How do you choose a name?

We here at BYR have spent a of time lately brainstorming vehicle names for our new rig. Over the past six years we've stuck to a Formula 1 inspired naming system:

• 2003 - O-Three (entered as Bendigo Bank BYR)
• 2004 - BY-04
• 2006 - BY-06
• 2007 - BY-06 MkII
• 2008 - BY-08

We are proud of our history, but are now consulting the dictionary for some new terms. 'Consulting' is a loose term, since it involves opening to any page and pointing with a finger.

How do you choose a name? Let us know in the Comments section.

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This process has also made me reflect today about team names of the past and I think they tend to fit into a few different categories:

'Noble' Names
These names draw on inspirational qualities or characteristics and tend to end in 'ous'
Some examples include Tenacious, Intensus, Alchemy, Conquistador, Rampage, Intrepid, Rapacious.

'Race Team' & Sponsored Names -
The team might be sponsored or wanting to add a professional touch.
eg. DAS Racing, Bendigo Bank BYR, Trend Ice.

Names with 'you-had-to-be-there' in-jokes -
Over the journey of building the vehicle, the team have had a share experience or joke that has stuck.
Eg, 'Molten Chicken' (BSSC 2001), Parade College's 'Big Papa' (2008) or Highview's '3-Nil' (2006)

'Fun' for the heck of it Names -
For those times when it all gets a bit too serious, it's great to know there are prepared to put a shoe in the front of the vehicle and call it 'The Shark', or Bendigo Senior's 'Bukkamalzir', 'The Battered Sav' or 'Grug'.

Acronym & Alphanumeric Names -
Using the flexibility of the English language, teams have been exploiting this one for years!
Flora Hill's 'WAMTOS' (We Actually Made This Ourselves) and 'Carbon8' or Padua College's 'XLR8' are some famous examples.

Characteristic names -
Here you take a unique aspect of a vehicle and incorporate it into the team name.
A four wheeler called 'N4Sir' or a front wheel drive, rear wheel steer vehicle with a differential called 'Moby Diff' or a half composite monocoque/half cromo-framed hybrid called 'Half-Coqued'.

Traditional School Names -
Year in, year out this school photocopies the previous entry form and sends it in, sometimes with some small variation for 'fun'.
A bit confused? Think the Wonthaggi 'Wizards', Berwick 'Fire____', Aberfoyle 'Hubcaps', St Therese's 'Eco Racers'

So, how do you choose a name?

Read on...

2009 Vehicle Update

The construction of the 2009 Bendigo Youth Racing vehicle is on track for the Australian International Pedal Prix which will be underway in only 12 weeks time.

The team is continuing to gather momentum with with last night's work session resulting in the second half of our fairing being produced ,after making the right side of the vehicle last weekend. The lay up went very smoothly with BYR's Nigel Preston adding "Having 10 guys there to lay up the canopy certainly makes light work of it" and with the job done by 10pm, it was time for knock off for some, which is by far the earliest we have finished up a build session this year with our work sessions usually continuing past the 1am mark. The 09 fairing is considerably more rigid that the model that everyone saw was in a bad way at day break during last years AIPP. So as a result the vehicle will be heavier than last year but in our opinion its good weight to have. Stay tuned for more vehicle and team updates as thing start to heat up in the lead up to September's race.

Read on...

Training with a difference

(Above: Training out of the cold)

Bendigo Youth Racing riders have taking training matters into our own hands during the very cold start to the 2009 winter, with the mercury finnaly reaching 1 degree by 9am with a high of only 9 degrees yesterday. So instead last night's training session was held on Chooka's back veranda on our wind trainers with the heater cranking to try and escape the icy cold conditions out on the open roads around Bendigo. BYR's Deven Pearce saying after the training session "Why go riding out in the cold an end up sick when you can get the same result out of the weather inside". Bendigo Youth Racing's vehicle construction and training is gaining momentum with the Big one in September only a touch under 4 months away.

Read on...

Chris Crowe

Well our next profile report is all about our dedicated Pit Chief Crowey, who has been the go to man in the BYR pits since joining the team for the 2004 AIPP. As well as being a CAD Master who is responsible for drawing up almost every part of our 2009 Vehicle.

Crowey Hard at work for BYR.

1) Age?
A metric 23

2) Where do you live?
In Ormeau QLD, Home of the torrential downpour.

3) What is your job and where do you work?
I have just started work for PWR performance products in sunny QLD, as a draftsman/designer.
4) Number of Races both ridding and and in pits?
About 15 races all up, most from pit lane, making sure the wheels keep on turning, although I did ride in '06 and '09 at "thaggi".

5) As a draftsman how do your skills on Computer Aided Design (CAD) benefit BYR?
It can come in handy at times being able to draw up parts for the bike to give us an idea of whether they'll fit or not before we make them.

6) As Cheif Pit Crew of BYR you have been at alot of races over the years. What is your best memory/moment from HPV Racing?
There's been a lot of good memories from past events, Probably one of the highlights has been some of the really close clean fast racing we've had with a couple of teams over the years, when we've been battling lap for lap, that's always been good fun to track from pitlane.

7) What is the best thing about being involved in BYR?
The best thing about BYR for me is being apart of a team of highly motivated, passionate individuals who all strive for the same goal and achieve special things throughout the journey. Its the mateship as much as it is the building of the vehicles that really makes it worth putting a 150% in.

8) What is the Hardest part about BYR?
The hardest part at the moment is not being able to spend as much time working on the bike as i'd like too, damn the person who hasn't invented light speed travel and longer weekends. (enter fist waggle here)

9) And Finally BYR don't promote crashes but they are an unavoidable part of our sport. What is the most spectacular crash you have been involved in or seen?Probably one of the worst crashes that I saw the after math from was probably in '06 when floata careered into channel 7 corner, apparently barrell rolling a couple of times. It would have been pretty impressive to see. (PS for any of the punters out there that happen to have any photos of that crash please email to chooka at jhendo3@hotmail.com , it would be good to actually see it.)

Watch this space for more updates in the coming weeks.
Read on...

2009 Vehicle Construction Update

Well we thought it was about time that we responded to the rumours going around about just what BYR is going to turn up to Murray Bridge with. Construction has been under way since February, as we work silently on our creation into the early hours of every Saturday morning out in shed, or as we like to call it the "Dream Factory". However for the time being our new Carbon Fibre weapon goes under the name of BY-Haven't though of a Name Yet. Here's the report put together by BYR Technical Director Daryl King.

Pictures: The raw composite materials and the cross member jig.

Construction of BYR’s new vehicle is now in full swing. Having conducted detailed testing and analysis on last year’s vehicle we have determined some key goals and objectives for our 2009 vehicle. The team is currently prototyping a number of key innovations that will hopefully deliver a vehicle that can be a strong contender at Murray Bridge.Modifications are to largely centred on the reliability and durability of the vehicles canopy that was a key weakness of the 2008 vehicle. A more effective demisting system has also been a top priority with significant effort going in to testing prototype systems. Increased breaking capacity has also been increased with newly designed hubs that will deliver 40% more breaking power.

Early construction work on the canopy has seen materials testing conducted on various combinations of canopy materials and techniques. Complementing the new materials and construction techniques will be small aerodynamic tweaks. The flow of air over and around the rear of the vehicle will change as well as the profile of the external roll bar.
Technical modifications are likely to result in improvements to the chassis, steering and drive system. Improvements will include the use of more composites in some areas of each system as well as the refinement of these systems in order to produce small efficiency gains.
The vehicle is likely to be significantly heavier than previous vehicles, but with more vehicles on the track than ever before the resulted strength is more than warranted. Stay tuned for further updates on the progress of BYR’s new vehicle.

Daryl King
Technical Director Bendigo Youth Racing onstruction

Read on...