Smoke Testing@Thruxton 29th-30th June 2019

With the first Test Sessions and Thrilling Racing from Rounds 1 to 4 of the 2019 season complete we have started to establish some background data on a few of the Division 2 trucks. With some promising results.
During Friday testing we worked with 16 Brad Smith and 6 John Powell where we were going to run Standard Diesel, Standard Diesel with Lucas Oils Diesel Deep Clean alongside their Diesel Fuel Treatment and Top End Lubricant. Finally the trucks changed over to Certas Energy GTL alternative fuel whilst still running the Lucas Additives.
Frustratingly things didn’t quite go to plan during Friday with trucks out of position in the Pit Lane and one session cut very short due to a vehicle being recovered after an off track excursion. Which limited the number of tests we completed and we have had to rely on some Pre-Season Data we collected. The tests were carried out using the, DVSA approved, Premier Diagnostics DS2-2M Smoke Meter. With the results recorded as K(1/m) which is the recognised metric when smoke testing road vehicles for MOT purposes. We have indicated the Pre 2008 Turbo Charged Diesel Smoke Limit that Road Vehicles are subject to. However this is strictly for reference / comparison and we must stress we are not applying a Pass / Fail limit.

Driver: Brad Smith Vehicle: DAF / Cummins M11 Race Number: 16
Fuel Type: Session: Result average over 3 Tests Pre 2008 Turbo Road Limit
Diesel Test 1 No Data 3.0 K(1/m)
Diesel + Lucas Test 2 No Data 3.0 K(1/m)
Certas + Lucas Test 3 2.28 K(1/m) 3.0 K(1/m)

Driver: John Powell Vehicle: DAF / Cummins M11 Race Number: 6
Fuel Type: Session: Result average over 3 Tests Pre 2008 Turbo Road Limit
Diesel Pre-Season 3.43 K(1/m) 3.0 K(1/m)
Diesel + Lucas* Pre-Season 3.29 K(1/m) 3.0 K(1/m)
Certas + Lucas Test 3 1.87 K(1/m) 3.0 K(1/m)
*Please be aware we had limited run time from when the Lucas Products were added to testing. Given more time for the products to function correctly we were confident to have seem a further decrease in opacity.
During Sunday we turned our attentions to 28 Jim Bennett, in his Cummins M14 powered Seddon. With Jims lorry showing significant reductions in opacity over the 3 tests carried out. It will be interesting to see with further run time with the Certas GTL fuel and Lucas Treatments how the numbers settle out.
Driver: Jim Bennett Vehicle: Seddon / Cummins M14 Race Number: 6
Fuel Type: Session: Result average over 3 Tests Pre 2008 Turbo Road Limit
Diesel Qualifying 4.85 K(1/m) 3.0 K(1/m)
Certas + Lucas Race 1 4.63 K(1/m) 3.0 K(1/m)
Certas + Lucas Race 2 3.55 K(1/m) 3.0 K(1/m)

In summary, the initial conclusions are positive, and it will be interesting to evaluate our progress as we collect more data over the coming rounds. Keep your eyes out for our next bulletin. Which we will publish following the test sessions on 10th May 2019 and rounds 5 to 8 at Pembrey on 11th and 12th May 2019.

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