ASC 2021: track race (FSGP) results

We have now come to the end of the FSGP – the track-race portion of the American Solar Challenge. Final lap counts (from here) are shown in the chart below. The chart is in the colours of the Kansas flag, with green bars representing single-occupant vehicles (SOV). White stars mark the teams that have qualified for the coming road race (ad astra per aspera). See also my illustrated list of teams.

To follow the multi-occupant vehicles (MOV), it is really only necessary to look at the brown bars in the chart above. However, the chart below (click to zoom) visualises the actual MOV scores on a logarithmic axis, with six coloured bars being components of the score, and the seventh coloured bar S being the product (i.e. sum of the logarithms) of those components. The six components are:

• d, the total miles driven
• d′, the total miles driven with penalties
• p, the average number of persons in the car (and so the Total Person-Mile Distance in the regulations is D = d × p)
• E, the Total External Energy usage (as in the regulations)
• T, the Target Speed Derate, which penalises cars slower than 30 mph (as in the regulations)
• h, a grey bar (the same for every team) showing the highest driving distance of any MOV entry (and so the Completion Factor in the regulations is C = d′ / h)

This version of the scoring formula, S = d × d′ × p × (1/E) × T × (1/h) is equivalent to the formula S = (D / E) × C × T in the regulations, but makes it clear that the speed of the car essentially appears three times (as d, d′, and T), and hence dominates all the other factors.

The chart below shows how closely the MOV scores reflect the lap counts:

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