PCM Rookies Figge and Dalziel log test miles on both coasts
“Alex and Ryan completed nearly 800 miles and our transport department logged nearly 6,000 miles, it’s been a busy week for PCM," said team manger, Michael Harvey. “We’ve concluded our testing for the first half of the season and looking back, we’ve made a lot of progress, and we are really looking forward to getting back to racing. Mt. Tremblant is a fantastic circuit; it was an important test for us as we focused primarily on our race set-ups for our return there next month. We used the Thunder Hill test to continue our developments working with the differential and traction in addition to damper combinations. I think we’ve made great strides in our chassis work, and we’ve definitely made a lot of improvements with the differential."
Alex Figge (#29 PCM/DP01/Cosworth/Bridgestone) completed 263 miles at Mt. Tremblant, it was his first time running on the historic 2.63 mile road course, “wow, Mt. Tremblant is an incredible racing circuit. It is fast and definitely requires high-commitment from the drivers, everything is fast and there are terrific elevation changes. The race there will be incredible. Thunder Hill was good for us because our engineers were able to take what they’ve learned from the first three races and our tests and play a bit with all of the combinations. We would run four or so laps and come in and make changes and then go out and try something new. We did that for around eight hours so Burke and Tim (Harrison and Lewis race engineers) are excited!" commented Figge.
Dalziel’s test started off at a slower pace than he anticipated, the #28 crew spent most of the first day at Tremblant diagnosing an issue with the fuel cell that prevented the Scottish rookie from logging much track time. He rebounded with a vengeance on Thursday, running more than 200 miles, “I am really glad we went to Mt. Tremblant, the circuit is mega and it was great to learn it and tune for it during a test where we had a little more time. I can’t wait to get back there for the race, the town is the ideal vacation spot and I think the fans are going to have a blast there, I know the drivers will, it is an incredibly fast road course." Dalziel completed another 130 miles yesterday at the ¾ road course just north of Sacramento, “we were able to accomplish quite a bit at Thunder Hill. I think we’ve made very good use of the last five weeks but I am ready to get back to racing, I cannot wait for Portland next week!"
PCM made its Champ Car debut when the 2007 Champ Car season kicked off at the Vegas Grand Prix. The team scored three top-ten finishes in its first three starts. With limited testing prior to the season, the last five weeks have been essential in the team’s development, “As a new team, kicking off the season with three races in a row was challenging. While the fans have likely been antsy the last five weeks, the gap in racing has made a big difference for us. We’ve completed three very important tests (Portland, Mt. Tremblant and Thunder Hill) and we’ve made improvements as an organization. We had a list after Houston of things we needed to improve, from equipment to routines and we’ve also spent a lot of time practicing pitstops on and off the track. I think our dance is going to be a bit smoother now," commented Harvey.
The Pacific Coast Motorsports returns to their Oxnard headquarters today for a quick turn-around as they prepare to return to competition next week in Portland. The Portland Grand Prix presented by Joe’s kicks off Friday, June 6th. The race will air live on ABC at 4:00 pm et. PCM is hoping for a home-team advantage at Portland as they are the only team based West of the Rockies.