| Norwich
Tech's second year of participation in the Connecticut Electrathon
race at Lime Rock on June 1st was amazing. Our students worked great
as team to solve several mechanical and electrical problems that
manifested it self due to the extreme heat. Our team was exposed
to 90 degrees heat and drivers who were enclosed in the cockpit
with a full face helmet, long sleeve shirt and pants endured even
higher temperatures.
Several
mechanical and electrical problems were quickly resolved by our
team. Even before the race began the heat increased our tire pressure
to the point that one tube burst at the prep area while our drivers
were being prepped by the officials. Our pit crew team quickly replaced
it with a new tube and lowered the pressure rating of the remaining
tires to 80 from 100psi.
After the initial lap, Keith Santor our first driver had to pit
the car. It was discovered by the pit crew that an electrical connection
was compromised due to the heat and that problem was quickly resolved.
Aproximately 30 minutes into the race during a pit stop to switch
drivers, it was noticed that due to the heat our tires were worn
down to the casing. The second driver, Shawn Hill was aware of tire
failure so he cruised at a slower pace to keep us in the race as
long as possible. It was the grace of god that allowed us to complete
the race with out a blow out on the race course.
All this made for an exciting morning at Lime Rock and reinforced
teamwork amongst the students. We were able to complete 73 laps
(72 laps at the fall 2006 race) even with all the problems that
we experienced. This resulted in a 6th place finish out of 7th in
the composite class.
We
all learned a great deal about team work and I'm proud of our students
performance and results in light of the obstacles that was present
during the race.
Written
by Thuan Huynh - CADD Department Head
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