Monday, November 9, 2015

Team Links from WSC 2015

In the middle of the outback, I didn't have the bandwidth (both Telstra and mental) to keep up with all of the team's social media. But now that the finish is over two weeks in the past, if you want to re-live the race, here are some good blogs and photos:

Bridgestone posted daily video updates to YouTube - they're very good! I wish I'd been able to keep up with these during the race.

WSC has finally posted the closing video they showed at the awards ceremony.

The person writing for the Zero to Darwin Project was apparently embedded with the Tokai team, and published a lot of photos to Picasa. They also blogged throughout the race. The post from 10/23 is interesting - the author notes Tokai got 25 minutes worth of penalties, and seems to be complaining about excessive penalties in general at the race this year (but fails to acknowledge Tokai's were completely deserved). The author notes several weaknesses for the Tokai team this year - notably, that Tokai had very little prep time in Australia when compared to Nuon and Twente, that the Bridgestone tires were less reliable than the Michelins and that they had several blowouts, that the Dutch team's aerodynamics may have been better, and that the Dutch teams both adopted the Mitsuba motor this year - eliminating one of Tokai's possible advantages from years past.

The Michigan Tumblr is extremely well done - a solid day-by-day account of their race.

Nuon has uploaded a bunch of photos to their Flickr.

EAFIT-EPM made consistent updates to Facebook, including videos.

Punch has posted a race summary blog, and quick video with shots from the race. Of note, Tokai's failed pass of Michigan is shown at 1:16. Also, even though it's from before the race, I can't help linking to this video of Punch's. Truly the best secret weapon in solar car racing.

The University of Adelaide produced this video overview of the race.

Cambridge has finally gone back and made posts for each day of the race.

UKZN posted consistent blog updates with links to video updates on YouTube.

Stanford consistently made blog posts, as did one of their team members. Another team member wrote a big summary post.

Twente had a ridiculously big media crew and consistently posted blogs and videos throughout the race, and has uploaded a ton of great photos to Flickr.

Team Arrow consistently posted updates to Facebook, including some short videos.

Principia posted a short blog each day, and has uploaded a ton of photos to Picasa.

The Anadolu team had a great photographer along on the race; check out their photos on Facebook and Instagram. They also posted some very well produced videos to Facebook.

JU made consistent updates to Facebook and their blog, but only in Swedish.

KIT blogged occasionally, including this post from the 4th day of the race showing the team standing next to the car with a recently-expended fire extinguisher. I wonder what happened here?

Blue Sky has posted a bunch of great photos to Flickr.

Bochum posted a great daily blog, including links to daily videos on YouTube.

SunSpec posted daily videos to Facebook.

Minnesota has posted an in-car video of the departure from Darwin and promises more, once the team returns home.

Eindhoven posted daily videos to YouTube and has uploaded a ton of great photos to Flickr.

UNSW has posted a bunch of photos to Flickr, including some of the aftermath of their gnarly blowout on the final turn of their flying lap during dynamic scrutineering.

6 comments:

  1. Still trying to catch up with all of the post race info but here are a few more.

    NWU also had a team posting daily videos. If you start from her the others will be linked https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHdWy4PTvdU

    There is also an unusually well informed(for a journalist) film that was shown on SA TV last night and is now available online. Unfortunately it cuts out abruptly at the end but hopefully they will put that right sometime soon. http://carteblanche.dstv.com/player/956024

    There are over 700 photos posted here http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/OTd4czbrBwA/2015+World+Solar+Challenge/browse?Page=1

    Goko, surprise surprise, posted a video of a test lap at hidden valley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcI7BCEBiMU&feature=youtu.be

    they were also posting before and after the race on their school website, Japanese of course, with a few decent pictures.

    http://www.goko.ac.jp/

    Nigel

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you introduced to my Website.
    (Could you understand Japanese?)

    I think,25 minutes of penalty of Tokai University is a penalty that has been ruse to the University of Michigan. when racing, They had been runnning at the speed at low speed(80-90km/h). so Tokai Univ.try to overteke them, they speed up more than 100km/h.

    As you know, solar car is not so powerful.
    In such situations ,Such events occurred like that Photo.
    They were made deliberately dangerous situation.

    It is not fair.
    It is not a Brain Sport.

    I only want to tell the truth .

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Interesting view. It seems the WSC may want to think on the topic of overtaking, the circumstances and prescribed behaviour of the teams a bit more before 2017. Each party involved may have a different point of view but it needs to be more clearly monitored and reported by officials in the open. Penalties with justifications should be made public so everyone knows what to do and what not to do. I have so far no heard of any team being penalized for speeding up while being overtaken. Until the officials publish their rulings it will remain in the dark who did what and how the situation was assessed and sanctioned.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree. In the light of these intentional (potential) dangerous situations, Punch' disqualification treat based on a little speeding on a dirt road outside the race feels like much too harsh.
      I feel for them, had they just gotten 10 minutes i.s.o. an hour, they might have been third! (Even with 25 minutes penalty they'd had a 3rd time, but less static charging so may not have been enough.)

      Of course as the good journalist he is, Most Dace has probably already mailed that question at the WSC team, so it's just a matter of time before we get answers - or maybe in two years. :-P

      Next time, I guess I'll have to follow the Bochum Bloch too now I know about it. (And I didn't get enough sleep this time around..)

      Delete
  5. If Ma SHIM's description of the event is correct it is very worrying. It is important for all involved to remember that the event is not a race (that would be illegal) but a challenge.

    I feel that there need to be some more strict protocols laid down before the next challenge. In a situation similar to that described between Tokai and Michigan it would seem that the safest option would be for Tokai to contact Michigan and tell them that they are being held up. They should then offer Michigan the opportunity to speed up. If the offer is declined then it should be incumbent upon the team being overtaken to slow down to allow a safe pass. All of this could be handled by the observers.

    I would also suggest that in a race (challenge) of this distance that teams arriving within, say, two minutes of each other could be considered a dead heat which might discourage dangerous overtaking in the final stages.

    Nigel

    ReplyDelete