Formula SAE Event to Move to Lincoln, Nebraska, in 2012

[SAE_intl_girl]

SAE International announced that, effective in 2012, the Formula SAE (FSAE) California event will be relocated to Lincoln Airpark in Lincoln, NE. The event will be renamed Formula SAE Lincoln. For the 2011 competition season, FSAE California will remain at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA.

The change in venue was made, in part, because the new site offers excellent space and facility features. Lincoln Airpark has 90 continuous acres of concrete that easily will house all of the FSAE courses, team paddocks and support facilities. The size and quality of the site also provides the flexibility to revise the FSAE layout to improve the event courses, provide better team support and accommodate future growth. In addition, Lincoln Airpark offers a better spectator experience to teams, their families and the public.

“We’ve had a great run at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. And we very much appreciate the support they gave us over the years. We’ve had some tremendous competitions at that site,” Robert Sechler, Director, Education Relations, SAE International, said. “But the change to Lincoln Airpark makes sense because it offers us the flexibility to do more with schedules and course layouts and offer more to the competitors, spectators and volunteers. We look forward to what the future holds.”

In addition to the excellence of the site itself, Lincoln is located close to the geographic center of the lower 48 states, which will cut the driving distance for many teams.

“We really feel that this is a win-win for all involved,” Sechler added. “We’re confident that FSAE Lincoln will build SAE International’s tradition of outstanding competitions and attract a high level of team support.”

The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) holds its Solo National Championship at Lincoln Airpark each year and will be actively supporting FSAE Lincoln with equipment and course marshals.

For more information on Formula SAE and all of SAE International’s student design competitions, visit http://students.sae.org/competitions/ .

Lincoln, NE event site image below:

https://www.sae.org/images/cds/selfservice/296666214_site%20pic.pdf

[Jersey Tom]

This would have been awesome when I was in college!

Also, when CU still had a team...

[floRACEca]

Was there a market study on this decision? I'm sure there are other locations that would attract a lot more people than Nebraska. The San Francisco Region SCCA is one of the largest SCCA groups and would most likely support an FSAE event. Why not keep it in CA? Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca or Infineon Raceway maybe? I understand it may cost a little more, but that depends on how connected you are with either facility.

I think it's great that Lincoln Airpark will be hosting and supporting FSAE and I hope that it will be successful. But how does this help teams on the West coast? Or even internationally? At least teams could enjoy some sunshine and explore California. FSAE teams had two great venues to chose from, some even have the opportunity to participate in both. West coast teams might as well skip Nebraska and sign up for MIS, it's only about a 750 mile difference.

[Jersey Tom]

Originally posted by floRACEca:
Was there a market study on this decision? I'm sure there are other locations that would attract a lot more people than Nebraska. The San Francisco Region SCCA is one of the largest SCCA groups and would most likely support an FSAE event. Why not keep it in CA? Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca or Infineon Raceway maybe? I understand it may cost a little more, but that depends on how connected you are with either facility.

I think it's great that Lincoln Airpark will be hosting and supporting FSAE and I hope that it will be successful. But how does this help teams on the West coast? Or even internationally? At least teams could enjoy some sunshine and explore California. FSAE teams had two great venues to chose from, some even have the opportunity to participate in both. West coast teams might as well skip Nebraska and sign up for MIS, it's only about a 750 mile difference.

Laguna Seca and Infineon being a "little" expensive would be an understatement... having seen the costs associated with track rentals. Plus, in my opinion anyway, what works well are big, flat, square asphalt pad for these events. I liked the Silverdome to that effect - more flexibility in course layouts than just "long and slalom-y"

I'll admit I'm a little biased.. going to school in Colorado, the California events didn't help us at all. Long haul either way.

In any event, the decision is what it is, and I'm sure good thought went into it.

[Mike Cook]

I'm sure Fontana was really expensive for what it was. Lincoln is much more centrally located too.

It will be fun to race on concrete.

[jrickert]

Glad to hear we are not going to set up autocross tracks on a NASCAR track anymore. That was really embarrassing.

[Xeilos]

Originally posted by jrickert:
Glad to hear we are not going to set up autocross tracks on a NASCAR track anymore. That was really embarrassing.

I am not sure if you are being sarcastic or not?! :S

It is the California competition that is moving, not Michigan (as far as I have heard, the Michigan competition will continue to be at MIS).

[Schmidt]

Hey,
for a future name change maybe you could change the name so that it is very clear which of the US events is referred to. Even from the title of this thread I got the impression that the Michigan event is moved.
Less important, but supporting this, is that also discussions or youtube videos are difficult to separate.

[exFSAE]

Originally posted by jrickert:
Glad to hear we are not going to set up autocross tracks on a NASCAR track anymore. That was really embarrassing.

I'd love to hear how that's embarrassing.

Then again, I guess haters gonna hate.

[RANeff]

IM digging that it will be in Lincoln. If you guys havent been on that surface yet, its a whole different animal, and the site is HUGE.

Lincoln itself isnt even that bad of a city, there are things to do, etc.

The weather in Cali was great, but I expect the Lincoln site to be better overall.

[Moridin]

This has essentially alienated most of the west coast teams. Doesn't seem that logical considering how close it is to Michigan relative to how far away the west coast is. I'm not sure what the reasons are for moving, but it seems downright stupid to me.

If Lincoln is cheaper to operate at, the entry fee better go down in price to reflect that.

[Big Mo]

I am going to try my best not to let the Californian in me make this argument emotional, but here goes:

My issues with this move:
-Cost: yes, this event is at the geographical center of the US, but are teams within the US evenly distributed based on geography? Even if we assume that they are, with another competition being held within 750 miles, the AVERAGE competition location is now eastward of geographical center. WHY, oh WHY, do we need two competitions so close to each other? The point of having distributed local competitions is that the minimum cost (money AND time) to go to ONE competition is low.

-Weather: How is the weather in Nebraska? I've never been, but is it as warm (hot even, some years) and as challenging as it is at West? Having very warm weather and a very different environment from Michigan is part of the design challenge for FSAE. You take away that temperature difference and you take away an emphasis on heat management (tires, brakes, engine, DRIVER! etc.). Again, not sure of the average temp, but we've had very hot years at Fontana.

-Staffing: Being friends with people who have tried to get the West competition moved into NorCal, I've heard that one of the biggest obstacles (beyond site cost, of course) is that of volunteer availability. Yes, there will be a ton of SCCA workers available, but what about knowledgeable and wise old engineers from a high-performance engineering field. I've never heard of Lincoln being notable for its racecar industry, as Los Angeles, Michigan/Indiana, and the Carolinas seem to a bit more involved in the motorsports scene.

Wouldn't it be fitting to hold a competition where people from the industry can be accessed? Is there at least some major aerospace industry out there (SoCal has plenty of birdworks). If I am misinformed, please correct me.

Overall, it seems like the interests of the organizers have been taken care of before those of the competitors. Yes, you may save a ton on renting a piece of land, but was there an outcry for a more centralized event before this decision? Were any teams even consulted before this decision was reached?

Thank you for reading. Please correct any misconceptions I may have, and forgive my Californian point of view if it has seeped in somewhere...

-Mo

[Mike Cook]

First off, lets acknowledge that Socal isn't the center of the universe, ok?

I think part of the reason that there are two competitions was because Detroit started filling up so fast that teams were gettinig left out. They didn't start a second competition because they wanted a competition in a warm weather environment, they wanted to appease the californians, or any of that jazz. They simply needed more registration spots. There was also the concern that Detroit was getting too big. I think it was up to 140 teams.

So if the main reason to have a second event is to offer more registration spots, then next SAE has to ask, what will give them the best bang for the buck? And Fontana was clearly not it. It was very very expensive for what it was. I don't know the numbers exactly but, about an order of magnitude higher than what it would cost to rent our DC autocross lot for the same time span. Like I said I don't know the exact numbers but its a pretty big deal breaker.

I was at SCCA nationals in Licoln this year and SAE came out to see how it was run. I think there were some very convincing arguments put forth for having an event in Nebraska. I'm sure it was much cheaper. The area is much better suited for an autocross (its HUGE, concrete, flat). The airport is right there! Plenty of hotels and everything else you need very close at reasonable rates. The average temperature in June (if they have it in june) is 84degF. So weather should be very nice.

Geographically, I don't really understand how you complain. Lincoln is about as dead nuts in the center of the US as you can get. 1500 miles to LA, 1300 to MD. Could be a little further south to help out FL and TX, but all in all not too bad. For my team, Detroit is not really an option because it is right during finals, so we have to pony up the costs to ship our car all the way to CA. And while I loved it in Fontana, those costs were staggering.


The downsides I see are:
Lack of good judging in the area
Land locked (not as easy for foreign teams to ship)



Anyways, I don't really have a dog in this fight, BUT I think the second you all drive on concrete your whole perception will change http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Ultimately, I think the event will probably move in a few years again....somewhere about 821 miles due south at a currently being built race track http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

[exFSAE]

Just suck it up and make the drive like many others have had to over the years. It's still 800 (eight HUNDRED!) miles closer to CA than Michigan. That's not a trivial distance! It's not like they're doing one event in Detroit and one in Indy. Not to mention that "back in the day," I recall teams coming out to the Silverdome from California (and hell, Australia) without issue.

And in any event, yes, to Mike's point... opening a 2nd competition (and then a 3rd) was definitely a function of registration slots. Detroit was capped at 140 teams and would fill up literally within 15 minutes of registration opening. It was insane. The rationale wasn't to make teams in California happy.

With regard to availability of judges, I guess it depends. Steve Fox is in Illinois. Claude is in Denver. Doug is in Buffalo. Paul Haney is in Baltimore. Judges from NASCAR teams are around Charlotte. Judges from Indycar teams (are there any?) are around Indy, and then there are people from the Big Three. Plenty of judges I've seen at Michigan / Detroit have come from far away, don't see how this is any different.

Likewise, sorry if my argument is a little harsh or emotional.. but as someone who always had to drive 1500+ miles regardless of the competition site..

In any event, the situation is what it is. Decision's been made.

http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu181/SanFrancisco__/dealwithit.gif

[Big Mo]

I think the biggest issue (beyond judging talent) is that, for a decision that was billed as making the event more accessible, it increases the distance traveled to enter any competition in North America.

For example, if you are on the East Coast, Michigan is closer and probably more accessible. Yes, there is the finals timing aspect, but let's leave that out for now.

On the other hand, if you are on the West Coast, you now have to drive much farther to get to at least one competition. The 4 teams in Norcal now have to drive 1700 miles instead of 450. OSU now has to drive 1800 miles instead of 900. About the same with Portland.

The people who are going to benefit from this are those in the east Rockies and in the surrounding states. But it is so close to Michigan that the relative decrease in travel distance is less.

Basically, all I am saying is that this decision does not make sense from an accessibility aspect, unless it was the only competition in North America.



I suppose this doesn't really matter anyway because:
A) Most teams fly in/are already coming a long distance, and the mileage doesn't matter to them.
B) I am but a whining student on a messageboard who is powerless to change this anyway.

However, I would like to see what the design judges think of this move, whether for or against. I imagine they could bring a fresh perspective to this debate.

[Dash]

Originally posted by Big Mo:
Basically, all I am saying is that this decision does not make sense from an accessibility aspect, unless it was the only competition in North America



not that I have much to say/complain about, but the difference between the two competitions is 30 miles( based on google maps) if you leave my university ( Mississippi State University)

[jordan.k]

Our team is very excited about the West event moving to Lincoln. It is significantly closer to our university (8 hours) and within 4 to 5 hours from our primary sponsor and many of our team member's hometowns. Additionally, the concrete surface is very enticing and there is a distinct possibility that there will be plenty of heat and humidity in June.

[Big Mo]

Originally posted by Dash:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Big Mo:
Basically, all I am saying is that this decision does not make sense from an accessibility aspect, unless it was the only competition in North America

not that I have much to say/complain about, but the difference between the two competitions is 30 miles( based on google maps) if you leave my university ( Mississippi State University) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Exactly. What I am saying is that having one comp in the geographical center makes sense if you have only one competition in a year. If you have two, why place them so close together? Why not spread them out and have them locally?

What happened to the Virginia competition? Didn't they have trouble filling up slots?

[moose]

The "30" miles argument is just because coming from Mississippi it's mostly north and a little west. The distance to a state in the SW might be similar, say NM, and you could make a "its the same distance" argument.

Lincoln is ~700 miles west of Brooklyn, MI - not exactly next door. Sure it's not the west coast, but certainly not the east coast.

[EHog]

Pros and Cons of event relocation...

Pros:
1) There are no rules against bringing fresh fruits, specifically peaches, into Nebraska.
2) The peaches will last longer in Nebraska, due to slightly lower temperatures.

Cons:
1) Now the "California BORDER PATROL" will have less work to do. From what I understand, they get commission based on how many peaches they confiscate.

[AAce]

For some reason I was under the impression that the FSAE West event existed to encourage attendance from those in the West. Time to look for more sponsorship money... I'd rather fly to Germany or Britain in 2012.

[Steve Fox]

As a volunteer for this event, I can’t just idly stand by and watch some of you complain about this move, so here is my 25¢. (I am a Senior Design Judge, so my opinion costs more…)

The second US FSAE (FSAE-2) event was to allow teams to compete who were not making the cut on the registration for Michigan. While it was nice to have it in CA, geographic location was never a deciding factor for FSAE-2. Allowing more students to participate in FSAE was.

The Lincoln site is excellent, and will make for a great competition! Yes Fontana was expensive to rent, but it also had some other negatives. Most notably the layout meant a lot of walking to different dynamic events. I can promise you less wasted time walking and more quality time competing, tuning, repairing (finishing) your car at Lincoln.

Rest assured, there has been a considerable amount of research that went into this decision. It was not made lightly! I know from several conversations with the FSAE staff that there was some considerable ‘hand wringing’ over the extra travel distance for the west coast teams.

There are a lot of positives to Lincoln:
Concrete track! Mmmm… Delicious! I can’t wait to see how some of you deal with that extra friction coefficient!
Better food (both on track and off). Need I elaborate? How many of you have heard some of the legendary stories about Big Buck’s when we were at the Pontiac Silverdome? Mmmm… Big Buck’s…
Better housing / hotels.
Better weather. NOT extremely hot, and the chance of summer showers is just another part of racing… Live with it. Having to sometimes compete in the wet makes you a better engineer.
There are no rules against bringing fresh fruit into Nebraska.
Better cooperation with Lincoln itself. They really are going all out to make our event the best it can be!

I see one post which states this move has alienated the west coast teams. I sincerely hope that is really not the case. We, as volunteers, try to make this event the best we can. FSAE is all aimed at you, the student engineer, and it is all about making it as easy & fun for you to compete as we know how to.

I see another statement where someone thinks that the needs of the organizers have been looked after before the needs of the students. To that I will politely (kind of) reply: WAKE UP & warm up your brain before hot lapping your fingers on your keyboard! FSAE is put on with an entirely voluntary staff of individuals, with the exception of the small handful of actual SAE employees. We do this because we know it benefits the next generation of engineers coming along behind us. We know that this competition makes you better engineers. We know (as you do also) that the FSAE competition gives you a serious leg up on the first rung of the ladder of your career! If I was looking out for myself, I wouldn’t be volunteering 4 days at the event, and approximately an additional 80-100 hours of my time (with zero pay) before each event.

For those of you concerned about the quality of the judges for this event, you had better start studying harder and longer right now. Mike O'Neil is the Chief Design Judge for the FSAE-2 (West) Event. Mike is Chief for good reason, one sharp cat... I guarantee you that the quality of judges he recruits for the Lincoln event will be every bit as tough as any other FSAE competition you know of. FSAE-2 doesn't have to be smack dab in the middle of bird-works-land, Motor City-land, NACASR-land, or Disney-land, for that matter, in order to come up with the extreme talent needed to judge this event. You bring the car. He’ll be there with the judges. Fair enough?

Before any of you get the wrong idea that I think Lincoln is the best possible location for FSAE-2, let me go on record right now as stating that I personally liked VIR a lot, and would love to see it come back. Unfortunately FSAE-VIR was too early in the summer to be properly supported…

For any of you contemplating going to Germany because it is too far to travel to Lincoln, I say: Bring It On! We would love to see you at Hockenheimring. (I guarantee every new team member who comes to FSG, a beer on Sunday night, right after the competition ends.) Better yet, go get the sponsorship $$ needed for FSG, go to Germany and use the leftover cash to still come to Lincoln the following summer!

Why did I feel compelled to write this? Because I see it as too easy for some folks to sit idly by and complain about change. If you don’t like something, don’t just complain about it. Do something about it. The hundreds of volunteers, planning, resources, and just plain old ca$h it takes to put on just one FSAE event is staggering. If you don’t like something, please give us an alternate suggestion. I guarantee the event organizers will listen. If you want to improve this FSAE competition, then volunteer your time after graduation and start giving back to the best competition of its kind in the world which you love so much as a student… (That’s not just a suggestion. That’s an open invitation!)

Good luck to all of you who participate in FSAE / FS. I will see you in MI, CA, Lincoln, VIR, Germany, Austria, United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, soon to be China?, India?, Korea?, Africa?, or wherever this competition is held!

[RANeff]

SAE does not exist to appease certain groups of people. In this instance, they are there to hold effectively run events for the large number of teams who wish to compete.

Cal Teams: You should not be butt-hurt or angry the event has moved, and I expect you won't be once you experience the surface out there.

[Hector]

Great post Steve. I didn't want to write anything for a while because I was so pissed at the responses this thread was getting.

Do you really think this competition is run by a bunch of idiots? Do you think they just decided to change venues for no reason other than to make your life miserable? You should be ashamed of yourselves for assuming that the organizers just randomly changed locations and didn't look at all the factors involved.

As Steve said, if you don't like it, then host your own damn competition. It's a ton of work to put these things on. Could you imagine if someone just walked into your shop and started calling your car a piece of sh*t without understanding the thousands of hours work that went into it? I mean, it's just a little go kart right?

I'm sure thats how the organizers feel about some of the negative responses.

Suck it up and compete. I've done four years of 20 hour marathon drives on no sleep. You can do it too.

[RobbyObby]

Originally posted by Steve Fox:
...and the chance of summer showers is just another part of racing…

Does this mean the new Lincoln event will continue to be run during the same time frame (mid-June) as West is currently?


I debated writing this post for fear of getting flack from my fellow pro-West Californians, but here I go anyway.

To be honest, I was initially against the idea, for similar reasons already discussed. However, after some thought, and reading others' responses, my feelings have changed.

On the topic of transportation, honestly, the only teams this will completely effect are the SoCal teams. Even coming from NorCal (450 miles), we still have to load up everything in a trailer and drive 8 hours to get to Fontana. The only variable changed in the whole procedure is driving time. And yes you can argue about gas costs, stops along the way, lodging, etc. But having driven NorCal to New Hampshire (about as far as you can possibly go in the lower 48) for the Formula Hybrid competition simply rotating drivers and stopping for food and gas, it really is not that much worse. Lets be honest, if we're not willing to drive an extra day and half once a year for this competition, do we really deserve competing at all?

The move to Lincoln will also allow more entrants to the event. It may even shift the whole perspective on the FSAE-2 event, ir you will. Let's be honest, West has always seemed to have been viewed as "inferior" to FSAE-M due to the lower number of entrants, the lack what some would consider the "high-class competitors", as well as the registration results (it takes FSAE-M 15 minutes to sell out 120 spots compared to months for the 80 spots at West). This may open up doors for more teams and better competition.
Additionally, I believe the event could be better run and more organized in Lincoln due to fact that they hold SCCA Solo Nationals there. The SCCA organizers already know how to organize a major successful event at that site, so the SAE organizers will already have a leg up in that area.

All-in-all, this looks like a promising move and can only help the Formula SAE competition.

Oh and with all that tarmac space, I would love to finally see some overnight camping, a la Hockenheim, although that may just be a pipe dream! http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

[TMichaels]

Originally posted by Steve Fox:
For any of you contemplating going to Germany because it is too far to travel to Lincoln, I say: Bring It On! We would love to see you at Hockenheimring. (I guarantee every new team member who comes to FSG, a beer on Sunday night, right after the competition ends.)

Don't let Steve fool you, the beer is free for everyone at FSG during the sunday night party http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Regards,

Tobias

[Bemo]

Originally posted by TMichaels:
Don't let Steve fool you, the beer is free for everyone at FSG during the sunday night party http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Don't let Tobi fool you, the beer was free during sunday night party in the past. Since last year everybody gets three voutchers for beer ;-)

[Adambomb]

My $0.02...

+1 on having more course variety afforded by a less "straight" expanse of pavement. And it is true, FSAE's facility requirements are much more similar to SCCA than NASCAR.

+10 on concrete. Concrete in June in the midwest is stickier than anything else I've autocrossed on.

Also, I will get on midwesterner soapbox (as so many "coasties" have done the same already), and remind everybody that there ARE in fact people that live between the east and west coasts. Lincoln will be significantly closer than either MI or CA for ISU, SDSM, KU, KSU, UW Madison, OU, Wichita State, UW Platteville, Mankato, UTA, Mizzou and Rolla just to name a few. Hell, it's only about an hour from where I grew up. And ALL of the associated costs will be appreciably lower, you won't have a motel in da ghetto, crime is lower and the people are friendlier. And when you have to make that inevitable run to the parts store for random part "X," you will have better odds of dealing with someone at the parts counter who has in fact turned a wrench once or twice in their lifetime (based on my experience at auto parts stores across the country, the midwest is by far the best...rednecks gravitate towards auto parts stores, leading to the midwest having some of the most well-developed auto parts stores on the planet). And if you need really hard to find parts, Omaha is 30 minutes away. And if you need really really hard to find parts, KC is something like an hour and a half away. As has been mentioned too, Lincoln really isn't a bad town to hang out in either, the Haymarket is very nice. BTW, I recommend Empyrean Brewing Co. as the "next Big Bucks," their beer is awesome, the food and atmosphere is great too.

[SAE_intl_girl]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Steve Fox:
...For those of you concerned about the quality of the judges for this event, you had better start studying harder and longer right now. I guarantee you that the quality of judges volunteering for the Lincoln event will be every bit as tough as any other FSAE competition you know of. We don’t have to be smack dab in the middle of bird-works-land, Motor City-land, NACASR-land, or Disney-land, for that matter, in order to come up with the extreme talent needed to judge this event. You bring the car. We’ll be there with the judges. Fair enough?

...If you want to improve this FSAE competition, then volunteer your time after graduation and start giving back to the best competition of its kind in the world which you love so much as a student… (That’s not just a suggestion. That’s an open invitation!)
QUOTE]

SAE staff is currently developing a plan for local volunteer recruitment but just as important we are also creating a plan with an emphasis in recruiting FSAE Alumni who would like to give back to the event and volunteer; help provide change and become part of something special. If you are a past competitor or current student who knows someone that may be interested please contact me at kzundel@sae.org.

The dates we have requested from Lincoln Airpark are Wednesday, June 13 through Saturday, June 16, 2012. I would be interested in talking with you about your interests and the opportunities we have available!!

And for those of you concerned about the quality in judging…rest assured as Mr Fox has already mentioned for 2012 the quality will be every bit as tough as any other FSAE competition. The judging will consist of new judges paired with experienced judges from our California and Michigan events to ensure the quality is presented, learned and transitioned for future events at Lincoln, NE. In addition, we will continue to invite Key Design Judges. SCCA will continue to ensure the smooth running of the dynamic courses. Local and past competitors will step up to learn and lead the way.

2012 Volunteer Recruitment has opened! To volunteer contact Kaley Zundel at kzundel@sae.org.

[AAce]

Mr. Fox,
Thanks for your post. It did a good job of clearing up some of my misconceptions. And I first want to apologize if anything I wrote conveyed a lack of appreciation of the effort of the volunteers and organizers. If anything, I’m amazed that these events come together and more or less run smoothly.

Even though I trust that this decision wasn’t cursory I do scratch my head over the choice of location. The fact that it was moved at all came as a surprise, though it’s easy for me to believe the reasons.

If you’re calling for action instead of posts on a message board, then what can I do? From my perspective, voicing my opinion and raising more money for my team are the most logical actions for someone in my position.

I do need to say thanks for not posting this any later. I am about to review Cal’s budget for this season and plan the next and it’s good to know this beforehand.


Ben

[sbrenaman]

Looking forward to a more sweeping course layout on the larger NE surface. A couple fast sweepers could have a profound effect on the way cars should be set up; width/length and aero. Should be more fun!

[coastertrav]

I must say that I am wholly pleased. We have barely toyed with the idea of going to California due to the sheer distance (From Orlando it would take us 8 hours just to get out of Florida), but this is much more doable. We give ourselves just over 24 hours to get to Michigan, and I'm all for another roadtrip to Lincoln.

[Wesley]

I might be able to volunteer if it's in Nebraska! I haven't been able to get enough time off for travel, but if I can drive there, so much the better!

Sounds like a change for the better, hoping the West Coast teams can work around it! It'd be good to see some of them in our neck of the woods, for a change http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

[Mike O'Neil]

As Chief Design Judge for FSAE California and for FSAE Linclnn 2012, I will address only the issues directly related to my area of responsibility.

We have a few new judges every year. Such is the nature of what we do since we have used predominantly judges who work in professional motorsports; judges who often have racing event schedules conflicting with the FSAE schedule.

Many of the judges are local. Many are brought in from outside areas. With the move to Lincoln we will probably have a shift in the percentage of towards judges who come from outside the immediate area the first year or two as we find and develop local judging talent. Luckily, we have developed a large pool of qualified judges over the years.

We are 16 months away from the first Lincoln event and I am already taking steps to make sure that we have the judging staff that we need at Lincoln. I do not see this as a big problem. A little more work to put together, yes. But, I promise that the experience will be an excellent one for the students.

Best Regards,
Mike O'Neil
Chief Design Judge FSAE California (all years)
Chief Design Judge FSAE Lincoln

[theTTshark]

Originally posted by Adambomb:
Also, I will get on midwesterner soapbox (as so many "coasties" have done the same already), and remind everybody that there ARE in fact people that live between the east and west coasts. Lincoln will be significantly closer than either MI or CA for ISU, SDSM, KU, KSU, UW Madison, OU, Wichita State, UW Platteville, Mankato, UTA, Mizzou and Rolla just to name a few. Hell, it's only about an hour from where I grew up. And ALL of the associated costs will be appreciably lower, you won't have a motel in da ghetto, crime is lower and the people are friendlier. And when you have to make that inevitable run to the parts store for random part "X," you will have better odds of dealing with someone at the parts counter who has in fact turned a wrench once or twice in their lifetime (based on my experience at auto parts stores across the country, the midwest is by far the best...rednecks gravitate towards auto parts stores, leading to the midwest having some of the most well-developed auto parts stores on the planet). And if you need really hard to find parts, Omaha is 30 minutes away. And if you need really really hard to find parts, KC is something like an hour and a half away. As has been mentioned too, Lincoln really isn't a bad town to hang out in either, the Haymarket is very nice. BTW, I recommend Empyrean Brewing Co. as the "next Big Bucks," their beer is awesome, the food and atmosphere is great too.
Thank you for bringing this up. It's going to be nice to be so close to a competition. I'm sure the Californian teams were easy to forget the difficulties of long travel, and hopefully the Midwesterners don't fall into the same trap. Also, for anyone outside of the country or the coasts you'll have some interesting choices for teams to stay with if you like. KU (3hrs away) is more than willing to be a host for any long distance team that needs a place to stay before or after competition. KSU (2hrs 30min) just got a bigger shop, and I'm sure would be willing to show some Kansas hospitality. The Iowa teams will be similarly close as well. Or if you want to stay a little farther away you could always stay with the OU team (nicest guys in FSAE) or S&T in Missouri.

To add on to the auto parts stores. You'll also have a significant increase in machine shops within a reasonable distance. Plus all the close Midwest schools who might be willing to offer access to some awesome facilities if it comes down to desperate measures.

I hope it rains. I hope it's hot and humid. And let's all enjoy some concrete. Nothing wrong with that...unless of course there's tornadoes!

[HuskerMotorSports]

We hope to see you guys at competition here in Lincoln! Nothing like a large slab of concrete during the HUMID summer months in Nebraska.

[theTTshark]

Originally posted by HuskerMotorSports:
We hope to see you guys at competition here in Lincoln! Nothing like a large slab of concrete during the HUMID summer months in Nebraska.

Nevermind, the Huskers are the real winner here! haha Good time to start a team!

[HuskerMotorSports]

Haha I wish we had started it earlier on. Trying to get a car done in one year compared to the typical two year for a first year team is going to be quite the challenge.

[thewoundedsoldier]

Just announced at the Formula-Hybrid awards ceremony that FSAE and Formula-Hybrid event organizers are planning to run an electic-only category for vehicles at FSAE-West (Lincoln) beginning in 2013. It was also emphasized that the rules for this category will be made in line with current Formula Electric and Formula-Hybrid rules (as much as possible).

I've no doubt that electric racing will become more prominent than petrol racing within a few years (in formula student, I mean), but I'm very interested in hearing opinions on this! Any teams that would switch?

[bob.paasch]

Originally posted by thewoundedsoldier:
Any teams that would switch?

This will certainly figure into GFR's long term plans.

[Thrainer]

First thing that comes to my mind: Why so late, why not 2012? Planning for the 2012 season hasn't started for most teams (I assume). FSE 2010 was only announced 12 months before the first competition and there were quite a few teams already.
What I like about the announcement is that the electric cars will run with the combustion cars instead of with the hybrids. Did I understand that correctly?

My opinion is that my team should seriously consider taking its car to the US, if there is a serious competition for electric FSAE cars (maybe not the first year).

Regards
Thomas

[Rob Melchione]

Will a series hybrid be considered "all electric" for 2013? Or does "all electric" mean "battery only electric"?

Cheers,

Rob Melchione
Viking Motorsports
Portland State University

[theTTshark]

Can we make sure that this doesn't interfere with the United States Grand Prix? Maybe? Hopefully? Please? hahaha

[Tech Guy]

This has just been posted:
"It is expected that the date of the 2012 US Grand Prix, June 17, might be changed since the temperature in the state during the month is unbearably hot.

The 2012 Formula 1 Calendar was recently revealed by International Automobile Federation (FIA) and as expected, it included the US Grand Prix. However, hours after this decision, questions were raised about holding the US race and its timings.

The race is going to be held at the newly built track in Austin, Texas as the US Grand Prix rather than the circuit in Indianapolis where the Formula 1 race took place for years. The media pointed out that the temperature in Austin on June 17, 2009 was around 38°C.

“This is the proposed date. The date won't be final until the September or December meeting. A fall date is, therefore, possible, which would possibly offer cooler weather,” said Nick Craw, president of the FIA senate.

He added that a later date would be proposed by Tavo Hellmund who is the US Grand Prix promoter. Since the CEO of Formula 1 Management Bernie Ecclestone has played a major role in successfully executing this idea, it is believed that he would also have some major influence in this decision.

The US race is believed to take place a week after the Canadian Grand Prix as these are the only two North American races which are a part of the Formula 1 calendar."

So there is still hope that there will not be a clash. However, 4 years ago the California competition was directly against the F1 race at Indianapolis. So whether SAE will take the F1 race into account, who knows!

[TMichaels]

Originally posted by Rob Melchione:
Will a series hybrid be considered "all electric" for 2013? Or does "all electric" mean "battery only electric"?

Since we plan to merge rules / create a global rules set for electric cars based more or less on the current FSE Rules, it means "battery only".

Regards,

Tobias

[Sormaz]

Will the top 10 from California this year maintain their numbers at Lincoln? Has this been discussed?

-Jack

[SAE_intl_girl]

Originally posted by Sormaz:
Will the top 10 from California this year maintain their numbers at Lincoln? Has this been discussed?

-Jack

Jack, Absolutely! The top ten team from FSAE California this year earned their finishing place and SAE will be assigning them the finishing place number for next year. For finishing in the top ten you also get to register one week early; I (Kaley) or Allison will be contacting teams prior to registration opening in October.

[Mike Cook]

US F1 moves to November:
http://www.racer.com/f1-season...slot/article/208623/ (http://www.racer.com/f1-season-opener-keeps-march-18-slot/article/208623/)

[EHog]

Originally posted by Mike Cook:
US F1 moves to November:
http://www.racer.com/f1-season...slot/article/208623/ (http://www.racer.com/f1-season-opener-keeps-march-18-slot/article/208623/)

So... Are half of the spectators going to be FSAE Alumni or current participants? We should get our own grandstands.