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Pacer, Falcon Adelaide TCM absences explained
A NOTABLE omission from this weekend’s Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters finale’ is the Valiant Pacer driven by Cameron Tilley and John Adams’ GTHO Falcon.
Both suffered last-minute setbacks just prior to this weekend’s VALO Adelaide 500 forcing them to the sidelines.
Sydneysider Tilley, a veteran of 228 TCM races, was a late withdrawal from the Adelaide round with a series of issues forcing one of the series’ most popular cars to the side-lines this weekend.
Still recovering from their mid-season rebuild following the Townsville shunt, Tilley endured another challenging weekend at Bathurst last time out.
That, compounding with some previously undiagnosed engine issues forced their hand and caused them to miss the round this weekend – a rare occurrence for the popular Hemi.
“As most of you would know Bathurst did not really go well and especially didn’t end well,” Tilley explained on his team Facebook page.
“We returned home with no windshield, the back window blown out, right front guard, bumper and apron destroyed, the roof damaged, right front suspension damaged and then whilst giving the engine a once over discovered it had bad leak down on more than 1 cylinder, the problem being that all the pistons were cracked due to detonation.
“The engine had done more than 1000 racing km prior to Bathurst with no sign of any issues and now things are a mess.
“We did park the old v8 engine in the car that had been parked under the bench for the last few years and pushed forward with everything that needed fixing, but then Monday morning the day before we needed to leave for Adelaide I made the call, enough was enough and that the task ahead was just to much.
“Making that decision to pull the pin is still messing with my head.. It’s been a while since Team Pacer has missed a round.”
Another late withdrawal was the Bullet Trailers Falcon GTHO driven by John Adams.
A relative newcomer to the class, Adams took over the ‘Super Falcon’ inspired GTHO that was raced previously by Steven Johnson and Tony Karanfilovski.
Adams’ was all set for Adelaide before discovering a valve issue in the engine of the big Ford just prior to the event, forcing them out.
The team will build a new engine for next year.
Adams, who owns Semi Trailer manufacturer Bullet Trailers and is a mechanical engineer by trade, also has plans to put the big Falcon on a diet over Christmas with the car currently weighing in 100kg overweight.
The Victorian works with well-known vehicle preparer Scott Owen to run the Falcon and will return to the category – one he was introduced to by John Bowe – next year.
