The Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) has begun! Day one of racing is finished and you can see all of the teams’ progress here: http://americansolarchallenge.org/ at the bottom of the page
We have been working around the clock to solve issue after issue with both the regulations and performance of Impulse. Our biggest problems were the dynamic braking test and the horn test, that was all that was stopping us from racing.
Well after some deliberation with Oregon State University (Thank you so much for the help!) and the two mechanical scrutineers we came up with two solutions to the braking test and both worked! We took the better of the options and moved forward with the horn.
Our horn needed to be 3 decibels louder, that’s it, and we would be all green and good to race. We finally accomplished this midday, got signed off, and at that point we officially passed all of scrutineering! Congratulations CalSol, it is quite the accomplishment.
Unfortunately, we were not able to get onto the track today to complete any laps because an unexpected appearance of smoke underneath the shell put us out of order. This new problem has now been solved and we should be able to get onto the track at 9am tomorrow! Wish us luck!
For those car lovers out there like myself, boy do I have a treat for you. Around the middle of the day today I began to hear a loud engine racing around the track; this is a common place occurrence at the Monticello Motor Club so I didn’t think too much of it. But the car finally came off of the track and drove by our pit area and this is what I saw: A Ferrari 250 GTO
I had a momentary heart attack, dropped my tools, and ran after it. This is the most expensive car in the world and I had a chance to see it; I’m still stunned.
Well anyhow, I’m kind of a car nut so I love spreading the word about cool stories and sightings such as this (sorry if the cars aren’t all powered by the sun…). I hope everyone continues to cheer on CalSol as we attempt our first laps around the track on day 2 of FSGP!