Winding Road-Sponsored Cornell FSAE Racer Wins 2007 University Of Toronto Shootout
Correspondant-For-A-Day David Porter filed this report from this weekend's big Formula SAE Toronto Shootout, where the No. 72 car Cornell University entrant (sponsored by our humble publication) took home the overall victory:
Formula SAE teams from fourteen universities gathered this weekend at Mosport Park to compete in the annual Toronto Shootout. Formula SAE is a collegiate competition where students design, build and drive small formula-style race cars that compete in competitions around the world. The students are encouraged to innovate within the rules, furthering their education and developing new technologies for the auto industry.
As the full Mosport track was too large for the FSAE cars, the course was set up on the Mosport kart track. The teams got sets of two autocross laps, with only a short break in between. To win overall, each team had to field at least three drivers, with the average of each of the three driver’s fastest times being the team score. In addition, awards were given to the fastest drivers from each team.
An overcast day with chilly temperatures kept lap times in check, but the competition for fastest time was still fierce. Cornell University, the University Of Toronto and Michigan State University traded fast lap times throughout the day. Cornell struck first, posting a 55.3 early in the morning. This lasted until midday, when Toronto and Michigan State both beat the time, posting a 54.6 and a 54.4, respectively. However, Cornell’s David Porter finished the day with the overall fastest time award, lapping at 54.17 seconds.
The overall team award was difficult to gauge throughout the day, as the team times were not released until the end of the day. When the dust settled the WINDING ROAD-sponsored Cornell University team emerged victorious, claiming the overall team title. David Porter, Mike Rooks and Erik Shewan contributed to this team effort. Saginaw Valley State University had a strong showing as a rookie school at the shootout, coming in second. Annual contender Michigan State finished out the podium in third.
Comments
detroit9000
In the interest of, ahem, depth of coverage, this is a subset of the FSAE world, and should not be considered to be "the overall crown" as it were. I could be wrong. I only have a few minutes out of my day to edit/comment blogs.
detroit9000
Looks like Cornell placed 45th in the real competition, which took place in Detroit in May.
detroit9001
The car failed in the 2007 detroit competition. Cornell is still 9 time world champions (out of 21 (I think, I can't count and I have a cold)), which is more than any other school has.
dieselhead
I think the "overall" comment in the article is because the winner of this competition is based on the best group of lap times. detroit9001 is right, the official FSAE World Championship takes place in May in Michigan.
Personally, I think more of these events should be encouraged, and I take my hat off to the University of Toronto for sponsoring another event. Having one event for cars that require a huge effort to design and build is a lot like holding the BCS championship game in early September or the World Series in March.
amgt40
True, Cornell has won 9 times. I would expect no less from a school that recognizes the PR benefit for the engineering program and GIVES CLASS CREDIT to those students that participate on the FSAE team (a fact ironically not often mentioned). This results in a very large team (most populated team picture I ever saw) with lots of hands that must contribute if they want a passing grade.
Want to find the motor-heads that bleed 5W-30. Look to a school that consistently places high but requires the students to work on their own time. More times than not, that group of 7-15 guys will know more about project management and how to get the car on the track, no matter what, than most. Oh, and don't look for clean khakis and pressed golf shirts in the pits either.
Adam W.
I'm more interested in WR's BIG sponsorship.... I guess on a car that small, anything seems "BIG".
dimondjack
True, Cornell does give class credit for the team, but it will count for only an elective or two, and does not help much with their degree. However, this is where Cornell's support of the team ends. Cornell gives no monetary sponsorship to the team, and provides lab space only 1/3 to 1/2 the size of most teams. See the University of Wisconsin's web page to see what a lab should look like.
Michael Jones
Course credit is only fair reward for spending more time on a project than you'll even spend in any other class. While it hardly replaces type of dedication you get from 5W30 oozing gearheads, surely even the gearheads deserve some small carrot for their effort?
It's shocking how many teams don't receive that minimal acknowledgment. But that's hardly something Cornell should be damned for. FSAE is a keystone project that ties together and applies otherwise arcane rote learning into something that actually works. Any program that doesn't reward this with credit is doing their students wrong, IMO. It's probably the most practical credit you earn.
As for money and swag, I remember being next to one school one year that laughed their asses off as our cheap Wal-Mart tent blew off our makeshift attachment to our rental Penske truck. They had a branded trailer with a permanent canopy. Even better shirts, dammit. But we won that year.
Cornell's hardly the least supported school in the competition, but we're not exactly swimming in money, facilities or bling. We're beaten handily in all categories. Thankfully amgt40's comments are largely right - it doesn't guarantee much.
And while Michigan will remain the big show for a while longer at least, it's great to see competitions like this spring up in preparation. Kudos to Toronto for once again organizing a stellar event - they've been doing this for a while now (2002 was the first if I recall right?) and they've always been a class act in hosting it. Given I'm now down the street some, I'll have to drop by and see how things are going in 2008 sometime.
Michael Jones
Cornell Racing 2001-2005
Professor, Communication, Culture and Information Technology, Sheridan College
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