Students from Blue Hills Regional Technical School’s electric racing team recently participated in the 2008 Connecticut Electrathon Challenge, setting a new school record for number of laps completed.
Electrathon is a unique type of marathon in which teams drive electrically-powered vehicles as far as possible for one hour on a closed-loop course using a specified amount of battery power. Electrathon America events are held across the country and are intended to showcase the skill and ingenuity of the participants, heighten public awareness of energy-efficient vehicles, and offer safe, affordable opportunities for competition.
The 2008 Connecticut Electrathon Challenge took place at Lime Rock Park on a quarter-mile course with elevation changes. The Blue Hills Regional Technical School electric racing team set a new Blue Hills record, scoring 102 laps with its newly-modified electric racer. Blue Hills was in the running for the top slot and was only eight laps shy, coming in third place during the first heat of the day, with the winning vehicle coming in at 110 laps.
The Blue Hills vehicle performed flawlessly. When other teams were out due to mechanical or power problems, Blue Hills was running strong right up to the checkered flag.
Rookie drivers Derek Lagasse (Randolph) and John McDonald (Canton) performed extremely well hugging the curves and finding their line.
Pit-crew members Joseph Girouard (Dedham), Dan Zaleski (Avon) and Anthony Soto (Milton) kept the car running at peak performance.
On site support team members Robert Myers (Braintree), Reese Benson (Randolph) and Bryan Powers (Randolph) provided valuable assistant throughout the day. Team advisors included Jill Bearse, Bryan Griffin, Rick Montgomery, Bill Lagasse, and Manuel Cerqueira.
