Hello, Solar Friends!
Just before 3:00 this afternoon, we heard the sweet sound that makes every solar racer smile, the soft click of our motor, as Justin Sinichko gently accelerated out of the pit to take the track. After a morning of battery charging and telemetry testing (not to mention re-packing the crate), we spent about three and a half hours this afternoon giving our drivers some practice on the track at Hidden Valley.
Since we passed static scrutineering yesterday, we had a full day of testing before tomorrow’s dynamic scrutineering and qualifier. Dynamic scrutineering for this race consists of a slalom test and a brake test, and the qualifier itself is just two additional laps around the track, one to warm up and then one timed lap. The team with the fastest lap time will be the first to leave the starting line on Sunday, so much of our driving today was aimed at learning the curves of the track and practicing maintaining a safe and swift speed.
As I said, Justin drove first, then Peter Chaney and Katie Farquhar each drove a few laps. Justin took another turn in the car, and then Tom Brownell finished out the day. Ra 7 was out on the track for a total of three hours and 20 minutes and traveled about 112 kilometers. And she was performing beautifully for all four of our drivers. At one point, Joe Ritter tells me, the chase van following the solar car around the track had to speed up to 110 kph in order to catch up with our speeding car, whose tight turning radius and smooth handling left our rented 12-passenger van in the dust. At the end of the day, lap times determined that Tom will be our driver to qualify the car tomorrow and vie for the best pole position.
As the car returned to the pit just before 6:30 p.m., it slowed to a brief stop at the top of the pit lane. A crowd had gathered at the rail to watch our car zip by, and John Broere passed a few info cards out the passenger side window. As the car continued slowly down the pit lane, other team members and visitors rushed up to our chase vehicle to collect more info cards. Everyone was interested in our car and excited to read more about her specifications. If you haven’t seen for yourself just how eye-catching our car is, check out our Ra 7 photo gallery. She’s a beauty!
Around midday today, the last couple members of our team finally joined us in Darwin: Bob and Debbie Brownell (Tom’s parents), who will be driving the scout vehicle and keeping the team fed during the race. In the scramble and excitement of Thursday’s scrutineering success, I also forgot to announce the arrival of Ken Pratt, another solar car parent (though his son Kevin has long since graduated) and the driver of our truck and trailer. We’re fortunate to have dedicated parents like Ken and the Brownells to help us meet our goals and keep the team functioning. Plus, they’re a lot of fun to have around!
After such a successful day of driving, all 21 of us piled into a Chinese restaurant on the main drag in Darwin for a family-style meal and a rousing round of karaoke. Mark Evans and Ross Vincent started us off with the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun,” and the fun (and noise level) only escalated from there. Pictures of this and the other events of the day are posted in the photo album Testing. We’re all tucking into bed with high spirits and full bellies, ready to take on the track – for dynamic scrutineering and qualifying – again tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Cheers,
Karen
P.S. My guest on the next live radio show will be Sten Palmer, our “token Aussie,” who’s going to give us a few lessons in how to speak Australian. Tune in to Principia Internet Radio at 3:30 p.m. Central time on Friday afternoon!
October 23rd, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Thank you SO much for your updates. I wish I was there – but since I’m not – this is a very good way of keeping up with what you are doing. You all must be so happy. My beautiful laser cut replica of Ra 7 is next to my keyboard … I feel quite honored to have participated in your dream – if only just a little. Thank you!
Good luck! If I can figure out the timing and get up properly in 2 days and 40-ish minutes – I will be watching.
Bottom line – absolutely have fun. (and of course – win!)
xoxoxox
Hyla
P.S. Hi to Debbie and Bob – I know you will have fabulous food. AND lots of support. YAY!
October 23rd, 2009 at 7:00 pm
This is very exciting. I look forward to each day’s update. Sometime it would be interesting to see either photos or even better a video of how the driver gets into and out of the car. How can it be done quickly without damaging the solar panels?
October 23rd, 2009 at 7:48 pm
The drivers need to move quickly in order to get out of our vehicle. It is difficult but doable in 15 seconds. A hatch pops open and the driver jumps out of the car, over the solar cells. While this is dangerous, it is the most simple solution we have found. We have not damaged a solar cell yet, even though it has been jumped over at least a hundred times.
Getting into the car in 15 seconds is a trick. It is the reverse of the previous process and requires the drivers to put their leg over the cells, grab the chassis and pull themselves in. Some of our drivers have perfected this and can do it quite easily.
I will try to track down some photos of the ingress/ egress process. I was actually taking video instead which is why there are no photos, but I will not be able to compile and edit a video for YouTube until after the race. For now, there are some great photos of Katie, Peter, and Tom doing egress at our last race. They are in the Scrutineering photo album on the NASC 2008 photos page. Ingress was not a requirement at that race.