For our last full Rolls Report of the year (if you want the full Truck Weekend report next week, make sure that you’re a member so that you get the Raceday Preview), we’re pleased to report that we finally got a full weekend of Rolls in! The threat of weather was looming all weekend, and rain on Saturday afternoon and evening did leave the roads a little damp on Sunday morning. But for the first time this Spring, orgs rolled on both Saturday and Sunday. And not only did they roll both days, but they were incredibly efficient. In fact, the 10 human-driven organizations that came out this weekend combined for 163 total rolls across the weekend. And while there were a couple of issues, for the most part teams put themselves in great position for full speed ahead on Raceday.

Rolls were so busy this weekend that even Flat Stanley was trying to get qualified.

• We’ve Got Raceday Buggies. Take a look at that chart above. Look at how much green there is! That’s right – 7 orgs are fully qualified for Raceday! (And no, you’re not counting wrong…DG isn’t in the above chart because they fully qualified last week, so they took a well deserved rest weekend before the final push). Of the remaining 3, two more buggies are incredibly close, with SigEp having completed all of their necessary pass tests and just needing 3 more rolls in Kraken, while SigNu just needs a pass test for Jaeger. And there are a couple of others that can still get the necessary rolls/passes to qualify on Truck Weekend. I’m sure most teams are relieved to have that weight off their back, so they can take these last 2 weeks to focus on buggy prep, training, and getting everything up to full speed.

Too lazy to scroll up? Here’s the chart – Look at all that green!

• Wildlife Update. We haven’t heard much about the Schenley Park wildlife thus far this Spring, but fear not – our furry friends are still alive and well. Late in the day on Saturday, 2 groups of 3 deer each were seen crossing Hill 2 at the crosswalk. Then on Sunday, they returned. No buggies were affected though, so the presence of the deer was only a minor inconvenience.

Here, we see the native Buggyus Alumnus, in its natural habitat.

• Daytime Rains. With a number of teams still needing rolls and pass tests to qualify, and only 1 more week to do it, Sweepstakes decided to be a bit more aggressive when it came to Rolls scheduling. This proved successful, as original forecasts for rain on Saturday pushed to later in the day and left the course clear. Of course, those Saturday rains eventually came and lasted until the sun went down. Without the sun, the roads took a bit longer to dry. Sweepstakes held up the start of chores to see if the roads would dry enough, but once they decided that buggies could roll, several teams worked together to get the various chores – PiKA put out the bales after Chairmen’s, and Apex, CIA, Fringe, and SDC all sent sweepers down to finish sweeping the Chute. SDC then offered everyone a ride back up to the top of the hill in their follow truck, which I’m sure made everyone else jealous.

The road was dry enough for Rolls on Sunday.

• Down One Org. Unfortunately, after coming out to Rolls last week, we found out this week that AEPi will not be rolling on Raceday. The good news is that there is a lot of enthusiasm to do Buggy in the house, and with the work they’ve put in this Spring to get Kamikaze back into rolling shape, they’ve got a big leg up to get back out there when Rolls start up again in the Fall.

If you squint, you can see the future, with AEPi in the Roll Order.

• Apex. Apex decided to get some extra practice in for their mechanics this weekend and moved their staging area from their usual spot outside of Hunt Library to the bottom of Hill 1, in order to practice carrying buggies to the starting line. The team brought 2 buggies out each day, with Phoenix getting 4 rolls on Saturday and another on Sunday, Scorch getting 2 on Saturday, and Solaris getting 3 on Sunday. The only notable roll came with Phoenix on Saturday. During one roll, a pedestrian walked out on to the course, ignoring the pleas of others to stay off the road. Phoenix received a stop flag, and hit the brakes, spinning to a stop. Phoenix came right back in its next roll though, and among its four rolls on Saturday was a completed pass test, pushing all of Apex’s buggies to qualification.
  • Qualification Update:
    • Firefly – Veteran driver Brooklyn qualified in Firefly.
    • Phoenix – Veteran driver Mia is qualified in Phoenix.
    • Scorch – Rookie driver Bella is qualified in Scorch.
    • Solaris – Veteran driver Maggie is qualified in Solaris.
    • Molotov – With Molotov not having been seen this Spring and all of Apex’s drivers qualified in other buggies, it seems unlikely that we’ll see Molotov on Raceday. But veteran driver Mia needs just 5 rolls (including a pass test) in order to qualify in Molotov as well.

No matter how hard Apex tries, old man Phoenix will never* miss a Raceday.

*Except for 2021. And 2022. And it’s nowhere near the oldest buggy on the course.

• Atlas. In a bit of a surprise to some observers, Atlas made their return to Rolls on Sunday, and not with Baby Buggy. Instead, they brought out their new buggy, Monaco! The robotic buggy-driver combo made its debut before Rolls on Sunday. We’ll assume it went ok, because we didn’t hear anything else. But it’s exciting to see that we may have another new buggy hitting the course on Raceday.

Atlas pulled off a surprise debut with their new buggy, Monaco.

• CIA. CIA brought out all 5 of their buggies this weekend, spread out over both days, and got a someone ridiculous 7 rolls in for each of Emperor, Kingfisher, and Roadrunner on Sunday, plus 4 for Equinox, Kingfisher, and Roadrunner and 6 for Goldfinch on Saturday. Equinox and Goldfinch each completed their pass tests on Saturday, and with Emperor’s rolls on Sunday, the team was fully qualified. The rolls were mostly uneventful and fast. The biggest news was that Goldfinch’s paint job made its debut! Look at that glorious buggy!
  • Qualification Update:
    • Emperor – Rookie driver Kaylan is qualified in Emperor. Technically, veteran driver Lucy can also qualify in Emperor with just a completed pass test, but considering Lucy is already qualified in Goldfinch, we expect that CIA will keep the drivers where they are currently qualified.
    • Equinox – Veteran driver Jazz is qualified in Equinox.
    • Goldfinch – Veteran driver Lucy is qualified in Goldfinch.
    • Kingfisher –Veteran driver Audrey is qualified in Kingfisher.
    • Roadrunner – Rookie driver Amber is qualified in Roadrunner (and with 11 rolls this weekend, leads drivers this year with 65 completed rolls).

Look at that beautiful paint job.

• Fringe. This weekend saw the triumphant return of Bumper! Bumper joined its 5 brothers and sisters over the weekend, as Fringe brought out all of their active buggies. Of course, from the outside it appears that Bumper was really just brought out to help the other buggies complete their pass tests. Fringe’s timing on those continued to be a bit off, as it took two tries to get Burnout to pass Bumper, and two tries to get NB2024 a successful pass test (the first try over Bumper on Saturday failed, so they came back to pass Blueshift on Sunday). Fringe got their remaining pass tests on Sunday, and almost got one more than needed, as our observers report that on one roll, NB2024 nearly passed Baltic in the Chute, before the driver of NB2024 tapped the brakes. But with those final pass tests, Fringe now has its full team qualified.
  • Qualification Update:
    • Baltic – Rookie driver Abbey is qualified in Baltic.
    • Blueshift – Rookie driver Freda is qualified in Blueshift.
    • Brimstone – Veteran driver Kyrsten is qualified in Brimstone. Rookie driver Arini would also only need 2 rolls (including a pass test) in order to qualify in Brimstone, but since Arini is qualified in NB2024, it seems unlikely that Fringe would try to double-up here.
    • Burnout – Rookie driver Winona is qualified in Burnout.
    • NB2024 – Rookie driver Arini is qualified in NB2024.
    • Bumper – With its return, rookie driver Abbey needs just 6 more rolls to also qualify in Bumper. But since each of Bumper’s 4 rolls on Saturday were designed for other buggies to pass it, we think it likely that Bumper will be taking Raceday 2024 off.

Guess who’s back? Back again? Bumper’s back! Tell a friend.

• PiKA. Last week’s rumors of a quick return for Banshee proved correct this weekend, as PiKA brought both Banshee and Raptor out both days to get in their remaining rolls and pass tests. PiKA had three drivers out on Saturday, though only 2 rolled as PiKA focused on getting at least 1 driver qualified in each buggy. The rolls were mostly clean, except for one roll late in the day on Saturday when Raptor’s top hatch flew off in the Chute. We also have reports that PiKA stopped in the Chute on one roll, which we believe was a controlled stop due to a stop flag thrown for an incident further ahead for a different organization on the backhills. The stop was only a minor hiccup in an otherwise successful weekend, as both Banshee and Raptor were back out on Sunday and completed pass tests, with each buggy getting 8 rolls in over the weekend.
  • Qualification Update:
    • Banshee – Rookie driver Su Mae is qualified in Banshee.
    • Raptor – Rookie driver Kaylie is qualified in Raptor. If PiKA wants to try and qualify another driver in Raptor as well, they have options: Rookie driver Vi has the max carryover from the fall and only needs the 7 remaining rolls to qualify. Rookie driver Cat, had 5, so Cat will need 10 in Raptor to qualify. Meanwhile, rookie driver Su Mae probably doesn’t need to qualify in Raptor as well, but if PiKA decides they want to go that route, Su Mae, will need 8 rolls (including a pass test) to qualify in Raptor.
    • Cleona – At this point, it seems unlikely that we’ll see Cleona on Raceday, but if PiKA pulls off a last minute addition, any driver will need at least 10 rolls in Cleona to qualify.

PiKA had Banshee back on the course, as well as Raptor

• Robobuggy. Robobuggy was out on the course both days this weekend, with Short Circuit out both days and reports of NAND on Sunday. Since they roll before dawn and don’t have a driver that needs to qualify, we don’t have any notes yet on how the rolls went. We’ll update this once we hear.

Courtesy of PiKA, we have some video of Short Circuit in the Chute on Saturday.

• SAE. SAE had Barbie out on the course on Saturday, and they were working overtime to get as many rolls in as they could. Partnering with SigNu throughout the day to get more opportunities, Barbie got 5 clean rolls in on the day. On one of those rolls, SAE appeared to have a stop of some kind on the backhills, but the issue appeared minor and the buggy was back on the course for its next roll. Unfortunately, on the last roll of the day, Barbie crashed. The team was not out on Sunday, but we hear that they’re working on repairs to the buggy to hopefully be back on the course for Truck Weekend.
  • Qualification Update:
    • Barbie – SAE has had 2 drivers in Barbie this semester, but both still need a few more rolls to qualify. Veteran driver Carleigh needs 2 rolls (including a pass test), while rookie driver Bee needs 6 (including a pass test).

Barbie was teaming up with other orgs on Saturday to get some extra rolls in.

• SDC. It was a good news/bad news week for SDC. The good news was for how the org did over the weekend – they added another 10 rolls for Vice and Bane, getting Bane qualified and getting both buggies up towards Raceday speeds. With those 10 rolls, rookie driver Elizabeth now has the second-most rolls of any driver this year, with 60 (spread out across 3 buggies!). SDC was seen practicing their mechanicing as well, as they appeared to be practicing their carryouts at the bottom of Hill 1 (which also suggests they may have been practicing wheel heating as well). The bad news is for us spectators – Word is that SDC has decided to focus on getting its current buggies and drivers ready for Raceday, which means we’ll have to wait until the Fall before we see new buggy Lust make its debut on the course.
  • Qualification Update:
    • Bane – Rookie driver Ezrin is qualified in Bane.
    • Vice – Rookie driver Elizabeth is qualified in Vice.
    • Avarice – Rookie driver Sabikun would still need 14 rolls (including a pass test) to qualify in Avarice, so we don’t expect to see them rolling on Raceday. Alternatively, rookie driver Elizabeth would need 5 rolls (including a pass test), but since she is qualified in Vice, it’s unlikely here.
    • Inferno – Based on this weekend and what we’re hearing, we think SDC will only be bringing Vice and Bane to Raceday. But if they decide to try Inferno, rookie driver Elizabeth would need 9 rolls here.
    • Vanity – Again, we don’t expect to see Vanity, but if SDC changes plans last minute, rookie driver Ezrin (who is already qualified in Bane) would need 5 rolls in the Spring (including a pass test) to qualify in Vanity.
    • Lust – Sadly, as noted above, Lust is likely waiting until the Fall to make its debut. But if SDC decides they want to try to make a crazy push, they could get it done with a minimum of 10 rolls.

SDC is getting fully ramped up for Raceday

• SigEp. SigEp had both Hydra and Kraken out on Saturday and brought Hydra back out on Sunday, with different drivers each day. They got 4 rolls in for each buggy on Saturday, and 5 in for Hydra on Sunday. And those rolls went under the radar, which is a great thing to have happened on the last weekend before Truck Weekend; it means that nothing went wrong. Things did go right though; Kraken completed a pass test on Saturday, and Hydra completed one on Sunday, making Hydra the first buggy in 2024 to be double qualified!
  • Qualification Update:
    • Hydra – Both rookie driver Mia and veteran driver Lizzie are qualified in Hydra, which means that SigEp can run different drivers in each division to give them each the full Raceday experience.
    • Kraken – With a pass test and 4 more rolls on Saturday, rookie driver Lucy has finished the hard part of being qualified. Now Lucy will just need 3 more regular rolls over Truck Weekend in order to officially qualify for Raceday.

Hydra pulled double duty this weekend.

• SigNu. SigNu was out on only Saturday this week, bringing both Jaeger and Krait to the course. SigNu appeared to be a pretty generous organization on Saturday, as they let both SAE and CIA roll with them at various points in the day. By the end of the day, Jaeger had added another 3 rolls and Krait had added 4 to their roll count. And other than 1 backhills issue that happened during their roll (though we don’t believe it involved a SigNu buggy), the rolls were clean. The only note we received was that in its early rolls, Jaeger had a bit of a rattling sound coming from its back hatch, but that sound was fixed for later rolls.
  • Qualification Update:
    • Jaeger – With the additional 3 rolls on Saturday, rookie driver Lian still needs just a pass test to qualify in Jaeger.
    • Krait – Rookie driver Alyssa added 4 rolls to the roll count on Saturday, bringing the Spring total to 10. This leaves (a very achievable) 5 rolls, including a pass test, for Krait to qualify for Raceday.

Krait waits its turn on Saturday

• Spirit. Spirit continued to show up and show out this weekend, with all 4 buggies out on Saturday and 3 of 4 on Sunday. Drivers Nanz and Natalie, aboard Zuke and Seraph respectively, are 2 of the 3 total drivers that have been out every day this semester, and Spirit continues to ramp their buggies up to Raceday speed. Inviscid picked up its pass test in its first roll on Saturday, and that would be all that Spirit needed to get all of the buggies qualified. Sunday was a tiny bit bumpier, as the damp roads saw Spirit taking some wider lines and having some noticeable fishtails in the Chute. But they continued to make it through cleanly and can now focus on retaining their Women’s title and trying to grab the Men’s and All Gender championships as well.
  • Qualification Update:
    • Inviscid – Veteran driver Melina is qualified in Inviscid.
    • Kingpin – Rookie driver Ivania is qualified in Kingpin.
    • Mapambazuko – Rookie driver Nanz is qualified in Zuke.
    • Seraph – Veteran driver Natalie is qualified in Seraph. If Spirit wants to get another driver involved, rookie driver Emily will need 11 more rolls (including a pass test) in Seraph to qualify.

Spirit was rolling all weekend.