2018 Portland Adult Soapbox Derby (Page 1 of 2)

Scuderia Kouba successfully completed registration for 3 entries this year! Watch for the return of the 2017 winning car the MKI, running number 1 this year. Last year's Formula 8 winner will return as the number 8 car, and the newest Scuderia Kouba car the MKV will display the number 36.

I had the understanding that the #1 was reserved for the winning driver, not the winning car.  Am I going to have to win again this year to get it back now?

That quote was what I put down when we registered.  Except for the chick part.

SPY Shots from the Scuderia Kouba shop!

The construction of the MKV is nearing completion. The 4 wheel entry challenge has been accepted!

Thanks Doc.  I am quite pleased with how it's coming together so far.  I think it has pretty good potential for the event. 

I think Bill's assessment of "nearing completion" is slightly optimistic though.  I'll be working on it in fits and spurts, and we have other upgrades which the Mk I and II will need prior to competing this year (brakes!!!), so LOTS of work to keep us busy!

Just got the timeline for the BBQ on Saturday. We need to have the cars unloaded and set up by 9:30am. I am planning to arrive at the event at 8:30am. Our sponsor is setting up a canopy for our use. The event runs from 10:00am until 4:00pm. I could still use some help unloading and reloading the cars on the trailer. Any help would be appreciated even if you can only make it for a little while in the morning for set up or a little while around 4:00pm to reload the cars. ======Bill Bostic

That would be great Mitch! I know I will need some help getting the cars off of the trailer!

Thank you very much! See you at 8:30am!

======Bill

Wow, looks like the weather even cooperated!  Nice job all.

Hey y'all,

I just received an email from the PASD organizers. Registration for volunteers will be open to the public in a week or so. Registration for volunteers who are volunteering for TEAMS is open now. Folks that volunteer for a team have the advantage of signing up for the more popular volunteer positions. If volunteers wait too long they get stuck with the less desirable positions! Our past experience in acquiring volunteers for our teams has been somewhat dismal. We have a few team members that step right up but I hate to burden the same folks every year. It would be nice to establish a bigger pool to draw from.  We need 1 volunteer for each car/team. In all Scuderia Kouba needs 3 volunteers again this year. We have had previous discussions regarding volunteers for this year's race, but I would like to get our volunteer registration completed and have responsible and dependable folks in place. Once we get this step officially completed I can worry about other things! If we come up short I can volunteer for the tow back crew again this year. Please let me know if you are interested in volunteering so I can keep track of how many people are interested and or how many people have actually signed up. I can not sign people up they must complete the registration themselves. Also please keep in mind if you are volunteering, in addition to your position or duties on race day, volunteers must attend one of the volunteer meetings held before the day of the race.

Here is a portion of the email i received from the PASD organizers including the link to the website for volunteers to sign up:

So, that being said…volunteers.  The volunteer registration will be open to the public in a week or so.  We give the teams the first crack at sign-ups because some of the more desirable positions go quickly.  There are very few volunteer positions that are not on race day or during the actual race.  We need all the hands we can get on the mountain on race day.  I get numerous requests every year to find a team volunteer a position that is not during the actual race.  It would be awesome if we could do that but alas, the race must go on.  Below you will find the link to register your volunteer for their position.  Again, the sooner you register the more choices you have for your volunteer position.

https://fs19.formsite.com/mttaborsoapbo … index.html

Thank you all!

==========Bill

Indeed, we are making progress with the fleet.  Brakes look promising based on the work we did Thurs and I ran the Mk V down the back hill yesterday to a top speed of 38 (which is faster than the Mk I went back there).  In addition, bodywork is being worked on and we're getting ready for testing next Friday.

Next up are wheel disks all around and then skirts to go over the front wheels altogether.

Looking good though!

We are taking a head count for this Friday's (July 13) test session. We are planning for a full day of testing at our Dufer site with all three cars, the MKI (last year's PASD winner), the MKII, and the brand new MKV. The MKII can accommodate a variety of driver sizes (because I'm a pretty fat kinda guy) so guest rides will be available. Anyone that would like to ride along with Chris or I for the full day are welcomed. If you would like to come out in your own car for the day or even a partial day that would also be great. We will be using onboard GPS devices to record data from changes in the car's set ups, and to compare car's performance with last year's records. As with last year's testing I'm sure lunch and possibly even dinner will be worked in somewhere, sometime. We had a lot of fun testing last year and I'm sure this test session will be no different. So if you can and would like to come out please let me know.

Scuderia Kouba had a great test session on Friday July 13th. The day started early at our normal meeting place, The Stagecoach Saloon. After Chris, Bethany, Jenny, Jeff, Jessy, Johnny, Dennis, Beau, and I had breakfast we all headed out on the long drive to our secrete (OK maybe not too secrete) testing site.

The MKI, MKII, and MKV all performed well. The speeds posted by the MKI were equal to or slightly better than the speeds posted during last year's testing. The MKII speeds were down but only by 1 mph. The big news for the MKI and MKII were the brakes. The new brake systems adapted to both cars vastly improved their braking ability, a welcomed improvement! But the star of the show was the new MKV! On its maiden run the MKV posted a speed 2 mph faster than anything previously posted by the MKI or MKII. That is impressive! The front braking system on the MKV also worked very well. There was only one minor incident throughout the day of testing. A slight equipment malfunction with one of the wheel pants on the MKI on the tow back from one of the test runs almost put Jenny into the ditch. Thankfully her lightning quick reactions kept the car on the tarmac and she got it stopped safely.

It was a hot day but we were blessed with a nice cool breeze for most of the day. We made over 6 runs throughout the day and recorded some good data. More car improvements were planned as well as a few minor repairs. That's why these test sessions are so important and one reason Scuderia Kouba performs well on race day! We test hard, we make adjustments during test and record the test data. We break stuff on test day hoping to eliminate breakage and poor performance on race day! And we have great team members helping out with the entire process! Without our awesome team members Scuderia Kouba would not exist. A great big thanks to Bethany, Jenny, Dennis, Beau, Jessy, and Johnny for all their help in making this test day a success! And of course, THANK YOU to Chris and Jeff for building us these awesome toys!

Unloading at the test site.