Electrathon America Forum

Hi i am a 16 year old racer from centennial e-car team. my first race was at MHCC, and i took 2nd place. my name is Derek Ingwood. I drive car number 25. the first thing i noticed when i was warming up on this track, is it is really rough and will take a toll on your car if not built proper. the ground has plenty of pot holes and it can get pretty bumpy in places. It also has its fare share of sharp turns. We had a substantial amount of cars flipping due to the combo of slippery conditions and sharp turns. but there is an advantage to these ruthless turns and pot holes, and it consereves battery life. Just pick a place to let off the throttle to where you turn sharp but not to sharp, and also you have enough speed to power through the turn. Set a speed you want to reach before you let off and pick a land mark where you let off and you can fly through the turns and save batteries. another thing that i used for my advantage was the light poles in the middle of the track.
    The light poles in the middle of the track had cones around them, and these were essential for passing cars. The strategy i used was when your approaching the light post i match a cars speed and stay right by it and i stay on the inside of the car so im between the other car and the light pole. right before the light pole you fire out infront of him and you just aggressively keep at a steady pace so he does not gain on you again. I passed tons of cars this way but it can be very dangerous to you and your car. Finaly keeping a steady pace and avoiding the rough part of the track.
     As everyone knows that keeping a steady pace may save you a half a race worth of batteries. this is very true and also never slam the throttle. it waste a ton of energy to go from stopped to trying to move very fast, yet there are exceptions for passing. while passing you may very well go as fast as needed to pass someone. once past return you a mild steady pace. Now about the rough parts in the track. this track is extremely rough, but there is always another way to go to avoid the rough parts in the track. It's very important that you avoid the rough parts at all cost because you can literally rattle parts and bolts off your car. allowing you to not race due to mechanical failure.
    these stratigies i kept in my head the whole race and it floated me to second place. just follow these statigies and keep your car in good condition and you too can place at the next race. i hope this helps.