Sweepstakes has officially decided, and DTD has confirmed, that 2010 is not going to be the year they break back onto the raceday scene. DTD made its first appearance on the buggy course in recent history in October and got off to a good start. They had their share of incidents, but in the fall that’s just part of being new. Problem was that the incidents kept piling up regularly into the spring and it didn’t seem like they had a reasonable chance of making it around the course on raceday.
One of the BAA’s stated goals is to encourage greater participation in the sport, so we’re interested in their experience and how we can help teams like them in the future. We got in contact with DTD’s co-buggy-chair, Ian McIntyre, and asked a few questions:
How does your team feel about coming so close to your first raceday, but not quite making it?
We’re obvious disappointed, having busted our balls to get this close only to be told 2 weeks before race day that we’re getting scratched. However we’re going to take it in stride, keep our chin up, and come out again next year with a lot more experience under our belts.
What is the hardest thing in your experience for a new org trying to get started in buggy?
There were so many challenges in establishing a buggy team from scratch. From the big things like learning everything about buggy mechanics and all the by-laws to the smaller things like which defogging method to use and general buggy etiquette. There was a ton of stuff we had to figure out ourselves, though I guess I should also take this opportunity to thank the many orgs who did lend us a hand when we needed it.
Do you think the BAA could do anything to make it easier for first year teams to get over the hump?
Merely having the BAA website was an enormous help. Being able to read what people were posting, getting maps of the course, picking up some mechanic tips, and catching up on buggy gossip are all things I can remember getting from your site. Maybe having a BAA youtube account with raceday footage? If theres a chance you could get a couples years worth of stuff from CMUtv (I’m assuming they have all of it) it would be nice to look through. However the bottom line is that the first year is going to be one of trail and error, no matter how much support there is.
Anything else?
I would just like to thank all the orgs and sweepstakes chairs for being patient with us as we roughed our way through this year. I’m pretty sure we set the record for most incident reports filled out by a team with a single buggy.
We should note that getting raceday tapes online is a project we’ve been working quietly on for a while now. It’s a laborious endeavor to do systematically, but we do hope to get that done sooner rather than later.
We wish DTD the best of luck in advance for next year, and hey, enjoy one more carnival with three full nights of drinking!
Aman says:
It’s official. It makes me shed a tear to say DTD will not be rolling at race day this year.
Sam was quite on the ball when saying that good cheer and attitudes don’t necessarily make a buggy reach race day. Either way, we had a blast and it was totally worth the experience.
Thanks to all the orgs that helped us out. Shoutouts are in order to:
– AEPi for help in getting us off the ground in the form of advice and follow cars
– SigEp for sharing flags with us most of Fall
– SDC for sharing the love during push practices
Stay speedy…
Zatchmo says:
Aman, on behalf of AEPi, DTD is always welcome to Andy’s car.
Just one more roadblock on the way to that first raceday, I know you guys will be back next year. Any help you guys need, always feel free to come to us, I know I can’t wait to see you guys there. Before long, you will be as amazing and universally respected as competitors as we are!
MIke says:
Any reason why they weren’t allowed to roll in Exhibitions? Seems like that would still have made sense, and would have given the team a chance to go through the process.
lemuroid says:
Mike, if they are not deemed safe enough to roll with others in the races, what would make them safe enough to roll with other buggies in the exhibition heats? I think an exhibition heat by themselves might have worked but given their lack of progress in completing the course, it was probably not considered.
ian says:
We never got the 15 rolls to qualify us for raceday, so I’m pretty sure that keeps us from exhibitioning too.
Also, we completely forgot about it/even thought it might be an option.