This week’s report is a different format and trimmed down compared to previous weeks. If you want to get a complete lowdown on buggy happenings, be sure to join up and become a member to get this year’s Raceday Preview. The Preview will be coming out in the next few days and will be full of great info and some fun articles. We’ll give you the scoop on who to look out for this season.
Thanks to inclement weather and the new arrangement for the trucks, a lot was happening this weekend. The new truck order was necessary to accommodate Midway taking place on the CFA lawn. Several weeks of poor weather and single-day weekends caused many teams to scramble to get in those final few rolls and pass tests. Amazingly, every team got at least one of their buggies fully qualified for Raceday. Perhaps even more amazingly, every new buggy from this semester also squeaked in enough rolls to qualify. All-in-all we have 11 organizations and 27 buggies ready to in the (cross your fingers) sunny and warm weather next weekend.
Several of our alumni were out and taking speed data this past Sunday. Three different timing mechanisms were used: a camera system, a stopwatch system, and the laser speed trap. Data were collected at the top of the Freeroll between the crosswalk and Westinghouse pond (note, baseline speed was not taken for this position so speeds are relative, not absolute), just after the monument in the Freeroll, and halfway between Scaife and the bicycle racks on Hill 3. The percentages are relative to the fastest roll. To note, any Hill 2 pushoff <90% is likely a women’s team.
Qualified
| Org | Buggies |
|---|---|
| AEPi | Kamikaze |
| Apex | Ember, Phoenix |
| CIA | Equinox, Icarus, Impulse, Orca, Tempest |
| Fringe | Balius, Beacon, Bissa, Bolt, NB16 |
| PhiDelt | Perun |
| Fishing Club | RD16 |
| SAE | Lucy |
| SDC | Avarice, Havoc, Malice, Bane |
| SigEp | Kraken, |
| SigNu | Krait |
| Spirit | Inviscid, Zuke, Seraph, Fuko |
Observations (Saturday Gallery | Sunday Gallery) Continue reading
AEPi – Kamikaze was out and rolling this Saturday trying to get in those last few rolls to qualify the team’s second driver for Raceday. This was very much a rebuilding year for AEPi, and while they were unable to get a new buggy rolling this spring, they made good strides and have built up some foundational knowledge. Kamikaze is certainly not among the fastest buggies on the course, but we did see smooth and consistent chute turns.
Apex – Mostly rolling Phoenix this weekend, Apex is making a final push to get all 3 of their drivers qualified for Raceday. We saw a brief appearance of Ember for what appeared to be pass test purposes only. Phoenix wasn’t breaking any speed records, but was executing solid clean lines through the chute. Here’s to hoping they find some more speed during truck weekend.
CIA – CIA was clearly working on their Hill 3 pickups this week. Both Icarus and Equinox were regularly getting rollouts to the fire plug, but don’t seem to have reliable strategy for transitioning to pusher power. Impulse wasn’t getting quite as impressive rollouts, but the Hill 3 pushers had an easier time taking over. Tempest, the newest member of the CIA fleet, is starting to pick up some speed and was making to the emergency phone box midway up Hill 3. The team remains among the top 5 in Freeroll speeds, but is one of the few that retains that speed through the chute. With just one weekend left, CIA will likely be focusing on perfecting their Hill 2 send offs and Hill 3 pickups.
Fringe – Fringe continues to have one of the best overall performances for rolls. The team again was among the top 5 in terms of Freeroll speeds, scrubbed little speed through the chute, consistently has great lines, and the Hill 3 pushers are managing smooth pickups. Bissa was getting great rollouts up to the fire plug, Bolt was making it to the emergency phone, and Beacon was coming in third amongst the team for rollouts. The only thing that wasn’t particularly smooth for Fringe on Saturday was that during one roll the tape holding Bolt’s fairing came loose and it dragged on the pavement throughout the roll. It was promptly secured. At this stage in the game, Fringe is looking extremely competitive and just needs to keep doing what their doing, but faster.
PhiDelt -Perun had a relatively uneventful day of rolls, completing clean chute lines and working on picking up some more speed. She did lose a rear hatch on one roll, but that issue was quickly resolved. The PhiDelt pushers might be a little optimistic about Perun’s rollouts, as they kept trying to pick her up midway on Hill 3, and ended up running down hill to meet her. The team has come along very well this year and their hard work is taking tangible shape.
SDC – SDC also had a stellar day of rolls. As per usual, they were one of the top 5 fastest teams rolling and were scrubbing little speed through the chute. All 4 buggies were getting great rollouts ranging between the emergency phone and the fire plug on Hill 3. Most of the SDC drivers continue to take a tight line into the chute, but go quite wide once within the hay bales. This had previously been thought to be an old habit to avoid a now-paved pothole, but may have more to do with shedding enough speed to maintain control of the buggy during the turn. Regardless, SDC is a force to be reckoned with on the course and will be amongst the top contenders come Raceday.
SigEp – 
Spirit – Spirit has really bloomed this spring and had some of the fastest Freeroll times and best Hill 3 rollouts of the day. It seems that the drivers are still trying to nail down their final chute lines as there was a fair amount of within and between buggy variability. Whatever they are doing, it kept them spin-free this weekend. Inviscid was getting some truly great rollouts (at leats to the fire plug) only to be met with lack luster pickups. The Hill 3 pushers were diligent though and by the end of rolls the pickup/transition was going much smoother. Assuming their pushers are anywhere near the caliber of years past, Spirit is going to be a top contender this Raceday.
Spring was in the air this week and Pittsburgh finally let us have a nice full weekend of rolls. All 10 teams rolled at least one day and what’s more, we are happy to report that although there were a couple controlled stops, there were no spins or other accidents. This always great to see as Raceday rapidly approaches. We had a couple alumni taking times for max Freeroll speed and Chute times. We don’t as of yet have the data for you, but we will be posting the Freeroll speeds Thursday. To tide you over, we can report that the teams with the fastest individual Freerolls this weekend were (in descending order): SDC, Spirit, PiKA, CIA and Fringe. This is none too surprising given last year’s Raceday results.