With 10 months of work behind them, University of Calgary students were prepared yesterday to race their open style Formula 1 race cars in the third annual Western Canadian Shootout against three other schools.
Teams have previously always raced in Edmonton, but the location this year changed to Race City Motorsport Park.
“This year we decided to have it down here so we can have a full weekend event,” said Searfina Devji, project leader.
Teams from Edmonton, Saskatchewan and Manitoba competed in four different events: auto cross, endurance, acceleration and skid pad, which is a giant figure-eight course, strictly for bragging rights. The U of C’s car can go from zero to 100 kilometres per hour in four seconds and has a top speed of 178 km/h.
“It’s pretty crazy. You’re an inch off the ground, so everything comes at you pretty quickly,” said driver Chris Sun.
Sun is on the team for the fifth year and said it’s the chance to apply what he learns in class that keeps him coming back.
“You learn things you would never learn in university like project management, dealing with other people and timelines,” said Sun.
Next up for the U of C team is the Canadian Auto Slalom Championships Sept. 4 to 6.
