The UVM Mini-Baja team ranked 7th in acceleration, 7th in hill climb, 12th in suspension, 18th in maneuverability, and 29th overall out of 59 teams from across the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Korea, that competed in the Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE) Birmingham event at the Stony Lonesome OHV Park in Bremen, Alabama, April 14-17, 2011. Tennessee Tech University took 1st place overall, Universite Laval 2nd, and University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) 3rd.
See the WPTZ TV5 news clip (58 Mb)
During the final endurance race the UVM Mini-Baja team hit a challenge. The Baja SAE Birmingham race featured a water section that required teams to make their cars capable of traveling across water in addition to usual off-road obstacles such as rocks, jumps, logs and mud. The UVM team constructed a foam flotation assembly and attached it to the bottom of the car -- the car was then able to travel across the water course like a boat while still functioning as a capable off-road vehicle on land.
The final four hour endurance race on a 1.75 mile track featured a 1000+ foot M-shaped water feature along with deep mud, jumps, and tight wooded areas. During the race, the flotation foam on the car was damaged, and that caused the car to capsize in the water section of the course. The driver safely escaped and the car was pulled from the water and repaired, but not in time to complete the race. Despite this, the team managed to complete enough laps for a 29th place finish..
The UVM Mini Baja team will compete in two more events this year. The Baja SAE Kansas event to be held May 26-29, 2011 in Pittsburg, KS; and the Baja SAE Illinois event to be held June 8-11, 2011 in Peoria, IL.
For news on the 2011 SAE Mini Baja Alabama Race visit:
http://students.sae.org/competitions/bajasae/
For results from the 2011 SAE Mini Baja Alabama Race visit:
For more information on the UVM Mini-Baja vehicle contact:
For a list of the 2011 UVM CEMS Mini Baja team members visit: http://www.catamountracing.com/Pages/Contact.html