![\"\"](\"https:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/2013-2014\/Spring-Rolls-March-29\/i-ZFgJN5C\/0\/d608d77c\/Th\/IMG_7893-Th.jpg\")
We’ve come to the last weekend before Truck. Heat selections are tonight, which means tomorrow the auction is planned to launch tomorrow! Once it’s up, be sure to share it with all the people who might be attending the races.<\/p>\nWe’ve come to the last weekend before Truck. Heat selections are tonight, which means tomorrow the auction is planned to launch tomorrow! Once it’s up, be sure to share it with all the people who might be attending the races.<\/p>\n
The orange cones make the chute look like a slalom course, but it looks like the line that most teams use is actually free of potholes. The potholes don’t leave much margin for error though, and the penalty for missing your line is big. The fastest buggies don’t have much margin for error anyway, so this shouldn’t be a big additional complication for their drivers. Chute passes are likely impossible without hitting something, though. Word on the street is that some of the potholes might be getting filled in, more on that later this week.<\/p>\n
I unfortunately couldn’t make it to rolls on Saturday while working an event down at Cal U, but thankfully Shafeeq was able to take some notes, and Lou Conley managed to take pictures, so many thanks go out to them for filling in.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/2013-2014\/Spring-Rolls-March-29\/i-63FMQzL\/0\/fb4fb283\/Th\/IMG_7889-Th.jpg\")
AEPi<\/strong> – In a surprise move (that really isn’t all that surprising at this point), AEPi made it out on a Saturday to get a few rolls in. It was a good choice too since it rained and then snowed all Saturday night.The roll counts haven’t been updated yet so I don’t know<\/li>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/2013-2014\/Spring-Rolls-March-29\/i-j7bsV7J\/0\/0711b604\/Th\/IMG_7960-Th.jpg\")
Apex\u00a0<\/strong>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/2013-2014\/Spring-Rolls-March-29\/i-pwXxHPj\/0\/61b78e34\/Th\/IMG_7970-Th.jpg\")
CIA<\/strong> –\u00a0CIA’s new buggy wasn’t any faster, and its rear wheels appeared to be tilting noticeably through the turn. We’ve seen this out of other buggies before, and it is usually due to a lack of mechanical strength rather than clever strategy.<\/li>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/2013-2014\/Spring-Rolls-March-29\/i-BmRfCvM\/0\/203a53ba\/Th\/IMG_7921-Th.jpg\")
Fringe<\/strong> – Similar to Apex, Fringe has also shifted their turns into the chute to be much later to avoid the holes in the road.\u00a0Fringe isn’t going that fast, but the un-Fringelike sounds of tortured tires suggests that this new turn strategy has its drawbacks. The new buggy was on both 3 and 4 wheels, but either way much slower than Bissa. It was quieter and less bouncy than I would’ve expected for such tiny wheels, though.<\/li>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/2013-2014\/Spring-Rolls-March-29\/i-BnCh4FJ\/0\/f208ae7b\/Th\/IMG_7888-Th.jpg\")
PiKA<\/strong> –\u00a0PiKA was doing pass tests for the first couple of rolls. Chimera was always slow, but Banshee got in a last roll that was everything we’d expect from PiKA going into truck weekend.<\/li>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/2013-2014\/Spring-Rolls-March-29\/i-RqVZzDv\/0\/43faa3bc\/Th\/IMG_7946-Th.jpg\")
SAE<\/strong> –\u00a0SAE was extremely slow but trouble-free with Rubicon. After losing Lucy’s pushbar last weekend, it looks like she might be out for Raceday as well.<\/li>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/2013-2014\/Spring-Rolls-March-29\/i-2VXxtSK\/0\/9283cd59\/Th\/IMG_7915-Th.jpg\")
SDC<\/strong> –\u00a0SDC’s Malice was fast and controlled, what we’d expect them to be. The driver was consistently tightening the turn sharply at the last cone before the apex and drifting a bit as a result. I can’t tell if that is deliberate, or if having a cone growing rapidly larger in her windshield is throwing her off. The other buggies were more scattered; the Vice and Bane fell victim to the new hazards. Vice straddled a cone (without hitting the pothole it marked). The cone was swept into the wheel and fairing, jamming the wheel and sending the buggy into a slide, until the fairing broke loose, releasing the cone. The driver almost recovered before crashing into the outer haybales. The large amount of loose hay on the road probably didn’t help. Bane missed the cone closest to the apex, but put a wheel into the pothole, causing the wheel & stub to separate from the buggy. The wheel made an attempt at escaping into the ravine, while the buggy spun to a halt without hitting anything.\u00a0This is the first time I’ve seen them lose a stub (instead of the whole half-axle). There’s only ~3\/4″ of stub embedded in the axle, which would explain why their wheels end up tilted after they get sideways.<\/li>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/2013-2014\/Spring-Rolls-March-29\/i-3sCGKRS\/0\/8b003739\/Th\/IMG_7935-Th.jpg\")
SigEp<\/strong> –\u00a0SigEp was fast with Barracuda, slow with everything else. Their driving isn’t quite up to where it was this time last year, so either they changed drivers or the lack of practice is showing.<\/li>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/2013-2014\/Spring-Rolls-March-29\/i-rVLBC74\/0\/3a606c33\/Th\/IMG_7898-Th.jpg\")
SigNu<\/strong> –\u00a0SigNu was fast and smooth, but they either skipped the last hour of rolls or I wasn’t paying attention.<\/li>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/2013-2014\/Spring-Rolls-March-29\/i-mLWGvkz\/0\/796f3235\/Th\/IMG_7943-Th.jpg\")
Spirit<\/strong> –\u00a0Spirit’s new buggy was Fringe-like in its quietness, but not in speed. I don’t know how much credit to give to the giant spring, and how much to the purple tires. It also left a washer behind on one roll, so hopefully that wasn’t part of anything important. Their fastest roll was not very, but in control.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n