06-07-12

Driver Preston Gable races over the Oregon mud in early May. Larger photo. Photo by Iowa State's Baja SAE Team.

Iowa State Baja SAE Team carries results, confidence into Wisconsin race

AMES, Iowa - They've already survived a race through the Oregon mud. And so the members of Iowa State University's Baja SAE Team think they have an off-road racer that can compete when the series moves to Wisconsin.

This year's student-designed and student-built racer, in fact, made it to the finish of the competition's big event, a four-hour endurance race worth 40 percent of a team's score. That's the first time in three years the team made it through four hours of racing. That helped the team finish 17th among 57 teams at the May 2-5 event in the Portland area.

It wasn't trouble-free racing, though.

Will Frank, a junior from Des Moines who's studying mechanical engineering and is the Baja team's project director, said the car's continuously variable transmission was stuck in high gearing for the last 30 minutes of the race. That made the hill climbs difficult for the 10 horsepower Briggs & Stratton engine, but the team nursed the car to the end.

Frank said the Oregon competition also taught the team it needs to do a better job making its design and cost reports to judges.

That's one of the advantages of working hard to finish the car and make it to two Baja racing events sponsored by SAE International, formerly known as the Society of Automotive Engineers.

"Our team felt very confident about the car and our ability to get it done," said Frank. "We wanted an extra chance to prove ourselves."

The June 7-10 event in Burlington, Wis., will be a big challenge for the team. It features 115 registered teams, including some from Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico and Venezuela.

Team members Eric Schluttner, a senior from Oronoco, Minn., who's studying mechanical engineering, and Andrew Tauke, a sophomore from DeSoto who's studying industrial technology, were recently in the team's campus garage packing up the car, tools and gear for competition.

They pointed out some of the improvements they've built into this year's car:

Tauke said the car is about 70 pounds lighter than the team's past cars. Its components have also been simplified for weight reduction and longer life.

And, Schluttner said the transmission has been through a lot of testing and tuning since the Oregon competition.

"I think the problems we encountered during the endurance race are pretty much hammered out," Tauke said.

Yes, Schluttner said, "We're more prepared than we have been the last few competitions. I'm feeling good about this one."

This year's Iowa State Baja SAE car is shorter, lighter and simpler than the student team's previous cars. Larger photo. Photo by Iowa State's Baja SAE Team.

-30-