IMPERIAL Toyota Team Namib Test - DAY TWO

Lauberville, on the banks of the dry Kuiseb river south of Walvis Bay in Namibia, continued to host the Imperial Toyota Off Road Racing team today during their preparations for the 2012 Dakar event.

With the suspension calibration established, today saw a concerted effort at obtaining the best possible setup for the variety of conditions expected on the 2012 Dakar. Eight rebuilds later, the Imperial Toyota crew, had rebuilt 64 individual shock absorbers while the experts pored over the results obtained in each iteration. The end result was a substantially improved suspension setup and a definite framework for fine tuning during tomorrow, the third day of testing.

The new cooling system implemented on the V8 Hilux racing bakkies proved its efficiency with both vehicles' engines running cool under strenuous conditions in the Namib heat.

Apart from the suspension work, the team also made small improvements to the transmission system, while Duncan Vos and Robert Howie set off into the dunes to find ten predetermined way points, a la Dakar, a task they completed successfully.

Tomorrow the team will continue with the fine tuning of the suspension while Duncan and Robert will complete an endurance test in the dunes.

The team, under the guidance of Glyn Hall, team manager, are not only on schedule with the testing they wished to perform, but have also made real progress which is reflected in improved drive-ability and performance.

5th November 2011