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McLeod ready to race after new car bugs ironed out of VC Commodore
Gerard McLeod is confident that he has ironed out the new car bugs in his Holden VC Commodore and is ready to challenge the leaders in the Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters.
McLeod built the first-generation Commodore for the 2020 TCM season aimed at rivalling the XD Falcon of Steve Johnson and the other horde of muscle cars from the past.
The car’s debut at Adelaide in February was thwarted with some unreliability, which McLeod says was due to the late arrival of some components from the United States.
With the COVID-19 pandemic slowing the world down, it has allowed McLeod and his team to thoroughly prepare the car, including a test day at Sandown (pre-second wave lockdown) and the complete livery, including major support from Motorsport Parts Australia.
McLeod was pleased with the test, saying that he completed close to 50 untroubled laps of the Sandown circuit.
“The car was really rushed getting to Adelaide, which was really no ones fault – it was just a struggle to get some parts from The States,” he said.
“It was literally finished the day before we arrived in Adelaide, so it turned its first wheel in practice which wasn’t ideal. Unfortunately had a few little issues like fuel supply and an annoying oil leak from the rocker covers which stopped us from showing the cars full potential. All of these have now been fixed.
“We did 45 laps at Sandown, and we were very pleased. Our times were competitive and we didn’t have any mechanicals dramas or problems. We are good to go”.
“Looking at the lap times, it’s right where it needs to be and we’re confident that we can be at the pointy end of the TCM field.”
McLeod says that he is champing at the bit to return the VC Commodore to the track to compete in the popular TCM class.
“We are simply just waiting for a date to go racing, and we can’t wait for that,” he said.
“The beauty is that once we get a date, we know that we can push the car into the transporter, roll it out on track and it’s ready to go.
“The pandemic has been frustrating, but it will be worth it when we’re all back racing.”
See below for vision from inside McLeod’s VC Commodore at its Sandown test.