Day 1 of Racing
Principia Solar Car Team
Howdy solar supporters!
Wednesday was a great first day of racing. Tamara started the day in 7th position and quickly moved up to 1st place. After a fast pit stop to check tire pressure on lap 18, Tamara went back out for another 11 laps. After 29 laps total, Tamara came into the pit where we changed all three tires and I got into the car. On my third lap, acceleration cut out right before turn 9 and resetting the car did not solve the issue. The team came out in the rescue van, determined that the umbilical was not fully connected, and corrected the problem. I completed 21 laps as a driver and was just beginning our team’s 51st lap around 4pm when acceleration cut out on the big hill before turn 1, leaving me stranded on the hill. Fortunately, Georgia Tech was also stopped on the hill and their team members were able to help me safely get back into pit lane.
We brought the car into the pit and determined that one of our battery modules was nearly dead and needed to be removed. We also needed to fix our rearview camera. Unfortunately, this was a time-consuming process, and although racing continued to 6pm, we were unable to get back out on the track in time so we went out to charge our batteries in preparation for day 2.
Overall, we were happy with 50 laps, although without the battery problems we were on target to complete between 65 and 70. We ended the day in 5th place. We are hoping to complete even more laps today and expect our battery pack to behave well.
Until tonight,
Annika