Well, in Topeka, Kansas it is the morning of the FSGP – the track-race portion of the American Solar Challenge. Only 4 out of 12 cars have qualified so far – the veteran Gato del Sol VI from Kentucky; the brand-new Brizo from Illini (the University of Illinois team); the brand-new Cruiser Freya from the University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project; and the brand-new Nimbus from MIT. So what does that mean?
Well, I’m guessing that it means that two of these cars will win the track race in their respective classes. The road race, which is the main event, is still wide open, though. A bunch of other cars will make it through scrutineering today, put in some solid laps on Saturday and Sunday, and qualify for the road race. Some of those will also be strong contenders. I will keep my teams list (in the previous post) up-to-date on the status of those cars.
However, I anticipate some cars not passing scrutineering, while others hit the track but don’t qualify for the road race. That much is normal at ASC.
Update: four more teams did indeed pass scrutineering during the course of the day – Illinois State, Berkeley (CalSol), Georgia Tech, and NC State. As expected, Brizo from the University of Illinois and Freya from the University of Minnesota are leading the lap counts.
Scientific Gems 