Students hope for first-place win at international race competition

May 9, 2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida students involved in Gator Motorsports will pack up their formula-style racer Thursday and head for the Society of Automotive Engineers international competition at the Ford Proving Grounds in Romeo, Mich.

The formula team has worked all year to design and manufacture their entry, which will compete against 140 other student-designed entries from universities from around the world May 17-21.

The team’s racer is equipped with a Honda CBR 600RR engine that can go from zero to 60 mph in four seconds and is capable of speeds of more than 130 mph.

The competition includes a series of static and dynamic events that assess the engineering of the car as well as its marketability. According to the SAE International Web site, “…the students are to assume that a manufacturing firm has engaged them to produce a prototype car for evaluation as a production item.”

In addition to the formula team, the baja team will head to the SAE international competition in Elkhorn, Wisc., May 24-27.

Gator Motorsports, the University of Florida Society of Automotive Engineers, is an interdisciplinary group of business, journalism, public relations, engineering and advertising students who work together to design, manufacture, and present one formula and one baja-style car for an annual competition that is comprised of more than 100 universities from around the world.

For more information, please visit www.gatormotorsports.com.