Journey through Germany

Hey Yall!

Not too much time to update, but I'll type till my fingers are numb....

Yesterday departed early morning for the Austria competition. Approx 8:30am. The drive was really amazing. I'll put a picture below, but it won't describe the beauty of the mountains. About 5 hours later we arrived at Red Bull Ring.

We quickly unloaded our box truck and began setting up our paddock and camp.  We were the second team to attempt tech judging, but didn't have enough time to finish last night... So we packed up the paddock and headed out to the campsites for fesitivies.

Today we woke up at 6:45. (Not too pleasant...) Anyway by 8:00am they began tech again. At 8:30 Maddy and I headed to presentation event. It went well, but one thing is for sure...The German's/Austrian's expect nothing but your A-game!


At 11:30 we prepared the car for the cost event. Surprisingly we have one of the less expensive car's here. The German's are known for their crafty composite work, which is very pricey.

Lastly, at 2:30pm we headed to one of the most challenging events. Design. We seemed to hold our own definding our design, but the results have not been posted yet for any of the events.

All-in-All it has been a great two days so far. Fast Paced, but fun. We look forward to starting the engines tomorrow and heading onto the track. Logan, Kevin, and Dustin will be suiting up for us and driving: Acceleration, Skid-Pad, and Autocross. If I can ill post some results....

Anyway getting ready to head out to the campsite for another fun night.


Cheers! or Prost in German.

Practice...Practice...Practice!

Until the late hours of the evening we laid rubber down on the Audi test track with our friends from TU Fast Racing. Our car is proving to be a threat as we continue to record competitive lap times. We feel very lucky to have the opportunity to test before the competitions. Racing is in the forecast for tomorrow. Below see a picture of the ZR-11 as we finished our final day of testing. 

After testing we went to a really authentic Italian restaurant. I had Pesto and a glass of Lambrusco, two of my favorites. After dinner we were all able to get a full nights rest. It felt amazing. Today is a pretty relaxed day since we are only cleaning and packing the car for our first competition in Speilberg, Austria.

Well anyway I’m going to continue practicing our marketing presentation for the remainder of the day. Tomorrow morning at 8am we hit the winding roads to Austria.  I’ll start posting pictures of Munich and the Alps on Facebook soon.

The City Scene

T-minus 3 days. Yesterday our team worked hard to get the ZR-11 back on its feet and running. The process of grooving the new axles took longer than expected, but we are all happy this failure occurred before competition.

Around 8pm we all took a break from the shop and headed to the finest part of Munich for dinner. This part of the city was beautiful, and the architecture was amazing. (Below see a picture on the square in Munich with our German Friends)

After dinner we continued to work on the racecar late into the night. Around 4:00AM we buttoned everything up and finally headed to bed. Three hours later we rose to test the ZR-11. As expected, the closer we get to competition the more on edge we all are, but the clock is ticking! Enough for today...

Take care!

--Benny!

Opa!

Well the past 24hours certainly have been interesting.  Shortly after I updated my blog yesterday we ran into a pretty large failure with the car. Here’s a watered down version of what happened:

“The team was getting ready to practice Skid-Pad, an event at competition Right as they launched the car it made a “popppp” sound. Shortly after that we noticed the left rear axle had failed. To this point we are still unsure what exactly caused the failure.  Luckily we have packed spare axles, but unfortunately we will have to finish machining it before it can be used on the racecar. “

Anyway… after assessing the problem the team packed up shop around 9pm and headed to a local restaurant, hence the title Opa! If you haven’t figured it out yet, it was a Greek restaurant. The food was very good, and they gave us free shots of ouzo. surprise...surprise.

By the time our waiter divvied our checks its was already 11:30pm. Yawn! But Germany the night had just begun.  So we sat at a dinner table for 15 minutes trying to understand the “game plan” our German friends were scheming.  This has been the hardest transition thus far. Part way through a conversation our friends well change their language and we are immediately lost. Anyway before I get too far off topic you can imagine what we did next… headed back to the university for a long night of board games: Monopoly, scrabble, Catch Phrase, ect… Cough. Cough. Cough.

 Thats all for now!

--Benny!

Jet laggin!

Guten Morgen!

Actually it is afternoon here, but I'm guessing it is about 8am in the States. Our team rose early this morning to finish assembling the car and head to the private Audi test track. (Located near the Munich Airport). We ran into a few minor problems, but the car seems to be running pretty sound. This is surprising since we haven't seen the car since early June. 

At lunch time Maddy headed back to the University to practice our marketing presentation. So here I sit writing this blog and the title of it says it all.... Tired! We are all feeling the Jet lag, but we know this testing time is crucial.

The weather has been pretty crappy. Ran mostly, with bits and pieces of sun. Our team isn't complaining though. Ran testing is very important. The countdown has begun. T-minus 4 days until we head to Austria for the first competition. We have plans to relax this evening, and drink some Augustiner beer. Augustiner is a famous  brewery in Munich. Very tasty!

Anyway I must go now. Practice. Practice. Practice!

Love BennY

On Your Mark..... Get Set... GO!

Hey Everyone!

First off, we made it to Germany safely. One word so far, amazing. We've only been here about an hour and already drove on the Autobahn.... 125MPH. (Sorry mom)

The flight was not too bad and our German friends from The University of Munich were waiting for us at the terminal. Four of my teamates headed northwest to LUK, Buhl to pick up our rental truck and racecar. The rest of us are hanging out on Munich's campus for the remainder of the day. 

Another cool perk of being in Germany is they sell beer on campus. Hmmm...to think the German Engineers are some of the brightest in the world? You can connect the dots....

Anyway thats all for now. Talk soon.

--Love Benny

Disaster & Devistation are Among us! Dig-in to serve the ones in need!

Good Morning Friends!

I want you all to pause momentarily, close your eye and relax for 5 seconds.  Now that you have opened your eyes look around the room what do you see? Everything is the same, calm, and unchanged. Now imagine doing that again, but when you re-open your eyes there is nothing to be found. No walls around you, no roof over your head, and all your possessions scattered in a 1 mile radius.

I remember being about 8 years old and playing with LEGO's almost about everyday. I'd build car's, little cities, fort's, etc. As soon as I was done playing I'd ram my fist into the buildings and topple the entire city in a matter of seconds!

Next weekend I'm organizing a trip to Joplin Missouri to serve people in need. I will be leaving Thursday June 2nd around 6pm and returning Sunday June 5th around 11pm-Midnight. My plan is to get down there early Friday morning and work all day. After a hard days work, get rest and do it all over again on Saturday. Sunday morning I plan on heading to a local church before our return home. I have been in contact with a few churches trying to find shelter while we stay there.

The intent behind this trip is to love, impact, and serve those families in need. I know this trip is last minute, but please keep our fellow Americans in your hearts. At a moments notice disaster can occur and we may be called to respond!

"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy."


--Love Benny!