12-20-2003 - Fran Am 2000 test - Motorsports Ranch - Dallas TX

Colin in the Fran Am 2000 car at Motorsports Ranch on 12-19-2003.

We started with the base set up developed by Sean McIntosh and Justin and Joe Purskowski at Quantum Autosports in 2003.

The car is the one Sean drove.  Colin used the first few sessions to get used to the increased power of the 2000cc engine and the extra downforce the car produces.

At first Colin thought the power was great but by the end of the 2 days he was thinking that it could use more!

You can see the Speed Secrets graphics on the car.  They will be the primary sponsor for 2004.  We expect to have different graphics before the first West Coast series race in March of 2004 at Fontana.

Colin worked hard to get low in the car as this car takes in air over his head.  He said that the view out is quite different from the 1600 car he drove this season.

The car uses the same Michelin tire compound as the 1600, with a slightly wider rear tire.  These are great tires allowing Colin to put 380 miles on one set this weekend.

The track was slippery and the weather windy but Colin ran times in the 1:11 range.  We don't know how that compares but based off the 1600 times we have run at this track we think that is in the ball park for the first 2 days.

With the help of the people shown on the side of the car here, and George Latus, we plan to run all the West Coast Fran Am races next year.

Here Travis gives Colin the ready signal to start the engine after a mono suspension change.

We worked on spring changes, mono changes, tire pressures and aero changes.

The car responds very close to the 1600 car Colin is used to but the magnitude of the changes is different.

It was a great chance for Colin to get a feel for all this.

We hope to test again the first week in January and run through a bunch of chassis set up ideas.

We want to thank all at Speed secrets and Quantum Autosports as well as the guys at DND Fabricating for helping us get to this stage.