Auburn played host this weekend to the annual Baja SAE Alabama competition. The event, held Thursday through Friday, inculded automotive and race competitions.
Teams from across the country competed, and Auburn placed in several of the events, including a fourth place finish in suspension traction and fifth place in maneuverability.
Overall results have not been released, but Auburn faculty adviser Peter Jones said he is pleased with how the team performed despite technical setbacks in competition.
"We turned in good performances," Jones said. "We put on the best event in Baja, no question."
Team captain Michael Thompson said the four day event included a rigorous technical and safety inspection, a static design competition, four dynamic events and a four-hour endurance event.
"The technical inspection makes sure that each car has the proper safety features as well as making sure the vehicle meets all of the rules and regulations set forth by Baja SAE," Thompson said.
He said in the design competition, the team defends its design choices to a group of judges that ranks the team based on the engineering reason and presentation skills of the students.
Dynamic day consists of four events: suspension traction, land manueverabilty, acceleration and a traction/pull test.
"The endurance event is a four-hour race where the vehicle is put through extreme loads and a variety of terrains,"Thompson said. Some of the obstacles faced were hill climbs, jumps, railroad ties, railroad tracks, rock gardens and off camber hairpins.
Baja SAE Alabama was also held in Auburn in 2006.
Thompson said he thinks the event was a success.
"I think the race organizers did an amazing job, and it was a great course to drive," he said.
Jones also said he thinks the event went smoothly.
"All the hard work of volunteers and event staff paid off," he said. "The courses worked well. They were hard, but doable."
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