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The team of Michael Guest and Darren Windus completed a full day's testing of the Super 2000 Ford Fiestas in the Tidbinbilla region of the ACT.
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The test was a major shakedown of a range of new components including sway bars, hand brakes and Narva lighting systems.
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The test went to plan with both drivers pleased with outcome.
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"An excellent way to start our week in Canberra,' said Michael Guest.
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"Not only did we fully evaluate all the changes on the cars, but we also improved the set-up throughout the day.
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"After the recent round in Western Australia we were confident of the reliability. Now the inclusion of the hand brake and sway bars has really strengthened the package.
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Both drivers evaluated different sway bar set-ups, before settling on a package for the weekend.
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"The advantage of having two cars is that you can try different things at the same time,' said Windus.
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"That gave us the opportunity to settle on the basic set-up, and then we were able to further refine that throughout the day.
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"After the first two events I now feel a lot more confident in knowing what is required to improve the car. After today's successful test I'm really looking forward to the weekend."
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The Rally of Canberra will provide plenty of challenges this weekend, one of them being a full forest stage in the night time.
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"It's been well over ten years since the last full-on night time stage," said Guest.
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"Both Darren and I are looking forward to the challenge.
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"Importantly we have established a very strong partnership with renowned automotive lighting specialists Narva. They have provided us with an excellent lighting system for the Bluetts stage on Friday evening.
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"Night time rallying is about confidence. With the excellent lighting package from Narva I'm sure we can really light-up the time sheets."
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The Pirtek Rally Team will continue preparations tomorrow, then both crews taking part in reconnaissance on Thursday. The Rally of Canberra gets underway Friday evening.
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