Pontiac, MI – For this year’s UW-Madison Formula SAE Racing Team, competition didn’t turn out as they had hoped. Entering the competition with a 2nd place finish to improve upon and an impressive car to back it up, the team had plans to be holding up that 1st place trophy on Sunday. But a blown engine in the endurance section of the event kept UW-Madison off the podium.

The first day of competition fared well for the team. They quickly passed the tech inspection and proceeded to the brake and noise events. With a decibel reading of 109 (110 is required to pass), the team excitedly moved on to the brake event. After noon on Thursday, the car’s brakes locked up and another hurdle was passed. Meanwhile, the team was judged on Design (15th place), Cost (9th place), and Business Presentation (28th place).

The competition’s dynamic events began Friday morning with the running of the skidpad and acceleration events. Drivers Pete Allex and Colin Quinn guided the team to a first place skidpad performance just before the rain started to fall with a quick time of 5.4 seconds. After the rain subsided, Jacob Bergenske and Alan Gardiner gave the acceleration event all they had. The wet track didn’t help, as the UW team earned a 39th place in the event with a time of 4.726.

Friday afternoon brought up the autocross event. This event features two laps taken by two different drivers. With lap times of 112.30 and 109.96 seconds, Tim Isenberg set great times for the rest of the pack. UW’s second driver, Tim Flaten, matched those times, earning a 112.79 and another 109.96 second lap. The top 20 teams were separated by a mere 4.4, seconds, and UW ended up with a 20th place finish in the event.

Finally, the endurance event commenced on Saturday. After 14 teams in the slower half of the pack finished the event in the morning, the teams started the 22 lap, 22km race in the afternoon. When UW came up in the order, the best lap times were around 61 seconds. Things were looking good for the UW, as driver Tim Flaten was putting up times in the 61 second range, while still being held up by slower cars in front of him. Little known to many other people in the stands, a shifting problem limited Tim to use of the first gear only. After 6 laps of hitting the rev limiter, the Suzuki GSXR 600 finally gave up. A cloud of smoke and small oil fire ensued, and two large holes in the engine now tell the tale of how UW was knocked out of the 2003 Formula SAE Competition.

Despite the disappointing finish this year, the UW Formula SAE Racing Team has a good outlook for the future. They will lose perennial go-to man Dan Schum, team leader Rob Ruppel, driver Tim Flaten, Mike Major (intake), Jason Jameson (exhaust), Kirk Wittwer (cost report), and several other valuable team members. However, this year’s young team brought 38 people to competition, all of whom learned a great deal to put towards the “204.” With a great suspension, solid frame design, reliable powertrain, and a great business group, the lessons of the 203 will lead the 204 to that elusive first place.

Pontiac, MI- The University of Wisconsin-Madison's Formula SAE Racing Team raced to a 2nd finish over 125 scored teams at the Formula SAE competition last week in Detroit. This was the second podium finish in three years for the Badgers, following a second place finish in 2000 and a forth place finish in 2001.

The team earned an impressive top ten finish in six of the seven scored events of the competition which lead to a second place overall finish, overcome only by the team from Cornell University. The University of Wisconsin-Madison has been the only team in recent history to finish in the top ten for three consecutive years.

Static events took place on Thursday, including the design competition, the cost presentation and the marketing presentation. Rob Schellin and Yarrow Fewless sold the "202" to the judges to earn a first place finish in the marketing presentation, and design and testing data advanced the Badgers to design semi-finals and an eventual 6th place design finish overall. Due to the high cost of our car in comparison to others, however, the team earned a disappointing 82nd place finish in the cost presentation.

Friday began the dynamic events. Just before entering the dynamic area, the car suffered a punctured tire due to a stray shard of metal, but after a quick tire swap, Seth Jaeck ran a 4.266 second acceleration run, earning a 7th place finish, and Greg Aykens circled the skid-pad course in a quick 5.234 seconds. Friday afternoon, Rob Schellin and Tim Isenberg scored an impressive 4th place finish in the autocross event.

Saturday morning, the Badgers were one of only 32 teams to finish the demanding 22-kilometer endurance event, and Rob Schellin and Tim Isenberg drove to a 3rd place finish.

Apart from the scored events, the team also took home the Bosch Engine Management award for the second year in a row, due largely to the efforts of Dan Schum, Matt Manthey, and Pat McArdle. This trio spent numerous hours implementing electronic throttle control, traction and launch control, and performing engine dynomometer testing. The University of Wisconsin was, for the second year in a row, the only team to run with an electronic throttle control (ETC). Unfortunately for next year's team, however, ETC has been banned from the Formula SAE competition despite increased safety and the Badgers' strive for innovation and technology.

Overall, the University of Wisconsin team kept its label as a top contender in Formula SAE. The car earned infinite praise from the competition judges, included renowned racer and author Carroll Smith. Next year, the team will have some work to do, but a history of excellence to build on. With a lot of testing and a little bit of luck, the Badgers will be able to leave Detroit with the first place trophy in 2003.

The University of Wisconsin Formula SAE Racing team is sponsored by the College of Engineering and other local and national sponsors. Students of various majors team up every year to design, build, market and race a formula-style racecar. Each car is unique, coming directly from the minds and hearts of the dedicated students who come together to build it, earning college credit and gaining invaluable experience.

Road & Track Article

The University of Wisconsin Formula Racing Team started the 2000-2001 season with high hopes, an excellent baseline with the 2000 car, and a lot of determination. We also, to our disadvantage, graduated last May a ton of intelligence and experience in design, manufacturing, and driving ability. We are thrilled to say that this years team has stepped up to follow right behind.

The UW Racing Team proved wrong those who said we were a fluke last year. We have gone from years of finishing the car on the way to competition and not completing the grueling endurance event, to back to back top five finishes. The "University of Wisconsin" name is recognized as a strong competitor, and several of the top teams are dissecting our car for ideas.