Universite Laval took the overall championship at the 3rd annual Formula North competition, making it back to back wins for schools from La Belle Province. (All Photos-Mike Sullivan/RaceCanada.ca)
By: Mike Sullivan/RaceCanada.ca
May 28, 2014
Formula North is a little different than most of the events we attend since it is a student competition where the students take on the role of a manufacturer developing a new car aimed at the weekend autocross racer.
Not only are there "on-track" events, or Dynamic events as they are referred to at Formula North, there are also a series of business-related events, or Static events. Each event carries a point value and the total of all events give us the overall Formula North champion. You have to be fast and smart to take the crown.
Most readers will be familiar with the Dynamic events, which took place on Saturday and Sunday, and included figure-8 Skidpad, Acceleration, Autocross, Endurance and Fuel Efficiency.
The 3 Static events are where things get a little different for us, and included:
Engineering Design – students submit an 8-page explanation of the engineering of their cars and be prepared to answer a series of questions about their
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San Jose State University came along way and grabbed the runner up spot to Laval. RaceCanada also named their entry as the best looking car at the event. |
cars from judges, based on their their testing, simulations and design goals.
Cost – The entire car, every last piece of it, must be laid out in a cost report that will be judged based on it's clarity and accuracy compared to the actual construction.
Marketing – Always important in any business in general, and autosports in particular, each team must produce a marketing presentation that will convince the audience that there car will be popular with the weekend-auto cross market (i.e. competitive...) and that, as a company, producing the cars will be a profitable venture.
The event boasts an impressive list of judges from a number of different industries, including a couple of names most RaceCanada readers will recognize, former Canadian Touring Car driver Sasha Anis and Porsche Cars Canada Director of Marketing Laurance Yap.
The 2014 event, the third annual Formula North competition, attracted a total of 21 entries, with 11 coming from Canada and 10 from the United States. Notable was San Jose State who travelled the furthest to attend and Ryerson who showed up late and ended up not completing all of the events.
Entries for this year's Formula North:
| Canadian Schools | American Schools |
| Ecole de Technologie Superieure (2013 champs) | University of Connecticut |
| Carleton University | University of South Florida |
| Sheridan College | Oakland University |
| Universite Laval | University of Toledo |
| University of Western Ontario | San Jose State University |
| University of Toronto | Iowa State University |
| Queen's University | Temple University |
| Ryerson University | Rutgers University |
| University of Waterloo | University of Pittsburgh |
| Universite du Quebec A Trois-Rivieres | Wayne State University |
| University of Guelph | |
Formula North is a 4 day event, with Thursday being load-in day, while Friday saw the start of the static events. Saturday was was the first of the dynamic events with Acceleration and Skid Pad in the morning, and Autocross in the afternoon. The weekend wrapped up on Sunday with the Endurance and Fuel Economy runs, in which teams had to run 22kms, with a driver change at the half-way point. At the end of the endurance run, each car's remaining fuel was measured to determine the winner of the fuel economy. Awards presentations were held later that evening in the Barrie Molson Centre.
A number of schools scored wins in the individual events, but in the end it was Universite Laval that captured 2 event wins and added 4 more top 3 finishes in the 8 events to take the overall win. Laval won outright in Acceleration and Endurance, with 2nds in Design, Autocross and Fuel Efficiency and a third in Cost. Not only did this give Laval the overall win, but it also gave them an overall win in the Dynamic events and a second overall in the Static events.
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| The University of Toledo made it two U.S. schools in the top 3 with a strong run in the Dynamic events that included a win and three 2nd's. | Despite 2 event wins in the Static events, problems in the Dynamic events meant an Overall finish of 10th. |
Second overall was was the long distance travellers from San Jose State University. While not taking any individual wins or runner up positions, San Jose State captured the overall runner up spot by consistency, scoring thirds in Design, Endurance and Fuel Efficiency, and never finishing outside the top 6 in any event. San Jose State also finished 6th in the overall Static events and 3rd in the overall Dynamic events. RaceCanada also selected San Jose State as the best looking car at the 2014 Formula North competition.
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| Queen's University picked up a 7th Overall finish and RaceCanada's choice as the best sounding car at the event. |
Third overall went to another American school, the University of Toledo. Toledo didn't fare so well in the Static events, with a 5th in the Cost event being their best, but they excelled in the Dynamic events with a win in Autocross and 2nd's in Skid Pad, Acceleration and Endurance, and a 5th in Fuel Efficiency. This gave Toledo a 7th overall in the Static events and a 2nd overall in the Dynamic events.
While not finishing in the top 3 overall, the University of Toronto managed to score wins in 2 Static events, in Cost and Marketing. Unfortunately for the team their car suffered stalling issues during most of the dynamic events resulting in a best finish of 10th in Endurance and Fuel Efficiency. This resulted in a 10th place Overall finish, with their Static event wins lifting them to 5th overall in the Static events, but a 12th overall in Dynamic events.
Last year's champions, Ecole de Technologie Superieure, managed a couple event wins, 1 in Static capturing the Design win, and 1 in Dynamic with the win in Skidpad. E.T.S. managed to take the overall win in the Static events, but a DNF in the Endurance and it's partner Fuel Efficiency event meant the team would not defend it's championship from a year ago.
One more team managed to score an individual event win, with Carleton University scoring the win in the Fuel Efficiency event. Outside their win in Fuel Efficiency, Carleton's top socres were a 6th in Design and a 7th in Skidpad. This gave Carelton and 8th Overall finish, along with an 8th in Static and a 9th in Dynamic.
2014 Formula North Final Finishing Positions
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| The University of Western Ontario rounded out the top 5 at Formula North 2014. |
Overall Finish
1. Université Laval
2. San Jose State University
3. University of Toledo
4. Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
5. University of Western Ontario
6. University of Waterloo
7. Queen's University
8. Carleton University
9. University of Guelph
10. University of Toronto Formula Racing
11. University of Connecticut
12. École de Technologie Supérieure
13. Oakland University
14. University of South Florida
15. University of Pittsburgh
16. Iowa State University
17. Wayne State University
18. Sheridan College
19. Sheridan College
20. Ryerson University
Individual Event Top 3 Finishers
Statics
Overall Static
1 | École de Technologie Supérieure | 2 | Université Laval | 3 | University of Waterloo |
Engineering
1 | École de Technologie Supérieure | 2 | Université Laval | 3 | San Jose State University |
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| Carleton University took a win in the Fuel Efficiency event and placed 8th Overall. | Ecole de Technologie Superieure put in a good effort to defend it's 2013 Championship but a DNF in the Endurance event ended their chances. |
Cost
1 | University of Toronto Formula Racing | 2 | Wayne State University | 3 | Université Laval |
Marketing
1 | University of Toronto Formula Racing | 2 | University of South Florida | 3 | University of Western Ontario |
Dynamics
Overall Dynamic
1 | Université Laval | 2 | University of Toledo | 3 | University of Waterloo |
Skidpad
1 | École de Technologie Supérieure | 2 | University of Toledo | 3 | University of Western Ontario |
Acceleration
1 | Université Laval | 2 | University of Toledo | 3 | University of Western Ontario |
Autocross
1 | University of Toledo | 2 | Université Laval | 3 | École de Technologie Supérieure |
Endurance
1 | Université Laval | 2 | University of Toledo | 3 | San Jose State University |
Fuel Efficiency
1 | Carleton University | 2 | Université Laval | 3 | San Jose State University |
