Teams must have read the comment thread from last week’s news post in which alumni were wondering why there are so many incidents these days, because this weekend was very smooth and uneventful. It may have also just been regression to the mean. Each weekend the weather is beautiful I think, “This might be the last one of the year …” and then it is beautiful again the next weekend. No complaints. It is staying dark for longer and longer but the drivers are brave and have started rolling before the streetlights are off as dawn is just starting to break.
In Attendance (buggies listed newest to oldest)
| Org | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| AEPi | Kamikaze, Zephyrus | Kamikaze |
| CIA | Freyja, Renaissance, Firebird, Quasar | Freyja, Renaissance, Firebird, Quasar |
| Fringe | Bedlam, Blizzard | Borealis, Bedlam, Blizzard |
| PiKA | Nemesis, Chimera, Desperado | Nemesis, Chimera, Desperado |
| Pioneers | Chaos | |
| SDC | Avarice, Malice, Psychosis, Rage | Avarice, Malice, Psychosis |
| SigEp | Peregrine, Barracuda | Peregrine |
| Spirit | Seraph, Fuko, Haraka | Seraph, Fuko, Haraka |
Observations (Saturday gallery | Sunday gallery)
- Rennaisance had an exciting roll on Saturday when it clipped the bale that covers the sewer grate before the chute flag. Her outrigged left wheel caught a piece of the bale and the buggy jerked suddenly towards the curb at decent speed. Somehow the driver reacted without over adjusting and then got things together for a smooth chute and finished her roll.
Pika brought out Desperado for a full-duty tour this weekend getting 7 rolls. This is the same buggy that came out last year for a single roll on a single day that we guessed incorrectly was Cyclone. In fact, Desperado is 2 years older, but had a much more prolific career with 8 racedays. My first assumption was that they brought it out for driver training since Brimstone might be out after last week’s crash, but the driver is a sophomore who was previously in Nemesis. Who knows what those crazy Pikes are up to. Also, Desperado has the lowest ride height I think I’ve ever seen on a buggy. I didn’t notice any rear diffusers, but that thing must generate some downforce.
I was really going to lay off on Spirit this week, but I can’t ignore Haraka’s exciting weekend completely. On Saturday, she spun 90+ degrees towards the inside bales but still managed to save it and continue rolling somehow. She slowed down enough that the closely following Fuko came cruising past. I actually heard Fuko’s driver exclaim something in surprise when she came around the corner and saw Haraka idling along, but she went safely around. On Sunday a different driver was at the wheel and couldn’t quite pull off the dramatic save. Instead she completed the spin and came to a stop without impact. So … how easy is it to move a Spirit axle back a bit and change that weight distribution? For those of you that were having trouble sorting out which buggy was which with Spirit’s new paint jobs this fall (like me), Fuko is yellow, Haraka is red, Seraph is green.
Fringe was only rolling Bedlam and Blizzard on Saturday which made me think that Borealis was still in the repair shop after last week’s run-in with the bales, but it made it out for Sunday and got 2 clean rolls in.
SDC had a couple of buggies going quickly on Saturday, and had a couple of slides early in the day. Nothing where the driver was losing control, but close to the edge.
AEPi was rolling on a bright, not so subtle, in your face, vibrant red compound that I don’t think we’ve seen before.
CIA was having some fun in the wardrobe department with their hill 2 dressed in a driver-esque outfit. I hope it went over well with the ladies because the driver costume is always a hit at buggy Halloween parties, but that is NEXT weekend.
I feel bad that I rarely have things to say about SigEp. It’s probably not a bad thing though, they are out there rolling well, they just don’t seem to screw up very often.
There was a coach bus parked about 50 feet short of the chute on the gazebo side. It was determined not to be a major problem and a couple of bales were put around it for good measure. It’s a problem that we’ve had before and one that is tough to solve, but it makes me a bit uncomfortable since I’ve seen buggies crash there.- I’m starting to worry a bit about SAE’s status as they weren’t out again this weekend. They still only have 4 rolls although they now have 3 drivers listed in the sweepstakes spreadsheet. Maybe they just heard from Beta and SN that the fall is pretty much optional.
- [Times from Saturday only] Fringe had the top of the timing sheet all to themselves again this week with Bedlam leading the way. SDC and SigEp were next in line but not with their top stuff by any means. PiKA mostly took the weekend off from speed to focus on developing the new legends division in buggy. AEPi had all of their fastest rolls of the year so far with Kamikaze, maybe that new compound is where it’s at.
Anonymous says:
Im fairly certain Borealis was out both days, but only for one roll each day. Just fyi.
Anonymous says:
Borealis was dropped on Saturday but did not roll. She rolled at least once on Sunday
Anonymous says:
Couple notes/questions:
-What is PiKA doing? Are teams moving to trike steering again? We saw this from PiKA last year (atleast the rolls report says so). Is SDC getting to their heads?
-Fringe is consistently putting up the fastest times.
-And what is up with SDC’s line? They almost lost control last year on Day 1 and it seems like they are keeping it up this year.
Anyone want to answer these questions.
Sam Swift says:
Lots of action from the Anonymous crowd this week. I’ll take a shot at those questions …
– I don’t know what PiKA is doing. I doubt a 20 year old buggy is a good test bed for performance testing standard trike designs, but it could be decent for prototyping. I’d still bet against any new standard trikes coming out this spring
– Fringe is putting up most of the fast times, but that’s not that unusual for this time of year. We’ve seen plenty of years where either SDC or PiKA looked slow all the way to truck weekend and then pulled out plenty of speed. There’s a long and riveting thread somewhere in the forum if you want all the opinions on whether that is good or bad for various folks.
– SDCs line doesn’t seem too much different than before and that’s probably their intention because they’ve generally had the fastest chute times on the course. A well apexed turn takes the line from the outside to the inside to the outside with little room to spare all around. Again, the optimization / margin of error / cracks in the road / crown of the road debates have been had, but I’m all for having them again.
Anonymous says:
Obviously Fringe is rolling faster because they have a lot of former non-GDIs are making their buggies faster.
lemuroid says:
I would not be shocked to see a few more standard trikes in the next few years. Humans have an ancient tradition: copy what works. The standard trike was fast but a bit unstable during it’s period of most common use (80s to mid 90s). Some believe a standard trike has the potential to be faster than a reverse trike but also carries more risk in the chute. SDC’s chute issues a few years ago and spirit’s current issues point to the risk, SDC’s fast rolls and great rollout in 09 and 2010, point to the reward. The clock don’t lie.
lemuroid says:
what is pka doing? gettng ready to make a comeback I would suspect.