Originally Posted by Team TerraMax

It's hard to describe the emotions that Team TerraMax experienced today because the range was so great.

We experienced the disappointment of being relegated to the 19th position on the race grid over concerns over our size even though we performed spectacularly at the NQE [ed: National Qaulifying Event].

We experienced the excitement over seeing TerraMax leave the starting gate after a year of hard work.

We experienced frustration as our vehicle was enveloped by high winds and debilitating dust - wind and dust that didn't exist during the early runs from the top of the field.

We experienced elation as TerraMax recovered and started eating up the course often reaching top speed of 45mph and, through sections, averaging over 30mph.

Elation turned to more frustration as our vehicle was paused for over an hour while our broken chase vehicle was replaced. With no information except the DARPA provided position map, we began to believe TerraMax had broken down on the course.

Elation again, as we were told of the problem and TerraMax resumed its run toward the finish line, once again eating up the course at a monster pace.

Dissapointment began to set in as TerraMax appears to be developing a problem, speed has decreased dramatically and navigation has become tentative. We won't know the problem until we see it at the finish line.

Our day of ups and downs was ended as DARPA was forced to pause our vehicle with 40 miles to go, as the sun went down.

We look forward to tomorrow with pessimistic optimism.