 BROOKLYN,
MI (May 10-12, 2012) -- For the third consecutive year, students from Oregon State
University teamed up with students from Duale Hochschule Baden-Wurrttemberg-Ravensburg in Germany
as part of Global Formula Racing (GFR) to capture the top spot in this year's Formula SAE
competition at Michigan International Speedway.
Like most teams at this year's annual event, GFR
competed on Hoosier tires. The win is the 11th in the past 13 years by a team
using Hoosier racing tires. In fact, Hoosier tires were used by eight of the top ten
teams overall for the second year in a row.
Oregon State
University and Duale Hochschule Baden-Wurrttemberg-Ravensburg have worked together on various
aspects of vehicle design for the past five years. The first two years the schools
each built their own car. However, the last three years the two schools co-produced a single car to compete in both the U.S. and the
European competitions.
GFR
designed car captured 1st in Engineering Design, Ford Endurance, SAE Spirit of
Excellence and the FEV Powertrain Development Award.
A total of 120 teams registered for
the competition with 106 bringing a working vehicle to the
event. Of those 106, a total of 70 teams competed on Hoosier tires.
For the second year in a row, Hoosier was also the only
tire manufacturer on hand to provide mounting and balancing service for the event. Trackside sales and
service was provided by Terry Gilvin of Hoosier Tire Midwest-Plymouth.
Once again, teams came from all over the globe
to compete. Teams came from as far away as Austria, Canada,
Finland, Germany, Singapore, South Korea, United Kingdom, Unites States and
Venezuela.
Formula SAE is an international student design
contest organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers with more than 1000
engineering students participating over a three-day period.
The Formula SAE competition challenges students
to conceive, design, fabricate, and compete with small formula-style race cars.
Restrictions on the car frame and engine are limited so the knowledge,
creativity, and imagination of the students are challenged.
The cars are built with a team effort over a
period of about one year and are taken to the annual competition for judging
and comparison with other vehicles from colleges and universities throughout
the world.
The end result is a great experience for young
engineers in a meaningful engineering project as well as the opportunity of
working in a dedicated team effort.
The vehicles are judged and receive points in
eight different categories including; cost, presentation, design, acceleration,
skid pad, autocross, endurance and economy.
The Formula SAE board sets the parameters
for each category and gives team points according to their performance and design.
At the end of the event, the team with the most points wins the overall
competition.
The competition has become so popular that, in
addition to the two Formula SAE events in the United States, competitions are
now being held all over the globe.
After graduation, many of the participants will
go on to work in the automotive field in various capacities using many of the
skills acquired through their involvement with Formula SAE.
The annual
event has also become a valuable recruiting tool of many top companies seeking
out the world's best engineers who, through their Formula SAE participation,
possess real-world skills.
Hoosier Racing Tire Corp. has
been participating in the annual event since the early 90's.
Hoosier offers price discounts
to all FSAE participants on any approved Formula SAE tires.
In addition to price
discounts, the top three finishing teams in the Autocross competition were also
awarded free tires.
Hoosier Road
Racing Product Manager Jeff Speer attended the annual event offering his product expertise to the competing teams.
Speer stated, "Hoosier
has been involved with Formula SAE competition for nearly 20 years. We realize
the importance of supporting the FSAE program and all of its participants."
Speer added, "We are very
proud of the large number of teams we supply tires to both domestically and
internationally."
Hoosier Racing Tire Corp. congratulates Global Formula Racing on their
third consecutive victory and also thanks all the teams
participating in this year's event who competed on Hoosier's "Tires Designed for Champions."
For more information about
Hoosier Racing Tire Corp. and Hoosier products visit www.hoosiertire.com.
You can learn more about the
annual competition by visiting http://students.sae.org/competitions/formulaseries/.
|
