Little takes a step up

TRUCK racer Malcolm Little will be flirting with a ferocious red monster in Timaru this weekend, at round two of the national Supertruck series.
The monster is his new motor, a space-age Cummins diesel which has, under test, produced 1700hp at 2600rpm, and a whopping 4000lb of torque. That's more than double the horsepower of the older Cummings engine which made him a regular top four competitor in last year's championship. The old engine produced 1070hp and 2600lb of torque.
"I'll be driving like there's an egg under the throttle pedal, very gingerly," he said today.
On the surface, double the horsepower sounds like a recipe for success, but it's not that simple, says Little.
"I don't know how driveable it's going to be," he said yesterday. "I've got to find out where the power band is. Depending on the tyres, the grip, the surface, I might use only 1300hp," he said. "If you put all that power down at the start you'd turn the thing (5 tonnes of 2002 Freightliner) right around." For 60 per cent of each lap he reckons he will have too much power.
The extra grunt means extra loading on the running gear too. The Boss Racing Team did load testing in the shed and blew their fancy new limited-slip differential to pieces. Similar tests with the old engine never caused any problems. The new diff parts arrived from the States yesterday and the rebuild and strengthening is already under way. The automatic transmission has also been rebuilt to make sure it's up to the job.
Part of the frustration for Little is that he can't do any testing until he gets to Timaru on Friday. Between startup and raceday he's going to be on a huge learning curve.
But he's convinced he's going down the right track. The Detroit engine used by the opposition, including national champion Andrew Porter, of Hamilton, is a pre-war design, while the overhead camshaft Cummins is the latest technology, designed to carry the company through the next 20 years.
"You have to look at the opposition and decide 'do I want to catch them or do I want to beat them'," Little said. "We've hung out waiting for something better ? we've sat it out for three or four years, waiting for this," he said.
Finding the engine was one thing, funding it another.
"This would not have been possible without the support of Allan Griffin, of West Bush Deer Stud," said Little. "Allan signed up as a sponsor for three years, and this is his fourth year."
Little also paid tribute to team manager Kevin Hey. "This is his 12th season with us, and he hasn't lost any momentum. If anything he's gained it with this new project," he said.
"This is our biggest step so far. It connects all the work we've done so far."