Zips Racing comes out firing on all cylinders!

Hey everyone!

Hope all of our friends are doing well back in the States. We arrived at the racetrack on Monday and have been running around all week.

The first step for us was completing tech inspection. Inspection in Germany is one of the toughest in the world. We ran into a few minor issues that did slow us down a bit, but this event is not scored... However, we did hit the ground running for our static events.

Posting top performances in Cost, Design, and Marketing allowed Zips Racing to feel assured that their hard work and preparation for these events is finally paying off. The past 3 years we have taken a "Money-Ball" approach towards the static events. By this, I mean that we are out to get the maximum amount of points in EACH event. Some teams may blow off Cost or Presentation, but we feel these could be our saving grace at the end of the day. For the first time ever we made Cost finals and the results will come later tonight. I'll make a summary post with all of our results after the awards ceremony.

For me it was very exciting day. Posting a top performance in Cost has been a goal of mine since I starting on the team 5 years ago. My parents, who are celebrating their 40th wedding aniversery decided to plan a European cruise and allow some time in Germany to  watch the race. It was great to walk around the pits with my mom and dad and explain the complexity of this German competition to them both. The picture below is after the autocross race.

After the static events we moved to dynamic events. We surprised ourselves with our performances in Acceleration and Skidpad by landing a top-10 in each of these events. Autocross had some very stiff competition, but we managed to land a top-20. We are hoping that our consistency will push us into a top 10 in endurance and top 20 in fuel economy.

As always, our overall goal is a top-10 finish. But we always keep our sights on a top-5. The competition is SO competitive over here. None the less, we are having a blast and making many friends.

I'm sure I can speak for everyone by saying this. "We're nervous going into the final event, because we know there is a lot riding on the result. We've prepared in every way possible, and have examined the car several times. All we can do now is wait until it is our turn and then lay it on the line."

Stay tuned for another update in the next 24 hours,
Go Zips!

Prost Graz!

Hey Everyone,

Things are going well here in Germany. We are still in Munich this week finalizing some testing before the Hockenheim competition. We've been testing every other day at an old German air-force base, which is now a school for military students who want to study engineering and other professions. We're fortunate to have a nice testing environment again this year located just outside downtown Munich.

Today we packed up the vans and headed back to Austria for some "tourist" activities. We toured AVL, which is the world's largest privately owned company for the development of powertrain systems with internal combustion engines. The things we saw were pretty sweet and very innovative. No photos from the tour. (They'd have to kill us.) Seriously...Anyway, after the tour we went downtown Graz for about an hour to check out the historic town. We got lost and made many wrong turns. In the end we came out with 1 decent photo, and a FREI parking adventure. (FREI in German isn't the same as FREE in the U.S.) It means something more like 8 Euros!

Team in Graz, Austria

After AVL, we headed back toward Germany. Along the way we made a stop at Hangar-7. You need to check out this link! This place was amazing. It was like a candy store for me! You can see one of the photo's below, which is by a Boeing Stearman, one of my favorite airplanes.

Hangar-7 in Salzburg, Austria.

1943 Boeing Stearman

Almost done, I promise...
Finally, after the Hangar-7 tour we headed into the town of Salzburg for dinner. It was one of our best meals of the trip, and also very reasonably priced. We nibbled on salad, bits of Schnitzel, fresh potatoes, and of course accompanied by a few German beverages. After dinner we paraded around town trying to find ice cream. Our adventure almost fell short, however on the last stretch of road we found an ice-cream "bar-club". It was good and a great cap to the evening. I added a couple photos from Salzburg below. Hope to write soon.

Sunset on our way into Salzburg. Trying to find some dinner!

Castle on the hill in Salzburg. Trying to improve on my night photography!

Composure pushes Zips Racing to a top 5 finish!

Hey Everyone,

Wow. What a week in Austria at the Red Bull Ring. Yesterday we finished the day with a stout performance in the Endurance race. Going into the event we were sitting in 6th place against some of the toughest competition in the world. We finished the endurance event in 5th place thanks to the great driving by our two drivers, and the support of the 8 other team members participating at the event.

After the awards ceremony several teams congratulted us on our strong performance. You see, Akron is not too well known around the world, but we are working our way onto their radars. Hopefully in the next 5 years our team can bring another world championship back to Akron.

Tonight arrived back in Munich, Germany and will spend the next week here testing, touring, and sleeping! This week off will allow us to prepare for the tough competition in Hockenheim.

I'll try to update once or twice this week. Hope you all are enjoying the updates.

--Ben

Full steam ahead!

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the delay on the first update, internet has been lacking and we've been keeping busy. So enough of the excuses lets get to the recap...

Zips Racing drove over-night on Monday and arrived to the Red Bull Ring at 4:30am on Tuesday for early registration. Tuesday we prepped the car from its long 3 week journey over seas on the boat. No big issues, just some adjusting and cleaning. Tuesday night we prepared for our static events that would take place on Wednesday. (Design, Cost, & Marketing). For those out there who don't know, our competitions are broken down into two parts, Static and Dynamic. Relating to the names the first couple days we are presenting to panels of judges selling our designs, marketing concepts, and the over all cost of our racecar.

Wednesday morning we woke up with our game faces on ready for a grueling day of judges picking our brains for every bit of knowledge on the ZR-12, our race-car. Our preparation proved to be a success, providing one of our best static performances in Akron history. We achieved top 10 in all static events, which set us up nicely for the moment we all have been waiting for, FIRE em' UP!

1. Design - Tied for 3rd place. (120 points)
2. Cost - 2nd place. (78.8 points)
3. Marketing -  7th place. (64.8 points)

Thursday marked the first day of Dynamic events. This is our chance to throw the car on track and show what its capabilities are against the other competitors. Thursday proved to be another successful day. We competeted in Acceleration, Skid-Pad, and Autocross. Check out the websites on the previous page from a better description.

1. Skid-pad - 7th place ( points)
2. Acceleration - 12 place ( points)
3. Autocross - 9th place ( points)

Today we woke up for the main event, endurance. It is a grueling 22km race against the clock. Nearly 50% of the field will not complete this event. We are on lunch break now as I'm writing this, but will take the track shortly. We're pumped to compete and hoping to bring home a top 10 finish from Austria.

Stay tuned! 

We made it!

We have officially made it back to Germany!

Zips racing arrived early this morning, 7:30am German time. Without hesitation we jumped in a taxi and found a German pub to relieve our taste buds from the long awaited urge of a German beer.

Today we chilled out and rode the train around Stuttgart. Tomorrow morning we plan to head west and pick our race car in Bühl, Germany. In Bühl we will be touring LUK. They are one of our largest sponsors, and help make this trip possible.

After the tour we will drive overnight to Austria for our first competition. Our first race will take place at The Red Bull Ring, which is located in Spielberg, Austria. We are looking forward to a week of racing, Red Bull, and camping festivities. Check out the picture's below for a preview of whats to come!

Zips Racing gearing up for another German tour...

Hey everyone!

Zips Racing is all packed for their second consecutive tour of Germany and Austria.  The car was shipped  via boat about a month ago, and we're planing to board the plane tomorrow at noon. We will be overseas for about 25 days competing in two Formula Student competitions. See the links below for information about the events.

Formula Student Germany              Formula Student Austria

Last year was Zips Racing first attempt in competing in Germany and Austria. It proved to be a success. The team rallied together for two top 15 finishes versus some very tough competition.

While always carrying a professional attitude, we are looking forward to the festivities that will take place. Alongside our German friends from The Technical University of Munich we hope to have a great time. They will be hosting us again this year to offset some of the lodging, transportation, and testing expenses. We are grateful to stay with such a renown university!

Stay tuned - We're ready to compete!

The road-trip of a lifetime!

So far the month of May has been very eventful...

If you have been reading the blog up until this point - we've been to Michigan with the racecar, Haiti for a mission trip, and now my best friend that I met in college, Justin Moore, are embarking on an 8,000 mile roadtrip. We've been planning this trip for almost a year now. Back in September of 2011, we both agreed this would be the best way to end a grueling 5 year college curriculum. Just us, the open road, and wherever we can stay for free!

Late yesterday evening (around 7p eastern standard time) we loaded up a Jeep Liberty and began heading west. First stop, Chicago!

About 6 hours later we landed on the doorstep of the Windy city. Over the last 3 years I've grown to love this city, my life-long best friend, Zach Smith, moved here and has provided a second home for me at times!

Once we got to Chicago we threw on our dress shirts and headed out for a night on the town! This morning we woke up early to check out the city before we get back on the road at 1pm (Ohio time).

Well anyway, heading down the street to grab a quick brunch. Stay tuned, next stop Mount Rushmore!

--Ben

Hammers and Heartbeats!

Hey Gents!

Haiti - Days 3-6...

Fasten your seat belts because the past couple days have been one heck of a ride. In three days I've fixed laptop computers, worked on two vehicles, driven my first Haitian motorcycle, ridden in the back of a dump-truck, saw Jason spit up his lunch over the side of the dump-truck, experienced some amazing views, and been involved in a health Clinic. Yes. A health clinic...My mom would be proud, I was taking blood pressures and everything. You'll be able to read more below! Feedback on the blog would be great :)

 So, where to start? Well the other day I explained in the blog that I had been working on some Haitian electronics. Simple stuff like replacing hard-drives and general servicing. As I worked my way through the stack of computers, it continued to grow. For a minute I was nervous half of Haiti would bring their computers to be fixed...(Okay - a bit of an overstatement, but you get the idea).

On Thursday we made our way to the school and found out we would be traveling up the mountainside to a health clinic. So we hopped into the back of dump truck with ~15 other people and hung on tight. Traveling in Haiti can only be described from first hand experience. There is a mix of adrenaline, fear, and joy all at the same time. Well I'm not sure which of those 3 words got the best of Jason, but after the 1 hour ride he leaned over the side and let loose. There went his lunch....(Sorry for the people with weak stomachs.)

When we got to the health clinic the nurses tried to find a place where I'd fit to help. Well they found just the job, counting... I was in-charge of placing ~50 Haitians inline based on their given prescription cards. Easy right? Not really. I've found that organization down here can be a bit challenging - especially when you don't speak their language. I found a young lady to interpret for me and made it work. Soon after we got the people in line they gave me another job. Record blood-pressures, temperatures, and some visible symptoms (Vitals). For those out there who don't know me, I'm not a nurse... not even close, but my mother is. She'd be proud! When I was in high-school I remember her teaching me how to record blood pressures - it was like riding a bike from there...

After lunch we cleaned up shop and headed back down the mountain. The view was gorgeous. Haiti, despite being considered a "third world country" has such an inner beauty. A beauty one may feel when present in the elements. I guess all I can say is words can't describe it.

Ok - So now I've made it to day 6, which is Friday... Woah. My days are becoming blurred. Hang on readers, I'm almost done. Friday left Jason feeling a bit under the weather so he had to stay back at the beach house to rest. I made another journey up the mountainside to work my final day with the health clinic. Same as yesterday - counted & took vitals. The fun began when I got back into town from the mountain.

When I got back I was able to drive my first Haitian motorcycle. It was quite the treat. My buddy, Ricardo, was driving at first. I leaned over his shoulder and said, "Hey - wanna let this Blanc drive your moto?" he smiled and said of course. Well I drove through the city and rode past a crowd of people who pointed and laughed. About a mile down the road I asked "why were they laughing". He quickly said, "They've never seen a Blanc (American) drive a motorcycle...especially with a Haitian on back." Well lets just say I'm happy I could give them a treat. Rode that motorcycle through a river and everything. Dad you'd enjoy the terrain down here, its wicked!

For those out there still reading, I'm impressed. (Sorry for writing so much.) This will be the last paragraph before I head to bed. Tonight was awesome. Len Gengel, the founder of the Be Like Brit organization made it to Haiti. Why is this important you might ask? Well, first he is such unique person, whom I respect very much. (If you don't know Len or haven't heard of Be like Brit, please look them up on facebook!) Secondly, he brought steaks with him from Massachusetts. Tonight we dined like kings. Steak, Potatoes, Veggies, homemade lemonade, and homemade cookies! What. A. Treat! Now that I have your mouths watering I'm going to watch the sunset.

Good night friends,

--Ben!

Sea Breeze, Sunshine, & Hardwork!

Good Afternoon! or as they say in Haiti, Bon Swa!

Day’s 1-3,

Jason and I made it to Haiti safely Sunday afternoon. Mission of Hope sent a ride to pick us up at the airport, but we almost jumped into the wrong vehicle. The jeep would have taken us to the opposite side of the Island….Pa Bon. (Not Good) Luckily, Ricardo, our Haitian friend recognized my bald-head from our last trip and flagged us down before we motored off into the dust.

 In Haiti, most Haitians normally refer to American’s as Bla’s or blanc’s…This means “white” or a white person. However, when riding down the road I normally hear someone in the distance shout “Tet Kale!” This means The Bald Guy. My bald head is recognized by the Haitians very fondly. Their president, Martelly, is referred to as Tet Kale. Anyway, just thought I’d pass on that interesting tidbit. 

On Monday we began helping with the new school they are building at MOH. Jason and I hammered wooden cages that will be used as forms for main support columns. Cement will be poured into these forms later in the week and will take about 7 days to cure. Once they cure, the forms will be removed and used for the next section of the column.

Later in the afternoon we headed back to the beach house where we are staying. After showering I laid down on the bed not realizing how tired I really was. The sun down here is very intense, it beats you up.  I put a random picture below from out breakfast. Gotta love fresh fruit and homemade bread!

 Today, we got up early, had a refreshing breakfast, and headed back to the school. As we walked through the gates, Pastor Lex pulled me into the office immediately. I was a bit nervous as to why, but it was to do some mechanical & technical work. I was in heaven… I started off on the phone with a Mitsubishi dealerships back in the States trying to locate a crankshaft for a blown engine on their Montero…For those out there who know me, you know that I love fixing things. While bouncing back and forth on phone calls, I was replacing a power supply on a desktop computer, looking over some laptops, and fixing whatever else I could get my hands on!

Well that’s about all I have for ya…I hope to grab the internet sometime later in the week, but until then I’m sending my Love from Haiti. Miss everyone.

Bon Swa,

--Benny!

Shifting Gears!

Good Morning!

Wow...Where to began? The last 4 days myself and the Zips Racing team have been competing in a Collegiate Design competition called Formula SAE. 120 teams come from all over the world to show off their engineering skills and abilities to build a formula 1 style racecar. OK, now that I have your attention...Lets sum up the event. Yesterday, was the final day of the competition, which means the MAIN event! The endurance race is what we all work for...120 cars were apart of our competition this week, and only 49% of the cars finished the endurance event. Below you can see a picture of the race team shortly after the car finished the endurance race.

Later that evening we attended the awards ceremony, and were awarded 13th place overall out of 120 schools. We burnt up a clutch during the autorcross event and scrambled to fix the car for the endurance race. If it wasn't for the breakdown mid-week we most likely would have finished in the top 10... Below you can see a picture of the racecar being torn apart in our paddock.

Ok. Ok. As always, I try to wrap these blogs up pretty quickly...So let me conclude here. This morning I was very lucky to have two amazing friends drive me to the Detroit airport at 4:30am! You might be wondering what for? Well, for the next 9 days I'll be serving in Haiti. I am so excited to head back to their country. It impacted my life so much the last time I visited in 2011. I will try my best to update my blog, but internet is very limited in Haiti. No matter what - know that this is what I love to do... Serving others and seeing people smile!

Well, stay tuned!

--Benny

Formula SAE Competition - Day 1. The early bird gets the worm.

Good evening Ladies and Gents!

After 9 months of anticipation, the ZR-12 made its debut in Michigan this morning.

Zips Racing hit the ground running and proved that: "the early bird does get the worm". The competitors made their way to the track this morning and were a bit surprised when they found the giant Fear The Roo symbol at the front of the line to enter the track. Eager to show off our prized possession (The ZR-12) four brave young men camped out at the gate the night before the track opened... Call it crazy, call it passion, whatever you want to call it... just know we're on a mission!

The first day of competition went fairly smooth. The car passed technical inspection with no major problems. For you "Newbies" out there reading this, Technical Inspection is a one hour rummage through your race-car to find any unsafe parts, vehicles, or drivers. The formula SAE vehicles are built to a set of rules or specifications, and the students are free to design a car in any way, shape, or form....just as long as it meets the rules and passes inspection.

Tonight we are hitting the books preparing ourselves for the "Written-Exams" of our competition. We have 3 static events tomorrow to test the knowledge of our race-car. The events are: Design (150pts), Cost (100pts), and Marketing (75pts). We have been preparing for several weeks, making sure to dot our i's and cross our t's for these Static events. Sometimes the Static events may be overlooked at competition, but let me tell you the points in these events are very important!

Well for now I'm signing off... Finishing the night by studying braking calculations, reviewing tire data, and familiarizing myself with the fundamental vehicle dynamics of our race-car. YAWN. Are you sleeping yet?

Racing starts in two days....Be prepared for the rumble!

--Benny D

"Remember"......Haiti 2 years ago today

Hey everyone,

So I haven't posted since my recent visit to Europe, but today brought a lot of remembering to the country of Haiti. If you didn't know, I traveled there last March with a group of 16 college students to aid in earthquake relief. In May 2012 I am leading my first trip back to Haiti with a group of 8-12 people from my home church. Very excited for this!


As I was going through some of my old photos I came across this video I watched nearly 2 years ago. This video was my first inspiration in serving Haiti. Hope you can check it out.


--Benny D

 

This video is one of the first things that opened my eyes to "GO" and serve the people of Haiti. It's hard to believe the earthquake mangled the country 2 years ago today. Since the earthquake I have been fortunate to meet so many amazing people, and had the opportunity to work with organizations like Mission of Hope International and Be Like Brit! As the song states, "You are not alone"...Some may feel alone at times, but there is always Someone out there! Please remember the people of Haiti today