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ISU Team Mercury Updates
Reports from the team at the 2010 Formula Sun 'rayce'
at Motor Sport Ranch, Cresson, Texas.
Mercury III on the FSGP track in Texas (Photo by Bob Phelan of Missouri S&T).
More rayce photos coming soon.
June 18, 2010 Final Results
Distances in miles
Place |
Team # and Name |
Day 1 |
Day 2 |
Day 3 |
Total |
1 |
2 – Michigan |
246.5 |
251.6 |
222.7 |
720.8 |
2 |
10 – Bochum |
239.7 |
226.1 |
214.2 |
680 |
3 |
35 – Minnesota |
178.5 |
239.7 |
198.9 |
617.1 |
4 |
11 – Northwestern |
107.1 |
175.1 |
188.7 |
470.9 |
5 |
95 – Kaohsiung |
(76.5) |
224.4 |
210.8 |
435.2 |
6 |
65 – Calgary |
226.1 |
163.2 |
28.9 |
418.2 |
7 |
28 – New Paltz |
96.9 |
159.8 |
159.8 |
416.5 |
8 |
42 – Missouri S&T |
147.9 |
134.3 |
32.3 |
314.5 |
9 |
5 – Illinois State |
0 |
149.6 |
112.2 |
261.8 |
10 |
88 – Texas Austin |
(79.9) |
134.3 |
124.1 |
258.4 |
11 |
9 – Iowa State |
127.5 |
129.2 |
0 |
256.7 |
12 |
16 – Stanford |
(79.9) |
180.2 |
28.9 |
209.1 |
13 |
3 – Kentucky |
23.8 |
119 |
0 |
142.8 |
14 |
20 – Western Michigan |
0 |
0 |
88.4 |
88.4 |
This was a real achievement by Team Mercury since the new car, Mercury III, was as yet untested when they arrived in Texas.
Simply passing scrutineering and completing the race represents a significant milestone. Congratulations to Team Mercury!
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June 18, 2010
9th place in FSGP!
We made the 150 laps (255 miles) required to qualify for the ASC rayce. We stopped at 262 miles to give us time to do the repair to the steering and clear our last hurdle for ASC.
June 17, 2010
Mercury III's first day on the track is proving to be a success. As of 11:30a the solar car was averaging 30 mph on the 1.7mi Motorsport track. Efficiency will increase until about 3:00p, and the team will be able to take advantage of the high Texas sun.
June 16, 2010
Qualified!
TEAM MERCURY IS OFFICIALLY QUALIFIED FOR THE FORMULA SUN GRAND PRIX! Racing begins tommorow at 10:00 AM. We still have one item to fix before qualifying for the ASC road rayce, the rod ends in the steering mechanism need to be machined. We have a plan to fix that.
________________________________________________________
June 15, 2010
Progress
Team members have been working non-stop to meet the expectations of race officials, and have seen the payoff for the first time late in the day on the 14th. Team Mercury has officially passed Dynamics and Mechanical testing! Electrical is the only category remaining for the Team to qualify for the track race. Yesterday, team members finished wiring the solar array, but to their dismay the carbon-fiber body of the solar car caused a short in the solar cells attached to this surface. Luckily only the edges of the array come in contact with the carbon-fiber, and this problem was temporarily fixed using playing cards as an insulator. There has been a permenant solution applied today and now the array is fully functioning and charging the battery packs. This afternoon the team is finishing some last minute electrical issues and will be going through electrical testing this evening. With two days of racing remaining, team leaders Al, Josh, and Jason are confident that they will be able to compleate the required 150 laps over two days to qualify for the road race, starting tommorow morning.
June 14, 2010
Arrived at scrutineering (a little late...)
Team Mercury has arrived in Texas for qualifiers. The first step in the process is to pass through the rigourous tests of "scrutineering". During these tests race staff will evaluate the solar car's mechanical, electrical, and safety systems.