I will start by saying that I am certain that there is no connection between the alternator and drive pulley installation, and the failure of the drive train, that put us out of the race. As I have made a 4130 front motor mount, and modified the stock rear motor mount, I exclude those items as suspects as well. I believe the failure in the drivetrain at RM 115 of this years SF 250 was a direct result of an
un-authorized adjustment that was made to the secondary clutch just prior to the race. We had over 200 successful test miles on the clutch after Adam installed it, and all on the same belt. Then, just days before the race, there was a tension adjustment made to the secondary clutch that Adam was not consulted with, advised us on, or even told about.
We then proceeded to go through 3 belts in the first 100 miles of the race. Keep in mind that the clutch we ran was highly proprietary. A one-off STM secondary built to Adams specs, and a very green Team primary
without a long track record. I have faith that the two units would have worked well as a
system, had we had the time to develop and refine it, through Adams direction of course.
Due to excessive ujoint operating angles and a soft carrier bearing, our first thought after the failure was that the drive shaft slipped off of the rear diff, and went through the cvt cover, causing a catastrophic failure, an explosion if you will, of the clutches. This video I made clearly shows the deflection of the driveline in stock configuration (my alternator, and drive pulley for it were removed):
After further analysis, there was no evidence of any foreign body penetrating the clutch area, but rather the opposite. All fragments we could recover were indicative of an explosion
within the cvt area, as opposed to a violation of the cvt area from an outside source. It appears that the clutch experienced a catastrophic failure, and when it exploded, it blew the CVT cover apart, and impacted the drive shaft, forcing it to deflect and slip off of the rear splines.
Adam's reputation, and demand for his services speak for themselves. In my mind, he is cleared, and bears no connection to the failure. We have 100% confidence in the services he provides. In fact, he will be out here in a few short days to offer us more assistance with our clutching needs.
I will conclude by saying that although the soft carrier bearing was not likely the cause of our DNF, it will eventually bite us, and I
have addressed the issue since San Felipe. Unfortunatey, I can not give details on my corrective actions regarding the drive shaft (s), but rest assured, it has been addressed.