Recent USF Racing News
We have finally made it into our first USF commercial. Check this video out and look for us at 1:42.
We are selling 4-day tickets to the 60th 12 Hours of Sebring on March 14-17 for $60. A portion of the ticket sales will be donated to our team. Contact us for more information
We are proud to present two new videos we worked during the 2011 fall semester:
First, it's our 2011 Promo video created by Diamond View Studios. It's a quick and short video showcasing the 2011 car with video from the California competition and testing.
Second, it's the Q Motorsports Scholarship video created by USF Foundation and USF College of Engineering. Two students from USF Racing were awarded the 2011 Q Motorsports Scholarship, Simon Restrepo and Mateusz Malinowski. Unfortunately, Mateusz was not available for the video.
Visit Diamond View Studio's website:
The 24th annual Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show took place at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL from December 1st to December 3rd of 2011. The show had an estimated attendance of 38,000 and 1,100 exhibitors. USF Racing was one of those exhibitors, thanks to the help and donations from the USF Department of Mechanical Engineering and Dr. Rajiv Dubey, USF Racing advisor Steve Voras and Teri Voras, USF Racing alumni Dustin Bride, Michael Pines, Steven Wade, Nic Frey and Mark Robinson. The show was a huge success for USF, the College of Engineering, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and for USF Racing.
We worked very hard on the booth display to represent both USF Racing and the University with a level of professionalism that rivaled some of the companies present. In the booth, we had our 2011 Formula SAE® car, a banner with performance statistics of the 2011 car and competition results, a banner displaying the logos of our sponsors, a small board thanking all that made the booth possible, and a table with pamphlets for USF, the College and USF Racing. The goals for investing in a booth this year were to create exposure for USF Racing in the motorsports industry, strengthen the relation with previous sponsors and gain new sponsors. We accomplished our goals.
We treated the trade show as a job. The team members on hand took shifts working the booth and exploring the tradeshow floor. With this strategy, we acquired a staggering amount of contacts. We are currently following up on a list of over 130 contacts, most of which are willing to work with us because of their confidence in our Formula SAE program, USF, or both.
Our booth drew constant attention throughout the show. We were amazed to see how many USF alumni are in the motorsports industry. We met a gentleman from the first USF engineering class of 1966, Harold Morrison. We met USF mechanical engineering alum, Shawn Icely, who currently works as race engineer for a Firestone Indy Lights team. We met USF alum David Tuaty a race car driver and driver coach out of Miami, FL and many more. We also handed out over 100 pamphlets for the USF College of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering undergraduate and graduate program. There were many parents with children that are beginning to look for universities and asking our team members questions about life and academics at USF.
Of the 130 company contacts we received, we have already confirmed six sponsorships with more in the works. We would like to proudly announce new partnerships with Safety-Kleen, FK Rod Ends, Plymouth Tubing Company, Trumpf Tools, Braille Battery, and SKF Bearings. Additionally we have strengthened existing relationships with sponsors such as Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, BMRS Wired, HJC Motorsports, Miller Electric and many more.
Beside all of the aforementioned benefits, the team made some huge contacts within the industry for internship opportunities, and even one member walking away with a job offer! We talked with two established Grand-Am race teams, Starworks Motorsports and Automatic Racing, about internship opportunities. There are three members interning with Starworks for 2012 with partnership talks for USF Racing to supply interns in the upcoming years. Electron Speed which specializes in automotive controls for motorsports and manufacturers, were drawn into our booth and after a few minutes of talking with our member, Jacob Loebenberg, they offered him a job upon graduation.
The team is excited with the results from the show and looks forward to working with the new partners. The team is confident of a great performance in 2012 and the benefits of PRI will have much to do with it. After seeing the return on investment from the 2011 show, the team has decided to participate in the 2012 PRI show. Thanks for everyone’s support and dedication to our team.
USF Racing will be traveling to Orlando, FL on November 30th to set up our booth at the 24th Annual Performance Racing Industry Trade Show from December 1-3, 2011 in the Orange County Convention Center. The trade show expects an attendance of over 40,000 people with a total of 1,200 exhibits. USF Racing will be displaying the 2011 car. Visit us in booth #5960.
The trade show hours are:
Thursday, December 1: 9:30am-5:00pm
Friday, December 2: 9:00am-5:00pm
Saturday, December 3: 9:00am-4:00pm
At the end of this post, find the link to the interactive floorplan.
We would like to thank the following for making this booth possible:
USF Department of Mechanical Engineering and Dr. Rajiv Dubey
Steve & Teri Voras
Michael Pines
Dustin Bride
Nic Frey
Steven Wade
Mark Robinson
www.mapyourshow.com/shows/index.cfm?SHOW_ID=PRI11&alt_entry=true&curr_pri=facility
Vote and help us win the Most Incredi-Bull Student Org award. Voting will end at midnight on 11/22/11 and there are no limits on the number of times you can vote. Let's show USF that USF Racing the Most Incredi-Bull student organization!
Follow the link to vote.
www.facebook.com/InformaBull?sk=app_182070445210139
Matt Gil, an USF student majoring in Magazine Journalism and Political Science, wrote an article about USF Racing back in April 2011. At the time, we were in the middle of finishing the car, F2011.
Click on the link at the bottom for the article
Update on the goals mentioned at the end of the article: Unfortunately, we missed the Michigan competition due to not finishing the car on time. We did attend the California competition and finished in top 30.
Enjoy the read,
Simon Restrepo
USF Racing President
thedailyfyi.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/blazing-new-trails/
Last week, USF Racing registered for the 2012 Formula SAE Michigan competition, May 9-12, 2012. Keep an eye on car #13! USF Racing also will be attending its first international Formula SAE competition as we travel north of the border to Ontario, Canada for Formula North, May 22-24, 2012. USF Racing will be car #9.
We are planning to attend Formula SAE Lincoln for a total of three competition in 2012. However, we have to wait until November 3rd to register.
The USF Racing team and F2011 have made it home safely from Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. After many tedious months of preparation, hard work, and planning, F2011 proved to be very successful, as well as a reward to the team's continuous perseverance. We are very proud of our achievements and could not have asked for a better season finish.
Formula SAE competitions are broken up into a series of static and dynamic events. Teams are awarded points based on their performance/placement in each one of the above mentioned categories. We successful competed in all events with our greatest achievement being our final standing in the design presentation event; placing 8th and beating renowned engineering universities. We also placed 40th in the business presentation event, and 16th in cost presentation event. As our dynamic events unfolded, we ran into a little trouble with our muffler being 8dB too loud during the technical inspection. This caused us to modify our exhaust which, in effect, greatly restricted the power output of our engine. We ran acceleration (0-75m) and skidpad before retuning the engine for the afternoon autocross session. We finished 38th in acceleration, 14th in skidpad and 25th in autocross.
On the last day of competition, F2011 competed in the two final events; endurance, a challenging 22 km race featuring a driver change as well as passing zones, and fuel economy, an event in which points are awarded based on the amount of fuel used during endurance. At the end of the day, we placed 26th in endurance and 14th in fuel economy. Overall, USF Racing placed 22nd out of 80 registered teams. Not only is this a great placing for the team and a reason to be proud, but also the best placing ever achieved by USF Racing in Formula SAE!
This year, the team saw a lot of changes in terms of structure and management, and this great finish has proven that our culminated efforts have not gone to waste. The strong foundations set in the past year will persist for years to come, giving each USF Racing member something to build and improve on.
With the season finished, the team has had time to look back on our accomplishments and what they truly mean to us. While preparations have already begun for the 2012 season, one thing is clear – we could not have done it without sponsors and supporters! Thanks to sponsors, faculty, friends and family. We are looking to improve our finish in 2012 by attending three competitions; Formula SAE Michigan, Formula SAE Nebraska and Formula North in Canada.
We would like to thank Sun Hydraulics, Alro Metals and Ferrera Tooling for helping us so much this week. With such a short notice, they got us new material, and machined and ground our new brake rotors. Without their help this week, we would have missed competition at California. Thank you!
The team is leaving today, June 11th, to participate in Formula SAE California. Competition starts June 15th and ends June 18th. USF Racing will be competing against 80 universities. Stay tuned to our Facebook page or Twitter for updates.
The website is new and improved! Check back often for news updates.