UMNSVP Racing

And they're off!

The green flag dropped at 9 AM as three solar cars rayced away from the starting line. Despite starting last of the three teams, MInnesota quickly found the lead and maintained it all day. The team was extremely happy with the outcome of the day and hopes to be able to keep it up tomorrow. Minnesota was the first official team to complete their qualifying laps assuring them a spot in North American Solar Challenge. Check out the pictures from the day to  the right as well as the official Formula Sun website at http://www.formulasun.org for more detailed lap information. Thanks to all for their comments, the really keep the team going.

Test Laps and Competition

By passing scruitineering yesterday, the U of M Solar Car team was free to hit the track and get a few test laps on the car.  So meanwhile we roamed the paddock, met some of the other teams, and learned about our competition's vehicles.  This update will feature all the cars from competing schools.

An early morning . . .

Rolling out of their sleeping bags at 4:20 AM, the team headed to Heartland Topeka Raceway for the beginning of Formula Sun 2005. The morning began with an all team meeting to go through rules, take role and introduce the rayce offials. From there, the team prepared the car for system inspections including; mechanical, electrical, array, body and sizing and dynamic testing. With most of the preparations complete, the team was able to meet the other teams and admire their respective cars. After a successful day of scrutineering, the team is almost ready to start turning out practice laps on the track. Base camp solar car is set up at the track and will serve as the team's home until Friday. Al "Magic Stick" Majkrzak leaps out of the car in under ten seconds flat during egress testing. Take a look at today's photos and check back frequently for more updates.

We're off to Formula Sun 2005

With the vans and trailers packed up, the solar car team headed south on I-35 today enroute to Kansas.  The drive went smooth with the car arriving intact , and this evening we are spending the night at Kansas State University, working on the car and hanging out with our fellow K-state solar car peers.  With the finishing touches being put on the car, we are prepraring for scruitineering tomorrow where we will be proving the safety of our car to the race officials.  Stay tuned all this week for daily updates, and check out the most recently updated pictures.

Car Preparations

After 14 hours of continuous packing and last minute errands, the team is ready to head out for Topeka bright and early on Sunday. Toolboxes line the table as the team goes portable.

Formula Sun Grand Prix 2005

Welcome to the official rayce log of the University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project. Look for updates from Formula Sun Grand Prix 2005 starting May 16th and check out the official Borealis III logo below.

Guilty Webmaster Redeemed . . . sort of

I have been called a slacker enough times since we returned home to finally prompt some progress on the updates. Photo galleries for Days 5 - 12 are now available in the right column. I'll work on some daily updates with stories from the road, but for now the photos will have to suffice.

Photo Albums Posted

Just in case you didn't notice, a Day 3 and Day 4 set of images has been posted in the right column.

Late night updates . . .

All you solar racers now, when updates come late at night it means there was trouble with the car that took priority. So, your friendly webmaster needs some sleep and a shower, look for some updates tomorrow.

Car Preparations

Saturday was spent completing car maintenance in preparation for the start of the trial drive tomorrow. We made adjustments to the braking system, attached new test solar modules, evaluated array performance, and installed new telemetry systems including a new GPS data logger provided by ASC officials.

The end of the day came with the car running flawless laps around the parking lot, so everything appears ready to go for Sunday morning.