Jayhawk Motorsports seeking redemption

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

After unforeseen complications during its last competition, the Jayhawk Motorsports team has a chance to redeem itself this week at a Formula SAE competition in Fontana, Calif.

Photo by Ryan Waggoner

James Borner, a sophomore from Durango, Colo., and Tim McClintock, a 2010 graduate from Council Grove, work on Jayhawk Motorsports SAE Formula 1 car at their lab in Learned Hall last week. A team of students is preparing the car for a national competition later this summer.

The team is comprised of University students who design and develop a race car throughout the school year. Students from around the world unite to compete in Formula SAE competitions where they can showcase their projects.

The Jayhawk Motorsports team placed 19th out of 102 teams at the Michigan Formula SAE competition in mid-May. Tim McClintock, power train team leader and 2010 engineering physics graduate from Council Grove, said there was a reason they didn’t place higher.

“We had our gaskets fail in Detroit, but we figured it out before and swapped in a spare engine. We didn’t realize the spare engine was already damaged,” McClintock said.

Those engine issues forced the team to miss two events of the competition. Despite complications, the team finished in the top 10 in the design, presentation and endurance categories.

University of Engineering Communications Coordinator Cody Howard said he is confident the team will have better results at the competition in California.

“If the engine had been running the entire time, they would have been in the top 10 easily,” Howard said. “It’ll be great to see how things go this time if they can work out all the bugs.”

And that’s exactly what the Jayhawk Motorsports team has been trying to do. Team members described their work as a “Nine to five job.” Students took a short break after the end of the spring semester and have spent the majority of the last three weeks in the shop testing and repairing the race car. Matt Petty, team captain and a 2010 graduate from Chanhassen, Minn., said in a University news release that challenges with the car “helped the team unite and regain momentum for a strong finish.”

Regardless of the outcome, team member James Borner, a junior from Durago, Colo., planning to major in industrial design, said the experience of the competition would undoubtedly be rewarding.

“We get to take a great road trip out West, and hopefully things will go well and we’ll have a reason to celebrate with a stop in Vegas on the way back,” Borner said.

The final Formula SAE competition of the year for Jayhawk Motorsports in Fontana, Calif., runs June 16-19.

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