here's the better part...
The team reached Pitampur (Indore) on 19th dec 2007, i was away for getting a new pair of rims and the vehicle was partially assembled when i reached the site...we had dissembled the vehicle in order to avoid damage..The assembly was done by next day's noon...the brakes problem still haunted us...thankfully an onsite mahindra technician was there....he told us that it was just a matter of tightening spring screws :) ...that was for drum brakes...we had to pass a brake test for eligibility...drum brakes worked fine...but one of the front ones acted weird...it was sorted out by adding some packing material... (susheel's genius did it)
The accommodation provided there deserves a mention...tents were provided and green carpets were laid down everywhere and 2 bathrooms and washbasins were setup, fans as well...it was neat...only annoying thing was the erratic water supply...The site was located near pitampur and we had to solve the labyrinth of roads to reach that place...i wud advise the baja committee to place a few more sign boards and everything will be perfect then...
22nd was the day for dynamic events...brake test, hill climbing, acceleration (speed) and maneuverability test...we thought we wud do well in hill climbing and acceleration as we had the second lightest vehicle at 260kgs...but we got it utterly wrong...it all came down to proper gear shifting and our shifter was not smooth...susheel was the driver for for brake and speed tests...Amit was given a chance with hill climbing and we didnt do well there either clocking 8 or 9th place...we had an awesome steering system which had a low turning radius and managed to get second in maneuverability test...team was delighted and got ravenous for prizes!!! :P
Susheel's health deteriorated a bit and Amit took over...Next up was the main event the endurance test...16 laps of nearly 4 km each...Position at the start grid was based on the speed test...so we started at 14th...in the meanwhile a spares team was ready with the tools at the Pitstop...
Here we go now...on ur mark get set go!!
Amit was coolness personified as he started off well...a few cars were left behind who had some starting trouble...as they say well begun is half done...Amit expertly overtook a few cars and came up to 7th place in first lap...Then there was that moment of inspiration as he overtook 2 more cars like i have never seen before...no not even formula1...by the end of 2nd lap we were at third position...
Amit tried to keep it calm and patiently drove at consistent speed and it paid off..we reached 2nd position at around 5th lap or so...The race leader was far ahead of us and we were kind of happy with second finish...then suddenly at 9th lap...the PEC (pune engg college) took a pitstop...that was a shocker...!!!!
Yes we were numero uno...But the pune guy was catching up fast...and that shud be attributed to both the driver and the innovative chain drive system they used...it worked perfectly...that fat guy looked like lazy but was totally up to the task! The race was nowhere close to formula in terms of tech or speed but was more than upto the mark with enthu, passion and team spirit...Thr was lots of fist pumping goin on...The team members acted as cheerleaders encouraging the driver...
And then this happened...it was one of those saddest possible situations to be in...i didnt feel that sad even when i didnt clear IIT screening! PEC guy bumped into our car while amit was taking a turn, impact shock had its toll on the vehicle & the steering wheel came off and the car just went straight and amit had to halt...the spares team ran off and fixed it with some makeshift screws...it was done and car was back in action...but we had lost the first place :(
We thought of complaining the incident to the stewards later...We just waited and waited and there was no signal watsoever from amit for a pitstop...the plan was to have a no-stop strategy and it worked fine apart from the wheel wobbling which gave a scare!
It was all over and we stood second...Amit was not happy inspite of 2nd place finish and we went to the race stewards...they explained very politely that mistakes do happen and many of the teams would have been disqualified for violating the rules...
yeah we used a few components which were not upto the standards...most of the teams did do this...so the stewards were lenient as they didnt want to disrupt the first time event...
Amit broke into tears for not clinching the top podium place and the big boy cried :) well..to be honest the PEC guy deserved wat he got and if not for the pit stop, first place was out of question...all were totally exited and pumped eagerly awaiting the prize ceremony...Narain kartikeyan was the guest of honour...cudnt beleive it...
The event director started off with an ecstatic speech...and then several speeches followed and Narain gave a short n crisp speech urging the young engineers to build on these kind of platforms and then the better part..prizes...we had to wait a while for our turn...as we didnt do particularly well in the innovation section or good looks of the car...
But we managed runnersup in overall standings, maneuverability and endurance test...The prize money was huge ...to the tune of lakhs..dont want to mention the actual amount here :P...Then the big photosession happened where everyone was at their actor's best for the poses with trophies and the cheque replica...Everyone was just on top of the world...That was one of my rare cloud9 moments...
Lots of yippee and hurray happened...we just packed and dispatched the vehicle back in a lorry as we were richer by certain lakhs :D
To be frank we didnt really expect to win anything...we had a target of top ten or top fifteen finish...we just didnt want to let our college down...But it had to be story of underdogs who came out on top...
Better late than never..i wanted to perpetuate these memories and hence the blog!
Here's the team :amit, rupak, pratik, aggu (kushal (1)), aiyaz bhai. kushal, pandey, mallya, ansvad, adi, jojo and jha
And without the support and guidance of our faculty advisors, who generously helped us in spite of their tight schedule,it wud have never been a reality. Alumni association helped us with a starter fund, and i wud like to make a special mention of non teaching staff who were kind & helped us in everyway they could...and last but not at all least..my college NITK and my mech department.
Now the baton has been passed on to the next batch...I am sure we seniors will have a ride and make our convocation even better!!!
The team reached Pitampur (Indore) on 19th dec 2007, i was away for getting a new pair of rims and the vehicle was partially assembled when i reached the site...we had dissembled the vehicle in order to avoid damage..The assembly was done by next day's noon...the brakes problem still haunted us...thankfully an onsite mahindra technician was there....he told us that it was just a matter of tightening spring screws :) ...that was for drum brakes...we had to pass a brake test for eligibility...drum brakes worked fine...but one of the front ones acted weird...it was sorted out by adding some packing material... (susheel's genius did it)
The accommodation provided there deserves a mention...tents were provided and green carpets were laid down everywhere and 2 bathrooms and washbasins were setup, fans as well...it was neat...only annoying thing was the erratic water supply...The site was located near pitampur and we had to solve the labyrinth of roads to reach that place...i wud advise the baja committee to place a few more sign boards and everything will be perfect then...
22nd was the day for dynamic events...brake test, hill climbing, acceleration (speed) and maneuverability test...we thought we wud do well in hill climbing and acceleration as we had the second lightest vehicle at 260kgs...but we got it utterly wrong...it all came down to proper gear shifting and our shifter was not smooth...susheel was the driver for for brake and speed tests...Amit was given a chance with hill climbing and we didnt do well there either clocking 8 or 9th place...we had an awesome steering system which had a low turning radius and managed to get second in maneuverability test...team was delighted and got ravenous for prizes!!! :P
Susheel's health deteriorated a bit and Amit took over...Next up was the main event the endurance test...16 laps of nearly 4 km each...Position at the start grid was based on the speed test...so we started at 14th...in the meanwhile a spares team was ready with the tools at the Pitstop...
Here we go now...on ur mark get set go!!
Amit was coolness personified as he started off well...a few cars were left behind who had some starting trouble...as they say well begun is half done...Amit expertly overtook a few cars and came up to 7th place in first lap...Then there was that moment of inspiration as he overtook 2 more cars like i have never seen before...no not even formula1...by the end of 2nd lap we were at third position...
Amit tried to keep it calm and patiently drove at consistent speed and it paid off..we reached 2nd position at around 5th lap or so...The race leader was far ahead of us and we were kind of happy with second finish...then suddenly at 9th lap...the PEC (pune engg college) took a pitstop...that was a shocker...!!!!
Yes we were numero uno...But the pune guy was catching up fast...and that shud be attributed to both the driver and the innovative chain drive system they used...it worked perfectly...that fat guy looked like lazy but was totally up to the task! The race was nowhere close to formula in terms of tech or speed but was more than upto the mark with enthu, passion and team spirit...Thr was lots of fist pumping goin on...The team members acted as cheerleaders encouraging the driver...
And then this happened...it was one of those saddest possible situations to be in...i didnt feel that sad even when i didnt clear IIT screening! PEC guy bumped into our car while amit was taking a turn, impact shock had its toll on the vehicle & the steering wheel came off and the car just went straight and amit had to halt...the spares team ran off and fixed it with some makeshift screws...it was done and car was back in action...but we had lost the first place :(
We thought of complaining the incident to the stewards later...We just waited and waited and there was no signal watsoever from amit for a pitstop...the plan was to have a no-stop strategy and it worked fine apart from the wheel wobbling which gave a scare!
It was all over and we stood second...Amit was not happy inspite of 2nd place finish and we went to the race stewards...they explained very politely that mistakes do happen and many of the teams would have been disqualified for violating the rules...
yeah we used a few components which were not upto the standards...most of the teams did do this...so the stewards were lenient as they didnt want to disrupt the first time event...
Amit broke into tears for not clinching the top podium place and the big boy cried :) well..to be honest the PEC guy deserved wat he got and if not for the pit stop, first place was out of question...all were totally exited and pumped eagerly awaiting the prize ceremony...Narain kartikeyan was the guest of honour...cudnt beleive it...
The event director started off with an ecstatic speech...and then several speeches followed and Narain gave a short n crisp speech urging the young engineers to build on these kind of platforms and then the better part..prizes...we had to wait a while for our turn...as we didnt do particularly well in the innovation section or good looks of the car...
But we managed runnersup in overall standings, maneuverability and endurance test...The prize money was huge ...to the tune of lakhs..dont want to mention the actual amount here :P...Then the big photosession happened where everyone was at their actor's best for the poses with trophies and the cheque replica...Everyone was just on top of the world...That was one of my rare cloud9 moments...
Lots of yippee and hurray happened...we just packed and dispatched the vehicle back in a lorry as we were richer by certain lakhs :D
To be frank we didnt really expect to win anything...we had a target of top ten or top fifteen finish...we just didnt want to let our college down...But it had to be story of underdogs who came out on top...
Better late than never..i wanted to perpetuate these memories and hence the blog!
Here's the team :amit, rupak, pratik, aggu (kushal (1)), aiyaz bhai. kushal, pandey, mallya, ansvad, adi, jojo and jha
And without the support and guidance of our faculty advisors, who generously helped us in spite of their tight schedule,it wud have never been a reality. Alumni association helped us with a starter fund, and i wud like to make a special mention of non teaching staff who were kind & helped us in everyway they could...and last but not at all least..my college NITK and my mech department.
Now the baton has been passed on to the next batch...I am sure we seniors will have a ride and make our convocation even better!!!
1 comment:
U guys have made our college proud ..all the best maga
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