The last regular weekend of rolls of the year was starting to feel a little bit like truck weekend already as teams set up by the start line and put down their fastest times. Saturday was rained out by about 90 minutes of rain that just happened to come down between 5 and 7am. Sunday’s weather was decent though, with temperatures in the mid 30’s but calm winds and clear sun that made it seem warmer.
In Attendance (buggies newest to oldest, [rolls needed to qualify], my guess for A team)
| Org | Sunday | not out |
|---|---|---|
| AEPi | Kamikaze, Zephyrus | |
| CIA | Ascension, Freyja, Renaissance, Firebird | |
| Fringe | Bonsai, Borealis, Blizzard, Brazen [8] | Bedlam |
| KapSig | Apache | |
| PiKA | RD2011, Chimera, Knightfall [1+PT], Zeus | Nemesis |
| Pioneers | Chaos | |
| SAE | Rubicon [PT] | |
| SDC | Bane, Avarice, Malice, Psychosis, Rage | |
| SigEp | Peregrine, Pandora | Mamba [5], Barracuda |
| SigNu | Krait [7+PT] | |
| Spirit | Mapambazuko, Seraph, Fuko, Haraka |
Observations (Sunday gallery)
A number of orgs (SDC and PiKA for sure in addition to SigEp and Spirit who are always down there, maybe another) set up their tents around the bottom of hill 1 on Sunday which I thought was pretty cool. Apparently SDC did the same thing last year, but in general this is a new trend. Sweepstakes initially tried to discourage it because it means blocking things up that aren’t normally blocked during rolls, but the teams insisted and were allowed. There’s normally only a buzz down there on truck and raceday, so it added some “raceday is on the horizon” energy to the air.
KapSig got the body of Apache painted although they forgot the hatch. They did indeed get all that bondo from last week sanded smooth and it looks pretty good. CIA was still in the paint booth with Ascension which got some sort of a very nice and shiny clear coat. I’ll say it again, I think this buggy is CIA’s best looking since Streetcar.
Spirit brought out a new bright orange compound in a thick flat profile on Xootr rims. The wheel situation is more complicated than ever, and it is almost completely impossible to talk about “Org X’s wheels” because almost all teams are rolling on more than one variety. Fringe and PiKA especially will go by on a single roll and show off 3 or 4 totally different types. CIA and AEPi have multiple compound colors, SigEp has a couple of different profiles, and of course Spirit is always coming out with something new from the wheel lab. It seems among the orgs with resources to experiment, only SDC is visibly consistent. They’re rolling all of their buggies on the same white tires they’ve had since the spring of 2009 and that PiKA and Fringe have since used on some, but not all of their buggies. Of course, plenty can change in a wheel without me being able to see it.
Spirit’s Zuke spun on its last roll of the day after showing some hints of instability earlier. She made some pretty light contact with the inside bales after spinning 180. Some analysis in the chute thought that she needed to release a bit more after the apex and swing it out wider, but these are fine lines we alumni draw from our comfy spots behind the haybales. Spirit drivers have a tough job, but they’re doing better and better at at. Video of the spin at the bottom of the post.
PiKA’s Nemesis was not rolling after its strange-looking crash last week. It is already qualified, so they might be fixing it in time for a truck weekend return, but rumors on the course were that it is done for the year. That would be a significant loss considering Nemesis rolled Men’s A last year. Nemesis’ driver, Diane, is now driving Knightfall and needs to get her pass test done next weekend.
Someone noted in the comments that there were no news items about SigEp last week and I have to agree with the replying commenter who noted, “no news is good news.” I am often at a lack of things to say about SigEp but they are out there rolling consistently and reliably every week. I was surprised not to see their new buggy Mamba or their two-time A team Barracuda rolling this weekend.
Pioneers was driving a follow car with the license place “SPIN”. I can’t see how that’s good for anyone’s mojo.
The times were exciting again this weekend with 7 of the 9 orgs posting new fastest times of the semester. KapSig and SigEp were the teams resting on their laurels. Fringe’s new Bonsai owned the pole position again with SDC’s Malice close behind. Pika pulled out all the stops on their RD2011 for the first time and it was successful enough that their reps in the chute were visibly excited and I’m picking it as the favorite for their A team especially with Nemesis missing. Chimera was in the neighborhood, but not knocking on the same doors.
Unfortunately, the gap is widening a bit after the top 3. CIA threw down their best of the semester with Renaissance on their first roll, beating their previous best by over 10 seconds. That’s interesting because their new buggy Ascension had been their leading candidate on previous weekends and was also much faster this weekend, but distinctly behind Ren’s one impressive data point. [EDIT: ok, CIA says this probably isn’t true, and it is quite an outlier, so take Ren’s time with a grain of salt. Ascension was also a big chunk faster than ever before (~6 sec) though, so positive changes either way. EDIT 2: Renaissance’s time is confirmed to be a typo] Spirit also shaved some important seconds off their previous best with both Seraph and Fuko topping their sheet. Those were the two buggies testing their new orange compound, so maybe they’ve got a winner there.- SigNu and SAE were conspicuously absent from the roll order considering they are not qualified and could use the practice. SigNu’s head mechanic notified me that their driver woke up with a fever on Sunday which makes sense since I thought I saw their tent in place. That’s some real bad luck considering she needs 7 rolls and a pass test, but I’m guessing they’ll make it happen over truck so long as we get two days of rolls. SAE only needs a pass test on Rubicon, so maybe they can team up with SN to get that done while everyone else is running their dress rehearsals next weekend.
Spirit’s Zuke spinning in the chute:
Who’s ready for some truck weekend?!
Ben says:
Knowing the times that usually come from her, I find the ones from Renaissance suspect… best guess is that she got swapped with another.
rlbrowne says:
Faster by 10 seconds? Maybe it got swapped with a Fringe time or something…definitely not Renaissance.
Someone says:
It wasn’t swapped with a fringe time but something was definitely wrong with it.
j4cbo says:
That’s been Pioneers’ follow car for the past year and a half. :P
rlbrowne says:
No guess for Spirit’s A team buggy?
Also, I’m glad that rocket we installed in Renaissance’s tail is working. :P
Sam Swift says:
Oh, you’re right, I couldn’t decide on Spirit. Ok, I’ll go on the record and predict Fuko. It’s had many of their fastest times this spring and was Men’s A in ’09 and ’10. Their buggies are less different in times than most teams so it’s hard to say.
Alex says:
I do love Renaissance, but I really don’t think she is going to be putting down 10-second improvements over our other times.
Then again there was that first roll in which I heard over the radio that Renaissance has passed Firebird…. *heart attack*
Much love, Renaissance. Just keeping it real.
Anonymous says:
SDC, Fringe and PiKA are within tenths of each other yesterday. This race might come down to the push teams….
Fringe has shown some great downhill speed this year….
tdf says:
thanks for putting this info together. it is appreciated.
Josh Ayers says:
Mechanics may not like to admit it, but it always comes down to the push teams.
anonymous says:
pretty sure they’re more than tenths apart..
Anonymous says:
Also confirming that all three were within tenths
Anonymous says:
we’re talking a few tenths here
Alex Keene says:
I can add that SDC has been doing the bottom-of-hill-1 pre-truck weekend thing since at least 08 and I believe even 07 (my last two years). Not sure if they did it 09, but it’s definitely not an only-the-last-two-years thing for SDC.
lemuroid says:
“Unfortunately, the gap is widening a bit after the top 3. ”
I am expecting a crazy truck weekend as some orgs abruptly turn up the wick in an effort to narrow that gap.
It is interesting that the gap to the top 3 is as wide as it is given that anyone with $600 and an internet connection can buy 3 goodly wheels.
Anonymous says:
Perhaps some orgs prefer to do things themselves, instead of just buying them, lemuroid. Perhaps some also don’t have $600 to spend on wheels for only one buggy.
lemuroid says:
Are these the same orgs that are smelting their own aluminum, weaving their own carbon fiber cloth, machining their own bearings, and carving their running shoes from blocks of wood?
As make/buy decisions go. this one seems straightforward and $600 is in the range of “what things cost” in the land of buggy. cheaper than a new buggy, more than 6 ceramic bearings.
Shafeeq says:
Also interesting that there were big gaps in the days when most everybody had the same pneumatic wheels too.
Perhaps some people did spend $600 and then didn’t know what to do with them? Or are afraid to wear them out too early? You’re probably on the ball about truck weekend being crazy.
I guess only SigEp might be in a position where they might be able to easily turn cash into a better placement. Spirit seems to have gone with the shotgun approach. Presumably they’ll pick the best of what they have or can buy.
The rest of the teams may be handicapped by their athletics as much as by their wheels, and thus there’s no point blowing money that won’t move you up the standings?
For a top-10 push team, that does seem a pretty good use of $600.
lemuroid says:
good point on the pneumatics. I agree that there was a wide range of results from the same basic ingredients. I suspect there was more to the care and feeding of those than there are with modern PU wheels.
back then, it was clear that there was some potential in pneumatic wheels so everyone who lacked speed gave them a shot.
today, It is not that hard to spot the ZE wheels as they have a distinctive shape and the colors are often not hidden. Despite them being race-winning-fast, there are not as many teams running them as adopted the pneumatics back in the day (at relatively similar prices, possibly lower given the lack of durability of pneumatic tires)
there could be a thought of ” if I only match them, i will not beat them” that inspires the do it your self approach, but at some point, a 2nd voice can add ” if you do not match them, you will surely not do as well as you could”.
it will be a crazy truck weekend and an interesting race.
Anonymous says:
Previous comment was merely speculation, not meant to be confrontational to anyone/anything. I mean, there is obviously much experimentation being done with wheels of certain orgs, like Spirit, and maybe $600 is a lot for some orgs? But now that you mention it, smelting your own aluminum would be kind of amazing…
Carl says:
I’d have to check, but I’d think $600 is something like 1/3 of Spirit’s budget.
Smelting and casting your own aluminum wheels would be fairly simple though. You can build an aluminum foundry that runs off of charcoal and sand cast the wheels (with finishing on a lathe to final dimensions). Definitely a better idea than machined exploding rims.
What would be really amazing would be smelting and casting your own magnesium rims. I’d imagine it could be pretty exciting too.
Mike says:
Carl….this is why we have safety rules. If they weren’t there you’d have blown up or burned about a third of the campus.