The DTS group will be working to build two soapbox derby cars. We divided the group into two teams who will ultimately compete to see who has the best looking and fastest car. Groups will be working on the assembly, design and marketing of the cars. They will be creating a documentary-style video of their week to show at the symposium.
Tortuga-Lento Racing came together today after a lengthy inteview process and exhausting contract negotiations. But the team looks pretty competitive and we immediately began diving into our project. We learned our roles within the team and brainstormed ideas for our group including our name, team colors, sponsors and design. We met with our technical designer, Dr. Duncan to learn how to use Cricket to create vynal designs for the car.. We also started the building process and made some solid progress. Our film crew was capturing much of the day's work to assemble for the final video. Pictures will be shared shortly. Deciding how we were going to design our car was exciting and we feel that despite being newcomers to the racing world we feel we can make some waves and compete for the NHS Grad Prix. We are looking forward to our progress and final presentation. One negative to the day is that we learned Oscar Edelman has defected over to Ferrari, the traitor!
Fliegender Hase Racing finally gathered together and started the day by watching an episode of "Drive To Survive". After we divided into two different groups, we decided who would be our designers, builders and film crew. We where able to watch a demonstration on how to use the vinyl cutter. The group then retreated to their assigned rooms to begin building the actual soapbox car in secret. Once we settled the debate about our design theme, we headed to Walmart to acquire paint and other supplies necessary to facilitate the design of our car. We hope to demonstrate our capabilities in the upcoming race scheduled for Friday March 8. We hope to make a strong statement in the world of racing and bring home a championship.
Fliegender Hase Racing continued to build our car today. The design team started the painting process and also sorting out our helmet design. Media was constantly hounding us for interviews and trying to get us to leak the technical secrets that make us the best car in the paddock. Building the car became difficult with all of the distractions. Our lead technician, Christian Flanders was feverishly working to assemble the braking and steering systems. Overall it was another great building day and much progress was made on the FH-24. Tomorrow we should have the car 95% completed.
Day two for Tortuga-Lento was filled with drama, action, and successes. We got straight to work when we got back to our workshop by finishing up majority of the chassis. Without a doubt we had many setbacks that delay the completion of our car. We have finished the braking and steering systems. Axels and suspension has been a challenge to find the precision required to race at this level. On top of these setbacks our team encountered some team drama between our mechanics and drivers. As race day draws ever closer the pressure is being felt around the paddock. To make matters worse, Tortuga-Lento learned it will be losing another key member of our team to a hickey tournament (?!?). Nonetheless, big milestones were achieved by our team when we began the painting process and the design work on the car took a big leap forward today.
Day Three for Tortuga-Lento was a bit of a relaxation day. We spent majority of the morning waiting for paint to dry and watching more DTS videos. Our media team was hard at work interviewing and assembling video. Before lunch we went to innovation lab to work on producing our graphics package including getting our sponsors represented on the car and helmets. Technical glitches delayed this process a bit and we will have to come back to this Tursday. We took some time to get away from the paddock and our teams came together for a reggae party. All the biggest names in the business were there including our drivers, Chevy and Burrito. After that it was back to work finishing the tub and mounting it to the chassis. The big reveal is coming and then race day. This should be a very exciting weekend and you won't want to miss it.
Thursday started with both teams frantically trying to finish painting and decorating the car before the media presentation of the cars in the afternoon. When we finished we had a quick stop to Walmart to buy some paint markers to add sponsors to our car. Unfortunately the technology issue was not resolved to print the decals for the car. We got as much done as possible before the reveal, but there was sill more to be done before race day. The reveal in front of Pilalas Math and Science center was amazing and it was basically a "who's who" of the NHS community. All the biggest names were there. Both of the teams cars covered up and you could feel the anticipation of the reveal. Both team owners introduced the drivers and pulled the sheet. People went nuts once they saw the incredible pieces of technical wrt before them. Race day is tomorrow and we will see who will bring home the trophy.
Day 5: Race Day!!! The tension among the teams was palpable. The teams ferried their machines to the course. Dr. Childs road appeared to be very menacing with potholes and banged-up tarmac better suited to 4-wheel drive machines than these finely tuned race cars. The drivers were nervous as they took their places in the cockpit. The test runs were slow, and the data was inconclusive as to which car would be the superior machine. The race would show otherwise as Tortuga-Lento took the best of 5 in just three heats. The podium celebrations were unforgettable as the anthems played for both drivers followed by the celebratory sparkling cider. The cars were put away in the NHS museum for future posterity to enjoy.