NAIROBI, Kenya, May 10-CRS Motorsports, the only team currently running Toyota’s are racing against time as they fine tuned the Electronic Computer Unit (ECU) of their two Toyota Celica GT4s.
The outgoing 2WD Champion Jasmeet Chana and his elder brother Jaswinder Chana hope to secure the much needed reliability after completing a successful computer mapping shakedown at the Rifle Range near Athi River on Saturday.
The siblings are heading to this weekend’s Kisumu’s KCB Visa Card Rally bubbling with confidence. Jaswinder, who is twice a course record holder at the Uhuru Park spectator stage, has rebuilt the engine of his Celica after he got stuck in the Safari Rally.
“We tested last week but had a problem with the software on the engine management system. We’ve just received a new mapping file from Racetec in Britain. On the ground the computer was working well, but then we thought it was prudent to have some shakedown to fine-tune it perfectly,” said Jaswinder.
Jasmeet, on the other hand, says he needs two or three more rallies to master 4 wheels and ultimately start attacking.
“In the meantime, we are still on a learning phase and don’t want to bigger that our boot size,” added Jasmeet.
After winning the 2WD title in 2007 and 2010, Jasmeet is on his second rally on the 4WD Toyota Celica GT4 and hopes to increase his expectations and do good positions.
“Unlike the 2WD, the distances have changed a lot. In the 2WD it’s was easy to judge the calls but in the Celica the pace notes tend to come faster and sometimes you find yourself lacking some judgment,” said Jasmeet.
“We have tested the new computer’s ECU. Its much better than the old one we ran previously. There is not much difference in power output but the tuning has become 100%,” Jasmeet continued.
Jasmeet is happy that with the computer mapping of the new system “you really don’t have to adjust whether on sea level or high altitude.
“With the computer already mapped, you don’t touch the ECU as it comes with an altitude compensation element,” explained Jasmeet.
