/AEDT.
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