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We started the day with a driver's meeting and our technical inspection for the intake. We passed the technical inspection right away and moved on to the fuel fill. When we got the fuel loaded, we moved on to the tilt test and failed due to insufficient fuel in the car.
We had to go back to the fuel station and get some more. Round two… got on the tilt and they lifted us 45° and the fuel was spilling out of the fuel cap. Luc made some wonders and fixed the problem in a finger snap… got back for round three! Passed the 45° test, then the 60° test and we were given the second sticker of technical inspection! We were on our way for the last test of technical inspection… the noise test. After changing Denby's mufflers to the RR mufflers, we were off for noise. When we got there, we experienced problems with the ECU; the connectors weren't working properly as they were touching. The car was brought back to the paddock and was examined by the great Miles Van Steelant. Luc was suddenly missing files from his USB stick and had to find wireless to download some programs. It was time to go to the design presentation. We had done our posters the night before and needed some stands… I ran to Michigan State to see if they had some but they were at design at the same time as us. On the way back to our paddock, we ran into a team with, coincidently, 8 poster stands! We borrowed them and we were off. Design was great, I made sure no judge was left alone! After the design presentation, we finally got the car running and went to the noise test, passed it, and went for braking test. Locked up all fours and we're good to go! Our third and final sticker! We brought the car back to the paddock with a leak in the pneumatic system. We decided to go to cost before repairing. Cost went very well. After that we fixed the car and relaxed until the Sales presentation. Word was that Keith and Sean had done a good job… we'll have to see… At 5:30 the names of the design semi-finalists were given by intercom. The name of Michigan State was the first to be mentioned, later the name of South Dakota was given, which made us uncomfortable as they were shooting the breeze with us at our paddock… The next name was the University of Manitoba!! I looked up at Luc, he did the same. A moment of silence as we looked around… We let out a great exclamation and we were off to the semi-finals for the first time in the history of UofM!!! We were there for a good two hours!! Valuable information for the years to come was acquired! We left the grounds at 8:00 and went for some supper at the great Outback Steakhouse. On our way back, we looked at the results on the forums and realized that we were tied for 4th place!! The best result ever attained by the UofM!! The best car so far was the 2004 which finished 21 in design. Now tomorrow, we are to perform in the Autocross, Acceleration and Skidpad events. Hopefully, we do well and we need the most support that we can! Jared Conway was present during our big day supporting us as much as he could! Tune in for upcoming updates… |
