Mechanical Engineer Students Take Break From the Books: UNB Coaster Derby

A chilly morning in late October did not dampen the spirits of thirty students from the University of New Brunswick’s mechanical engineering department. These students were up before the sun setting up a track on UNB’s campus to race their homemade coaster cars.

Student organizer David Nelson was among those who showed up early to set up the event, and was responsible for checking that the cars met the racing requirements.

“We have seven teams this year that come out with home-built coaster carts that have breaking systems, but no engines and they race down our track that we build on Mackay Drive,” said Nelson.

The derby is an all-day event with a midday lunch break where competitors and spectators have a chance to enjoy a free barbecue lunch. This break also allows competitors to modify their cars before the second half of the day.

Nicolas Weiland, driver of the Red Rover, was one of the competitors that took the lunch break to fix his car to qualify to win in the second half of the day.

During his second run of the day Weiland had an unfortunate incident with one of the barricades set up to challenge cars as they sped down the hill.

“I went into a corner and there was a tire in my way that I didn’t think would be there. I avoided it but then ran into another tire, so it bent the right wheel a bit,” said Weiland.

Thanks to local bike shop Radical Edge, Weiland was able to get his wheel fixed in a matter of just a few minutes. This allowed him to race his car after lunch and earned him first place.

Coming in second was the Hurricane, and in third place was the General Lee. This is the first time in fifteen years that the General Lee did not win first place.

First, second, and third place received cash prizes and the other four teams only got t-shirts. Students stayed until after dusk helping take down the track and were already in talks about next year’s Derby.